Vientiane Street Food

5 dishes in Laos

5 street foods from Vientiane, Laos: Kafe Nom Yen, Fried Crickets & Grasshoppers, Feu, Sin Savanh and Dried Buffalo Skin. Each one has its own page with the story behind it and what to look for.

Street foods of Vientiane

☕ Café Custom · Condensed Milk Coffee Kafe Nom Yen (Lao Iced Coffee) The traditional way to drink it isn't just a glass of iced coffee — it comes with a small chaser glass of green tea on the side, meant to be sipped… Strong, dark-roast coffee is brewed and poured over a pool of sweetened condensed milk at the bottom of a glass, stirred, and served over ice. Cafes and street vendors around Vientiane… Market Snack · Deep-Fried Insects Fried Crickets & Grasshoppers Vendors deep-fry them whole, legs and wings included, and pile them into paper cones by the scoop the same way a Western street stall would sell… Crickets, grasshoppers, silkworms, and other insects are deep-fried until crisp, salted, and sometimes tossed with chili or lime leaf, then piled into mounds at market carts. They're sold… 🍜 Vietnamese Legacy · Rice Noodle Soup Feu (Lao Pho) The name and the noodles came from Vietnamese immigrants, but ask a Lao cook and they'll tell you feu isn't just borrowed pho — the broth and… Rice noodles are ladled into a clear broth simmered with beef, pork, or chicken bones, then topped with bean sprouts, herbs, lime, and chili to taste. It's a common breakfast dish at… 🥩 Heavenly Meat · Sun-Dried Beef Sin Savanh (Sun-Dried Beef Jerky) Its name literally translates to "heavenly meat," and though the recipe is most closely tied to Savannakhet province, roadside stalls across… Thin strips of beef are marinated in fish sauce, garlic, ginger, sesame seeds, and palm sugar, then left in the sun until nearly dry before a final flash-fry crisps the edges. It's sold by… Roadside Stand · Dried Water-Buffalo Hide Dried Buffalo Skin Thin shreds of it are a key ingredient in jeow bong, the sweet, smoky chili paste of Luang Prabang, where the skin adds a chewy bite. Strips of water buffalo hide are dried hard in the sun and sold in stacks at roadside stands around Vientiane. Cooks soak and boil the pieces until soft, then add them into soups and stews…

More of Laos

• Luang Prabang4
• Xieng Khouang3
• Champasak3