Region: Southern Laos> Province: Bolikhamsai> Location: Lak Xao

Lak Xao

We found some pretty good eats in Lak Xao. While western dishes are scarce, the Laos food here is better than what we found further south.

The Only One restaurant is mostly a tour group operation, 300m south of the roundabout on the east side of the street. It serves a variety of local dishes, and those who have eaten here say the food is quite good. Suki Restaurant, on site at the Suki Guest House, offers a similar experience, but the huge dinning hall gives it a cafeteria atmosphere, and it's hardly a fun place for an intimate meal. The Phoutthavong Guest House also has a restaurant on site that looks promising and may be worth checking out.

The first restaurant on the right as you head east from the roundabout, just before the road to the market, is a very popular spot with locals: we had some great khua seet (beef with corriander) and sien haeng (dried buffalo meat) served with sticky rice and white-radish soup. Tasty tid-bits are always being roasted up at stalls outside the market south of the roundabout, and also, 600m down on the west side of the street is a cluster of stalls, one of which offers a decent Korean-style barbecue -- look for the tables with the holes in them for the charcoal grills. A traditional accompaniment to any meal in these parts is a steaming bowl of pak gaeng, a mild soup made with fresh greens.

The Only One Restaurant -- T: (054) 341 246;(020) 233 5246
Souki Guesthouse and Restaurant -- Down the alley, across from the Souriya hotel