Vang Vieng - The Best Places to Eat and Drink
Vang Vieng is an essential stop on any Laotian itinerary, but what should you eat after a day out tubing? Where can you find the best coffee? Where is a good spot for a sunset beer? Read our guide for all our recommendations on the best places to eat and drink in the backpacker capital of Laos.
With everything from traditional Laotian barbecues to sushi and sandwiches, Vang Vieng has a plate to offer no matter what food you are craving. From comfort foods for backpackers missing home, to delicious Laotian cuisine, there is something for everyone to eat in Vang Vieng.
Sitting between the UNESCO World Heritage city of Luang Prabang and the Laotian capital of Vientiane, Vang Vieng is an essential stop on any trip to Laos. Famous for its stunning scenery, tubing and adventure activities you’re sure to work up an appetite in this backpacking town. We have spent over a fortnight eating our way around the town and this is our guide to the best places to eat, drink and grab a coffee in Vang Vieng.
In our guide to the best food and drink of Vang Vieng:
Disclosure: This article may contain affiliate links. We will earn a small commission from any purchases made through these links.
If you haven’t read our guide on what to do and where to stay in Vang Vieng, make sure you check it out here:
The Best Places To Eat In Vang Vieng
During our stay in Vang Vieng our tastes varied wildly. One day we would be in the mood for sticky rice and Laotian barbecues the next, we’d be craving a cheesy pizza. Luckily for us, Vang Vieng has something to offer every palate.
Laos Cuisine and Asian Restaurants
Banking BBQ Restaurant
(location)
Our favourite restaurant in Vang Vieng!
You’ll know you have arrived when you see the street-side BBQ roaring and flaming away and the smell of roasting meat filling the air. We ate at Banking BBQ Restaurant several times and highly recommend their special Vang Vieng Grilled Duck as well as their delicious pork belly. Their side dishes are also great; make sure you check out the stir-fried Chinese cabbage and eggs.
We always went for pork belly or duck with sticky rice, a side plate and a serving of their amazing som tam salad.
The restaurant is very reasonably priced with cheap beers. The service is a little chaotic and very much Asian style - food comes whenever it's ready and not all at the same time!
Street-side Sticky Rice, BBQ Meat and Som Tam Street Food Stalls
(location)
During the day, you can find small street food stalls with charcoal grills serving up sticky rice, meat and som tam salad. Our favourite stall was located just off the edge of the airstrip. The lovely lady here served incredibly cheap, incredibly rich pork and a seriously spicy papaya salad!
A lunch for 2 people - sticky rice and BBQ meat cost us 50,000 kip - a great backpacker bargain!
There are a couple of seats outside her stall or she can box it up for takeaway. If you’re planning a viewpoint hike this would be a great portable lunch choice.
Chaixi Noodles
(location)
This one came as a recommendation from some fellow travellers we met in Muang Ngoi and they were spot on! We love Chinese dumpling noodles and Chaixi Noodles was perfect.
Plump wontons swimming in a garlic studded, comforting and super addictive broth. Everyone knows crispy pork makes everything better and this soup is no exception! Make sure you grab some beansprouts, cabbage, lime and fresh chilli from the table near the kitchen to customise your bowl.
Again this is a very backpacker budget friendly restaurant, with crispy pork, wonton soup coming in at 45,000 kip a bowl.
The restaurant also serves some dim sum and other noodle dishes.
Ban Lao
(location)
Another great choice for those looking for yummy wontons, Ban Lao is located in the heart of Vang Vieng. You can easily spot this restaurant by the towers of steaming dim sum baskets outside. Serving red pork noodles, wontons, crispy pork and dim sum, Ban Lao is quick, hearty and very reasonably priced.
We ordered a selection of dim sum that were steamed to perfection and started at 10,000 kip per basket.
The wonton bowls were also very reasonable at 40,000 to 50,000 kip per bowl.
Street Food Restaurant
(location)
Sometimes you just need a simple plate of fried rice and the Street Food Restaurant (that’s its actual name) cooks up a fantastic one. Full of great wok smoked flavour, stuffed with vegetables and in our case, roast pork, its everything you want from a fried rice. Our dish came with a side serving of a delicate, pork soup - a great accompaniment to the rich fried rice.
Don’t miss out on their excellent chilli oil, John is (or thinks he is) a chilli oil connoisseur and this was his favourite of Vang Vieng’s offerings.
It is always good to have a reliably great fried rice spot and “Street Food” became ours.
Ladi Restaurant
(location)
Possibly Vang Vieng’s most popular restaurant with backpackers, Ladi Restaurant was open from early morning to late at night serving all the backpacker favourites. Pad krapow to pad thai, sandwiches to burgers, whatever you fancied was somewhere in the pages of their menu.
Normally the above would worry us - a ‘jack of all trades’ restaurant usually means a ‘master of none’ but happily this was definitely not the case at Ladi.
We came here multiple times and all the food we ate was great and well priced - very occasionally it does pay to follow the crowd.
ຮ້ານເຂົ້າ ອາເຮຍ - Pork Leg Rice
(location)
Thai comfort food at its finest, we’ve fallen in love with pork leg rice during a food tour in Chiang Mai and always seek it out wherever we go. We weren’t expecting pork leg in Vang Vieng but can confirm it's here and it's delicious.
A huge plate of steamed rice topped with meltingly soft pork leg in the famous sweet and tangy sauce - delicious!
This restaurant also serves all the standard SE Asian favourites including a very good pork and yellow noodle soup.
Vang Vieng Walking Street & Night Market
(location)
As night falls, all along Vang Vieng’s Walking Street stalls pop up selling everything from the ubiquitous elephant pants to local souvenirs and crafts. Wherever you get a market you’ll also find food.
Dotted throughout the night market are small stalls and sit down eateries offering hot pots, grilled meat and sticky rice as well as sweet treats, including the backpacker favourite of banana pancakes / roti.
If you’re up for trying a traditional Lao street food snack we would highly recommend the grilled sticky rice covered in yellow egg yolk. It’s nutty and, if you get the chilli glaze, deliciously spiced.
Home Comforts - Western Food in Vang Vieng
Vang Vieng Sandwiches
(location) - found all over town but these were our favourite
We didn’t know which section to put these in but they are an absolute staple of the backpacker scene in Vang Vieng. Available from dozens of stalls on almost every street corner are Vang Vieng’s famous sandwiches. Made famous by social media these are not just a craze but a hearty and cheap way to fill your belly.
You can get a sandwich with pretty much any combination of fillings you may want. Chicken to bacon, egg to beef, vegetables to cheese, whatever you fancy, you can get. We always opted for a meat feast: a baguette would be cut in half, then toasted on a flat grill and stuffed with fried chicken, melted cheese, bacon, onion and an omelette. It was massive, tasty and very filling.
The stalls also serve more traditional burgers as well as pancakes. If you’ve had a late night, these are the perfect hangover cure! In fact most of the sandwich stalls will stay open into the early hours of the morning to soak up any remaining Beer Lao.
Just some of the famous “Vang Vieng” sandwich stalls!
Pizza Luka
(location)
This one is a treat, not in the everyday backpacking budget but definitely within the ‘treat yourself range’.
Full story - Pizza Luka (in its old location) was one of our favourite meals when we visited on the fateful 2018 holiday - the one that cemented our dream and convinced us to start planning our long-term travel (read all about that here). The pizza had lived in our memories ever since and we knew that even on our backpacking budget we had to go back.
Pizza Luka has upgraded itself to a posh new garden restaurant since the last time we visited, however the pizza is still the same - completely excellent! We ordered two thin crust pizzas, topped with premium local mozzarella and the best imported anchovies, olives and goats cheese. It was fantastic!
The two pizzas, extra olives and a couple of beers cost us a little over 600,000 kip - not an everyday expense but worth it as a treat. We celebrated our successful ballooning adventure with a meal at Pizza Luka’s and it was the perfect treat to end a fantastic day out.
Hom Coffee
(location)
This is one we should (but don’t) feel guilty about - sometimes you just need a Full English Breakfast. Hom Coffee serves an absolutely fantastic Full English. Heinz beans, proper bacon, hash browns, black pudding, the works - they even have proper tomato ketchup!
You just can’t beat a Full English Breakfast!
If you’re after some home comforts in Vang Vieng, you really can’t beat Hom Coffee. There are few things in this world quite as rejuvenating as a Full English Breakfast and it's very handy to have a good one in a town like Vang Vieng.
The cafe serves lots of different Western plates as well as very good coffee.
Golden Bamboo
(location)
If you’re in the mood for something “fresher” than a Full English then the falafel and hummus plate at Golden Bamboo is an essential try.
A huge portion of homemade falafel is served with fluffy pita bread, salad and dips, all surrounding a massive dollop of rich, oil-laced hummus. It’s a little more pricey than the street food options on this list, but well worth the expense. Go hungry, the portions are massive.
Golden Bamboo also serves buddha bowls, salads, noodles and a range of vegan options. If you’re feeling fancy it also has a selection of wines on the menu.
Green Restaurant
(location)
If you’re looking for a fantastic sunset spot for dinner, head to Green Restaurant and its huge veranda overlooking the mountains. Serving wood-fired pizza and all the Asian staples, it's a very popular restaurant. Make sure to get there early if you want the best seats!
7-Eleven
(location)
Okay we hate ourselves for this one but we can’t leave this off the list! Sometimes you just need a cheese toastie - we’re just weak okay!
Laos has very few 7-Eleven’s and Vang Vieng is home to one of them. If you’re really missing your sushi triangles, cheese and ham toasties and the chocolate lava cake, you can pick up any of the convenience store staples up here in the heart of Vang Vieng.
Just some of our 7-Eleven favourite snacks - aka “tell me your hungover without telling me your hungover!”
The Best Coffee Shops in Vang Vieng
Finding the perfect caffeine fix in the backpacker capital of Laos
Whatever your coffee needs are Vang Vieng can provide. From high end air-conditioned craft brews to unexpected roadside treats there is a caffeinated cup for every budget.
Pull Mind Cafe
(location)
In the early evening as the sun starts to set, Pull Mind Cafe becomes the unofficial common room for the backpackers of Vang Vieng. With front row seats overlooking the dramatic mountain peaks, and sitting directly underneath the flight path of most of the hot air balloons, Pull Mind Cafe is a fantastic sunset spot.
Serving coffee, smoothies, tea, Italian sodas and beer, the cafe also offers food including fried rice, papaya salad and summer rolls. Pull Mind Cafe became our go to for a couple of beers at sundown. It and the Green Restaurant really are unrivalled for Vang Vieng’s sunsets.
Like Green Restaurant above, if you want to get the best seats for sunset make sure you get to Pull Mind early.
Kiwi Coffee
(location)
On the road between Vang Vieng and the lagoons is this tiny little coffee shop. Don’t let its small size fool you, this place punches well above its weight in coffee and food.
We enjoyed some excellent iced Americano’s after a hot and sweaty climb up the nearby viewpoint (read all about that here).
The sandwiches also looked fantastic, let us know if they are as good as they look in the comments.
Naked Espresso
(location)
Probably the “poshest” coffee shop in Vang Vieng. Naked Espresso has the massive advantage of being gloriously air-conditioned.
If you want a really good, Western style coffee in a comfy, cool, chilled out environment, Naked Espresso has you covered.
A little bit more expensive than other options on this list, Naked Espresso is well worth the extra. Make sure you splash out and try a slice of their lime cake - you won’t be disappointed!
The Mini Cafe
(location)
Sitting on the opposite bank of the river to the main town of Vang Vieng you’ll pass by the Mini Cafe if you’re driving towards the blue lagoons and viewpoints. We stopped in here multiple times for a caffeine fix on our way out of town. Serving great iced coffees at reasonable prices, this stylish cafe appears to be an Instagram hotspot with the local youth. Behind the cafe is a winding wooden path leading out to a selfie spot amongst the rice paddies.
Honestly, we’re not sure why it’s called the Mini Cafe as it’s one of the biggest coffee shops in Vang Vieng!
The Bars of Vang Vieng - the Best Place for a Drink
Vang Vieng is known, for better or worse, for being a party town. This is true and false in equal measures - If you want a party you can 100% find one but if you just want a chilled out drink no one is going to drag you into a shots contest! There are parties but they do not take over the town and you are not “missing out” if you skip them.
We are (very very slightly) past the point of 3am beer pong and kings cup games - we like good music, vibes and a few cold beers in good company - Vang Vieng was great for this!
Bars and Pubs in Vang Vieng - Where to Get a Beer
Gary’s Irish Bar
(location)
Everywhere you go you’ll always find an Irish Bar. Gary’s was fantastic - our go to for a good night out. Beer aplenty, great music, free pool table and fantastic backpacker vibes, Gary’s is an easy recommendation.
We had quite a few late nights in Gary’s Irish Bar, it is always busy and welcoming. We would say it was our favourite bar in Vang Vieng just for its relaxed and fun vibes.
Also, if you’re feeling naughty, they serve really good home comfort food and snacks. A few beers down and we absolutely loved their cheesy chips and gravy!
Jaidee’s Bar
(location)
A Vang Vieng institution that manages to be both famous and infamous. Jaidee’s Bar is a riot of neon, drapes, stuffed animals and hippy chic. Always popular, the bar is open late into the night and is a hub of the Vang Vieng party scene.
Jaidee’s Bar in the evenings tows the line between chilled and party, with great music, free pool and plenty of spots to lounge around. If you’re in the mood for a party, it really kicks off later in the night.
The Big Easy
(location)
If you’re looking for a chilled beer and riverside views, then the cavernous Big Easy has you covered. A laid back bar with a pool table, cold beer and a relaxed atmosphere, the Big Easy is a great spot for an afternoon drink.
We’ve only just scratched the surface on what Vang Vieng has to offer. In our two weeks we ate and drank fantastically in this backpacker haven but we didn’t get to try nearly half of what Vang Vieng had in store. How was the sushi? What about the hot pot? If we have missed anywhere off this list that you would recommend, let us know in the comments!
Thanks for reading,
John & Ellie x
#adventuresofjellie
You’ll never go hungry in Vang Vieng - wherever you look there’s plenty of food!
All our Vang Vieng travel guides
If you’re planning a trip to Vang Vieng, check out all our guides to the town below:
If you’ve enjoyed reading this article, why not save the pin below?
If you’re found this blog helpful, entertaining or you just fancy supporting us, please click the button below!
Vang Vieng is known as one of the cheapest places in the world to take a ride on a hot air balloon, but is it still worth it on a backpackers budget? Read all about our flight above the limestone karsts and blue lagoons of Vang Vieng Laos. Our complete guide has all of the practical information on operators, prices, booking and what to wear as well as answering common questions and worries about ballooning: Sunrise or sunset flights? Is it Scary?