For our last meal in Luang Prabang our CEO suggested we all meet at Lao Lao Garden, a popular restaurant near Mount Phou Si. It’s a beautiful out-door restaurant with great food, though I suggest not ordering their hot-pot at night, it’ll take quite awhile to arrive and then you’ll find yourself trying to figure out how to cook and enjoy your food while not being able to see what you’re doing.
I went simple. I ordered a Lao Lao garden burger made from water buffalo with a side of french fries. It’s a 40,000 kip burger that comes with lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber, ketchup and mayo but where cheese, bacon or mushrooms require extra 5,000 kip and then french fries an additional 10,000 kip. Not expensive at all, the burger is about $5, but I was running low on kip so I skipped on adding cheese and splurged on fries.
We were a large group and food took quite awhile to arrive, one of our group ordered a burger and it never came, and by the time food had arrived for the rest of us we were ravenous. It was delicious, but I highly suggest giving yourself time to order and get your food so that you won’t be in a foul mood if it takes awhile to come, they make their food fresh and with our large group and their normal flow of customers it backed everything up. They also give out free starter shots when you arrive and offer a wide variety of drinks, some my tour group loved, some they did not. The menu is also full of English and includes facts about Luang Prabang and Laos towards the back which was insightful to read.