Refugee and immigration lawyer Aurina Chatterji does a fair bit of travel. Born in Mumbai, studied in London and Montreal, currently working in Toronto, she recently returned from a holiday in Laos with a doggie bag for bpb. No awkward paws, please.

When we told people we were travelling to Laos for a vacation. we were often met with blank stares: "But....why?" People enquired with gentle bewilderment. "I hear it's lovely," we often sputtered, unable to articulate the allure of this little Asian country.  Surrounded by stalwarts of tourism, Laos still remains curiously off-the-beaten path for most non-backpackers, an emerald wonder still navigating its way to the 21st century. Technically still a communist state, Laos has little to offer in the way of shopping, but compensates with its gorgeous wats (pagodas), superbly maintained colonial architecture, 85% forest cover, the rusty Mekong and much to everyone's surprise - its food.

Eating Out in Vientiane (The Capital of Laos)

The Night Market: For Laap Dance And Cheap Beer

Every evening by the Mekong in Vientiane, little food stalls open all along the bank, sharing space with the night market. We’d done our research on traditional Lao foods and ordered accordingly: Green papaya salad, beef spring rolls, barbequed chicken, laap, sticky rice and of course, Beer Lao, available as easily in Laos as water for anywhere between 50 cents to $1 (Rs 25- 50).  For sidestepping the usual Asian fare of rice and noodles, we recommend laap, a Lao specialty salad made with minced meat of your choice, lime juice, various spices and generous amounts of cilantro.

Herbivores won’t have to give up their environmental penance: vegetarian food features even in every street-side menu: fried rice, noodles, spring rolls were all available (and delicious) without meat.  The prices of everything are too embarrassingly low to even mention.

Baguette Carts: For French Souvenirs

Apart from some stunning architecture and the usual post-colonial chaos, the French also left behind some culinary influences in Laos: Road stalls selling baguettes are everywhere and open from 5.30 am into the wee hours of the night. You can eat plain baguettes with cheese, omelette, tuna, chicken, but the traditional Lao baguette involves pork pate, cheese, spices and vegetables, France and Laos finding harmony in a sandwich. In Luang Prabang, that most wondrous of cities, crepes are also available easily.


Nam Phu Square and Setthathilath Street: For Multi-Cuisine

For those cagey about street food, Vientiane offers Nam Phu square and Setthathilath Street, lively neighbourhoods littered with multi-cuisine restaurants, Western bakeries and bars. Our favourites were the eponymous Nam Phu restaurant for French and Asian treats and Thong Bay resto-bar. Also a fun place to grab a meal is Khop Chai Deu, housed in a French colonial villa that in addition to traditional fare, hosts special 'Insect Nights', serving grasshoppers, crickets and larvae.

Nam Phu, Nam Phu Square, Vientiane, +856-21 216248.

Khop Chai Deu, 54 Setthathirat Rd, Nam Phou, Vientiane, +856-21 251564

Bars: For Happy Hours and Wonderful Views

Happy hours are even happier with spicy Tom Yum martinis at Sticky Fingers, a bar that also does a great Hangover Breakfast (aspirin included). People watch at the Bor Pen Nyang, a rooftop pub with breathtaking views of the Mekong.

Bor Pen Nyang, Th Fa Ngum, Vientiane, +856-21 7873965

Sticky Fingers, 10/3 Francois Nginn St, Vientiane, +856-21 215972

Bakeries: For Coffee, Cake and Hallucinations

For coffee and cake, we recommend the popular Scandinavian Bakery, which apparently makes 324 kilometers of baguettes every year. There’s also JoMa, behind whose delicious pastries and scones and seasonal mulberry pies lies an equally delicious tale: Sometime in the 1970s, an American woman dreamed that a young girl in Laos, caged by sex traffickers, was screaming out her name. Far from blaming her dream on the previous night's dinner, the American packed up all her belongings and moved to this remote country she had never been to before. Unsurprisingly, her mission was never accomplished, but the dreamer did start JoMa bakery, taken over later by new owners and expanded to other locations around Laos and Vietnam.

Scandinavian Bakery, 74/1, Phangkham Road, Vientiane, +856-21 215231

Joma Bakery and Cafe, Setthatilath Road, opposite Khop Chai Deu, +856-21 215265

A Few Warnings: Lao food often contains fermented fish sauce (or shrimp paste) which to the uninitiated can be rather repelling. Restaurants in Vientiane and Luang Prabang, slowly getting used to tourists, generally eschew adding fish sauce unless asked for, but in more rural areas, you will definitely be assailed by the appetising/pungent odour depending on whose side you're on.  Also, like most South-East Asian countries, poverty has beget sex tourism and in most bars, be prepared to see ladies of the night with their suitors.