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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