Eat

Restaurants line Sisavangvong Road and the road along the Mekong. Food runs the line from standard Southeast Asian backpacker fare to more traditional Lao dishes, including buffalo sausage. There are several pizza restaurants -- although they aren't really that good -- as well as

For more upscale options, try near the end of Sisavangvong Road (end of the Night Market) in a little Alley (Local Buffet for 5000 Kip). There are several boutique restaurants which serve quite nice fusion Asian food.

Local specialties include:

• French baguettes

• watercress

• fried dried seaweed with sesame seeds dipped in a chili sauce

• Buffalo steak

Restaurants

• Saffron Caffè - The only coffee shop in the world that offers fresh roasted coffee that originates from the mountains Luang Prabang itself. Unlike most Lao coffee, Saffron's coffee is deliciously smooth. Saffron Caffè offers an array of standard espresso drinks including the caffè latte, caffè americano, cappuccino, caffè mocha and iced coffees and teas. Saffron Caffè also has some delicious Luang Prabang (LP) specialties such as the LP Latte and the LP Malted Mocha, as well as LP Iced Tea. The Caffè also offers fresh baked goods, granola and salad wraps. Saffron Caffè is located along the Mekong River around the corner from L'Elephant restaurant in Wat Nong village.

• Blue Lagoon Café - A balanced mix of eastern and western delicacies are awaiting you at Blue Lagoon Café. You will find Laotian highlights and Swiss classics as well as tender local beef and a large variety of delicious snacks and fresh salad creations. The generously compiled drink list provides an exquisite selection of wine, fruit juice, cocktails, mocktails, beer and coffee. Located at the road to the Mekong river who start at the end of the night market, next to the national museum.

• L'Elephant- A lovely restaurant with a unique mix of Laotian and French cuisine. The food is extremely good, but has its price. It is directly in front of a small guesthouse, and not far away from Les 3 Nagas hotel and Villa Santi hotel. The ingredients are of the highest quality, ranging from French camambert to Laotian lemongrass and river weeds. The soups are very good, along with the tender and juicy local and french meat. The desserts are mouthwatering, and most of them have chocolate. Be warned though that the menu is both pricey and some items do not justify their price tag.

Drink

There are a number of places to drink around Luang Prabang, although the club scene isn't really existent. "The Hive Bar" or the "Laos Beer Garden" are the places to go at night and to meet people, if everything closes (at about 12pm) you can go to the "Vietnam Bar". This is invariably reached by all the remaining people at The Hive and Laos Beer Garden clubbing together and getting one or two tuktuks together.

Most other restaurants also have tables outside where you can sit back with a beer or two.

Another place would be the Bookstore "Books and Tea" next to the "Hive Bar". They show Movies everyday at 7pm and its really nice there also. Downstairs is a book shop/swap and upstairs there is a bar selling drinks and cake in a room covered in cushions for lazing around and reading.