Cafes, Restaurants, and Street Food in Pakse, Laos
The city of Pakse offers much in the way of eateries, with cuisines available from countries all over the world. Besides local Laotian food, popular cuisines in Pakse are Thai, Vietnamese, and Korean food, as well as Western dishes of various kinds. There are also plenty of cafes and coffee shops to choose from for those days when you simply want a place to kill time or relax. Many coffee shops also sell food, and there are many kinds of street food available near markets and hotels.
Cafes
1. Sesouk Coffee and Roasting House
Sesouk Coffee is a cafe and restaurant that is open from 7 A.M. until 6 P.M. They serve coffee, tea, and fresh fruit smoothies, as well as various Lao-Thai dishes such as stir-fried noodles, rice, spicy salads and many kinds of soup. This cafe is a wonderful place to get a bite to eat, with good service, comfortable atmosphere, and a lovely outdoor seating area beside the building. Sesouk Coffee also roasts their own coffee beans, which are available for purchase, either whole or ground.
2. Cafe Jenda
Cafe Jenda is a coffee shop and restaurant located on Road 42, just down the road from Sesouk Coffee. This is a great place to get a bite to eat, has excellent prices and good service. They also offer honey and ground coffee for sale. Jenda is an open-air restaurant, so it’s a perfect place to go on those cooler days when you just want to relax.
3. MD’s Cafe
MD’s Cafe is a cafe and restaurant located on Road 38, right beside the Friendship Supermarket and near the Pakse morning market. Its location makes it an ideal place to stop by after doing your shopping, and with reasonable prices, friendly service and a relaxing atmosphere, its a must for any coffee shop connoisseur. MD’s Cafe also has free wifi, and is open from 6:45 A.M. to 5:45 P.M., Monday through Sunday.
4. Cafe Amazon
You’ll rarely fail to find at least one Amazon Cafe in any city in Laos, Thailand or Cambodia. There are a few of these in Pakse, but the one I most often visit is located just behind Douangdy Plaza. Though the prices are a little steep, the coffee is consistently good and Amazon is a pretty reliable place to go for air conditioning and good wifi.
5. Orange Coffee Room
The Orange Coffee Room is a coffee shop/restaurant located on Lak 2 Road. While they have some Laotian and even French cuisine, the main cuisine offered there is Vietnamese food, from fresh and fried spring rolls to noodles and soups. The Orange Coffee Room is one of my personal favorites, for their good prices and atmosphere, not to mention their proximity to the popular shopping destination, Friendship Mall.
6. Coffee Today
There are many branches of this cafe and restaurant all over the country, and no doubt more than one in the city of Pakse, but the one I prefer to frequent is located on Lak 2 Road. The prices are a little on the high end, but the food is good, the atmosphere is comfortable, and its location is good, as it is near Friendship Mall as well as many hotel
Restaurants
1. Dao Lin
Dao Lin is an open air cafe and restaurant locate on Road 13, near Green Fresh Mart. “Delicious food that won’t hurt your wallet,” are the printed across the front of their menus, and they’re not wrong—the prices are good and the service is friendly and helpful. Dao Lin offers a lot of Western food, and is quite popular with tourists, but they also have a wide variety of local Lao dishes to try. Every meal comes with a free pitcher of iced jasmine tea, and there’s free wifi available as well.
2. Muk 2 Pizza
Muk 2 is a roadside pizza place and coffee shop. As far as I know, there are two branches of this pizzeria in Pakse, one located near Douangdy Plaza and one on Lak 2 Road near the morning market. Besides Pizza Company, Muk 2 has some of the best pizza in town (and is definitely cheaper than the other). In addition to pizza, they also serve chicken nuggets, fries, and lots more. So on those days when you’ve just got to have a pizza, this is the place to go.
3. Cloud 9
I’ve only been to this restaurant once, but the food was excellent, offering western and Mediterranean food in addition to Lao food (vegetarian food as well). Cloud 9 is located near Douangdy Plaza. They are popular with foreigners and tourists, so its a nice place to meet new people as well.
4. Jinda
Not to be confused with Jenda Cafe, Jinda is a Thai and Lao food restaurant located on the first floor of Friendship Mall. With good prices and excellent food, this is a great place to go for an authentic Thai/Lao food experience.
Street Food
1. Seoul Cheese Dog
There are a few of these in Pakse; one is inside friendship mall, and there’s another behind Douangdy Plaza. One of many Korean street food places, Seoul Cheese Dog sells, well, cheese dogs (pretty much Korean-style corn dogs with stringy mozzarella cheese). The prices are cheap and it’s a great place for a family to stop for a snack between shopping.
2. Le pâté
Le pâté is a roadside stand that sells French and Vietnamese food, as well as homemade soymilk and tofu-based deserts. The prices, food, and service are all exceptional; I highly recommend it. Le pâté is located on Road 13 near Daolin restaurant.
3. Indy Fried Chicken
Indy Fried Chicken is a street food stall that sells Korean-style fried chicken, with various flavors and sauces. There are a few of these, but one is located near JP Hotel and Magic Palms School.
