cafe de laos

[chowfun]

I apologize in advance if there is a already a long discussion somewhere in this forum about Cafe de Laos in South Philadelphia at 11th and Washington, but my attempt to use the search function failed. I ended up with a listing of every topic Herb Lau participated in!

We ate at Cafe de Laos last night. The food was fantastic. I am a total novice at Laotian food, it was the very first time I had tried it, but I can say that it was very fresh and well prepared food with bright flavors, and each dish had a distinct seasoning of its own and a nice presentation. There is an expansive menu with a section for Laotian food, Thai food, the "Thai-Laos relationship bridge" and a full vegetarian menu. We ordered from the Laotian section and the Thai-Laos section. They have a list of 6 different papaya salads (my kind of place!) We had the Som Tum Thai, papaya salad with haricot verts, carrot, peanut, dried shrimp and tomatoes, very spicy and very good. We asked our waiter what type of utensils people use to eat Laotian food, and he said that they make a ball of sticky rice in their fingers and scoop up the food with the rice ball. No one at our table did that, but we did order sticky rice to go with our food and it complemented the food quite well. It was served in its own steamer basket with a lid. We had the Labb Woonsen, a glass noodle salad with pork, dried chili,lime, mint, shallot, and fresh cilantro. It was very good and it was served on lettuce leaves. We had stuffed eggplant with a red curry sauce. This was an impressive dish of two perfectly cooked purple eggplants stuffed with glass noodles and pork and the red curry sauce had no coconut milk in it. It was a beautiful presentation with the bright purple eggplants surrounded by the dark orange curry sauce. We had another brothy curry dish from Laos with chicken and perfectly cooked vegetables. We shared the sticky rice with mango for dessert and it was great. They flavor the sticky rice with a leaf (cant remember the name) and it colors it green. The mango was perfectly ripened and the dessert was drizzled with coconut glaze. Really, really good and very pretty presentation! For three very full people the bill was 52 dollars! I'm ready to go back tonight!

Has anyone who has tried this place been brave enough to order the ant egg soup (Kaeng Khai Mod)? I am a very adventurous eater but I chickened out and didnt order it.

[jpdchef]

They flavor the sticky rice with a leaf (cant remember the name) pandanus--screwpine--kewra. google these and you'll find your leaf. Place sounds great--wish I was closer.

[herbacidal]

I apologize in advance if there is a already a long discussion somewhere in this forum about Cafe de Laos in South Philadelphia at 11th and Washington, but my attempt to use the search function failed. I ended up with a listing of every topic Herb Lau participated in!

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Hmm.

Methinks I must cut out some of my Egullet usage.

[gabe]

Cafe de Laos is a terrific place. I've now been four times or so, and it keeps getting better. I've not tried the ant egg soup, but the snakehead fish was delicious in soup, if a little on the bony side.

The non-fried spring rolls are fantastic, and the Laotian appetizer sampler plate is a good introduction to the cuisine. Their menu has grown substantially, I might add, since they opened.

And who ever heard of putting dill in a curry? Not me, surely, but they pull it off nicely. Kaeng Om, I think it was called.

[Andrew Fenton]

And who ever heard of putting dill in a curry?  Not me, surely, but they pull it off nicely.  Kaeng Om, I think it was called.

They do this at Vientiane, too. It's not something I'd seen before, and I assumed it must be Laotian. Good to see my supposition confirmed.

I'll have to head over to Cafe de Laos one of these days. I'd heard mostly lukewarm reports before, but this thread is making more psyched. Maybe even for the ant egg soup. Well, if somebody else orders it, I'll try a bite, anyway.

[cinghiale]

Here's the earlier, "lukewarm" thread: Cafe de Laos

[mrbigjas]

OK we went last night, and i had a cassia leaf curry that i'd never had before.

it's full of bitter cassia leaves, and fragrant kaffir lime leaves, and pieces of beef or pork which are basically unnecessary. it's pretty hot, and the heat is tempered by the sweetness of coconut milk and the bitter of the cassia, and overall it's just a pretty great dish. check it out if you're down there.

in addition what they call tuna laab is an interesting dish: a large flower of marinated spicy raw tuna perched on a pile of fried rice noodles, sprinkled with globs of caviar of some sort, and with russian dressing tasting orangey mayonnaisey sauce around. quite odd.

but that cassia leaf curry... woo.

[serpentine]

Not only have they expanded the menu substantially, but they made the Thai/Laos division more clear and added more unfamiliar-to-Westerners-dishes on the menu, so the initial lukewarm reviews seem a bit outdated at this point.

IMO, they have been improving continually since they opened. I do find the spicyness indicator kind of amusingly off-the-mark -- some of the dishes that are not marked as spicy have some heat, and some of the ones marked with several of those little chilis are...just not hot. Anyone else find this to be the case, or is it my taste buds that are out of sync?

My only real criticism is that they fumbled when I took a group of six. The two who ordered specials had to wait waaay too long for their food. Earnest apologies, and they were very busy, but I still might think twice about taking a larger group there again, at least without advance warning.

Craving...those lemongrassy meatballs, preserved pork salad, jerky, and sticky rice.

[mrbigjas]

i've definitely found it to be the case with the chili peppers.

the tom zap soup last night (with chicken on the bone, although it's also available with beef, and deboned) earned its 3 peppers, though.

the waiter and waitress we had last night spoke perfect english, and i've decided that next time i'm going to a) ask for a taste of the ant egg soup so i can find out if i like it without spending $9 on a big ol' bowl, and b) ask them what would be a normal set of courses for a laotian dinner, instead of just picking a random bunch of stuff off the menu.

Edited July 20, 2005 by mrbigjas (log)

[serpentine]

the waiter and waitress we had last night spoke perfect english, and i've decided that next time i'm going to a) ask for a taste of the ant egg soup so i can find out if i like it without spending $9 on a big ol' bowl, and b) ask them what would be a normal set of courses for a laotian dinner, instead of just picking a random bunch of stuff off the menu.

Hey, tell us what they recommend that you order. (And what that soup is like, of course.)

The waiter who works there most of the time has given me great recommendations, guidance, and ordering advice -- I don't know the waitress as well, but I would totally trust them to select my dinner. (And he smiles at me when I order by trying to pronounce the name of the dish, which endeared me to him right away.)

[TarteTatin]

"it's full of bitter cassia leaves, and fragrant kaffir lime leaves, and pieces of beef or pork which are basically unnecessary. it's pretty hot, and the heat is tempered by the sweetness of coconut milk and the bitter of the cassia, and overall it's just a pretty great dish. check it out if you're down there...but that cassia leaf curry... woo."

This was a quote from mrbigjas, above. (I hope it comes through as a quote, since I haven't figured out how to use the quote stuff).

How right you are! That curry dish was so very delicious, not too coconut creamy, just delicious with a million different flavors. You're right, the beef wasn't even a necessary ingredient. I didn't know what cassia leaves are, apparently they are related to cinnamon, but there is no cinnamon taste. It's kind of bitter, but delicious.

We also had the Laos appetizer sampler, very good.

A couple of people had hot and sour soup, one Laos and one Thai.

Other entrees were forgotten by me, since my own was so tasty!

We had two outrageous homemade ice creams for dessert. Mango, with pieces of mango in it, and a tea tree, I think. We also had a pastry, which I didn't like but everyone else did.

It's a BYOB, none of us drink beer, so we had Prosecco and Riesling, which seemed to work just fine! Die, Die, must try!

[mrbigjas]

TT, funny you bring this thread back up, because we were just there a couple weeks ago for the first time in a good while as well.

I repeat what i said before about the tom zap -- that is HOT. but really good.

also the appetizer of various little chunks of stuff in pepper leaves shouldn't be missed. it's strange to eat little cubes of lime with skin, and ginger, and dried shrimp, and peanuts, and coconut, all at once. but it's ... right somehow. the recipe, such as it is, is in hot sour salty sweet, and i mean to serve it up one of these days.

anyway, i'm going back, and sooner rather than later this time.

Edited September 16, 2007 by mrbigjas (log)

[KatieLoeb]

Southjerseyepicurean and I checked out dinner at Champa Laos in Cherry Hill. It's owned by the same folks as Cafe de Laos, but has Grandma cooking it up in the kitchen. Fabulous Thai-Laotian-French food and BYOB to boot. Really loved it. Our review and photos can be seen HERE.