A blog about food in Thailand
and elsewhere.
Breakfast in Vientiane
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I’ve been in Vientiane, Laos for the better part of a month now and during this time, my breakfast has hardly diverged from two places. Most days I’ll head for Le Banneton, a French bakery in the centre of town. Usually I’ll eat in and order their excellent cafe latte (brewed with Lao beans) and a sweet-ish pastry, such as kouign amann:
But sometimes I’ll buy some of their bread, usually still warm from the oven, and eat it at home with the good salted butter and apricot jam I picked up (illustrated at the top of this post). Highly recommended; I wish we had a bakery half this good in Bangkok.
Le Banneton
Th Nokeo Khumman
021 217 321
7am-7pm Mon-Sat, 7am-1.30pm Sun
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If I’m looking for something more local, I simply head a couple blocks north of my place, up to just before the intersection of Th Chao Anou and Th Bun Heng. A few vendors set up there in front of an old movie theatre selling breakfasty things such as rice porridge, khao piak (thick rice/tapioca flour noodles served in a slightly thick broth), phở and coffee. I usually go for the bánh cuốn (ban kuan in Lao):
freshly-steamed noodles filled with a pork mixture and served with Vietnamese pork sausage and a sweet/sour dipping sauce. They’re tasty, although not nearly as nice as those I’ve had in Hanoi, and make a yet another great breakfast I wish we had in Thailand…
Around the corner, a popular vendor also does decent khao piak,
Very porky, and served with hearty cubes of blood — but arrive early, otherwise the noodles tend to disintegrate.
Breakfast vendors
Th Chao Anou
6-9am
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5 Comments for Breakfast in Vientiane
What a selection of breads in Le Banneton. Sweet memories, brings me back…and the sumptuous smells..what a way to start the day. Killer coffee to boot…
You can sometimes find mediocre ban kuan at the Tang Hua Seng in Banglamphu. It might be a trek for you for breakfast, but it never was for me since I lived in the hood while studying at TU.
those pastries look so delicious!
On visa run now. Last time was ’08 when the riverfront had a different face than dirt and dirt and some stalls. Following your blog from Krung Thep. Le Banneton this morning with kickin’ coffee and pastries, later the 3 Sisters place. Wondering when I’ll get to read about French food in Vientiane. La Vendome used to cook up a lovely souffle!
[...] was raw milk camembert, saucissson and liver pate. Both loaves of bread were from Le Banneton, Vientiane’s best bakery. And because I was with Christophe, who is Lao but who spent most of [...]