Tucked away down a ‘sanitary model village’ laneway next to the Ta Mak Hung Training Centre for homeless kids, is the most delightful cafe in Vientiane. During the day it is an open cafe, and at 3pm becomes a private English school. (The owner is a Colombo Plan Scholarship recipient from back in the 60s(?) and has grammar to shame the average native English language speaker.)

 

The Lao coffee is so viscous you can’t see through it, yet it is perfectly smooth. For 5,000kip (or 50 US cents) you get a huge beer mug’s worth. Try the Sticky Rice Pancakes for $1.20 - fried with sticky rice in the batter, and topped with fresh mango or banana. The savoury meals are small but wholesome - like what my Mum would make at home. There is a definitely chinese (Hakka?) influence, for example the Pho vaguely resembles a chinese noodle soup, and Ginger Pork with Peppercorns is on offer.

 

It’s a really relaxed, peaceful corner, but the flipside is you don’t want to be in a rush else the service will seem slow. You feel precisely that you are sitting in someone’s courtyard, homely decorated with terracotta ornaments and hanging pot plants. Like most Lao restaurants, it is let down by it’s music - elevator versions of the soppy 60s favourites. Yet there is something endearing about that. And it’s never so loud that I can’t easily block it out with my ipod.

 

The owner also owns a farm, so eggs and (if you’re lucky) fresh fruit is for sale to take home.