You Haven’t Been to Luang Prabang, Without Trying Chili Fish Poop Dip

That’s exactly what he told us as we sat down next to the Mekong River, ready to eat a local Laos food feast in Luang Prabang:

“Without Trying Chili Fish Poop Dip, You Haven’t Been to Luang Prabang”

In this post I’m going to share with you the details of a restaurant that serves what was easily the best meal I had of local food in Luang Prabang.

Sitting next to the Mekong River — Ultimate Relaxation next to the Giant MeKong River.

Peaceful Views and Local Food in Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang is known for being one of the most relaxing places on the planet – well that’s what I think.

If I was in charge though, I’d say it should be even better known for how its so jam-packed with delicious things to eat.

Xieng Thong Phonsavanh, a local restaurant on the Mekong riverside on the peninsula of Luang Prabang serves a meal which will bring an eater to a state of taste-based-sensory overload. It’s one of those restaurants that would single-handedly make a trip to Laos worthwhile – just to eat at this restaurant.

Amazing Local Food in Luang Prabang — An Paradise of Food Hiding in Plain View

The Warm Up

The menu consists of a single laminated page, written in Laos, English, and Chinese. It contains only meat items aside from the delicious pressed-algae snack that is Kai Paen.

You should make sure to arrive just before 6pm. Watch the sun set over the river as you get ready to feast.

Best Beer Snack in Laos — Mekong Algae, an incredible crispy pre-meal warm-up

The Opener

It wasn’t five minutes before the first of our dishes arrived.

Kai Pen was first, one of the most crispy crunching snacks you’ll ever have. This dish is a local specialty, and you might see it sold as “Laos River Weed” in any of the evening market stalls.

The restaurant owner told us directly – “this dish goes with beer.” And we obliged.

Time in the sun evaporates any moisture from Kai Pen, and although they might look like nori seaweed for sushi rolls, these things are always deep fried. Just for a few seconds each though, as they are so paper thin, a mix of herbs included in the drying process helps give the fibrous strands body as well.

You might get a hint of galangal or tomatoes, but they all receive a heavy dose of roasted sesame seeds presenting a wonderful smoky flavor. They are best when piping hot, but watch your fingers in case the oil is still crackling!

Laos Pork Salad — This Laap Pa comes with large chunks of fish and entire handfuls of Laos herbs

Freshly caught Mekong River Fish

Laab Pa was next, one of the most important dishes to any evening meal in Laos, and one of the best of all Laos foods. This meat salad is spicy, sour, full of delicious bites of fish, and well-mixed with huge amounts of local Laos herbs.

The large amount of mint leaves combined with green onions, red onions, and hot red chilies always make this dish so refreshing, but also much lighter than just ordering a large piece of grilled fish.

Laos Local Herbs and Hot Chilies — Individually hand-wrapped clumps, be sure and try the Snakefish-Ear Vegetable.

The Laap goes so well with sticky rice, but also comes with a huge accompanying plate of yet more fresh herbs.

You take a little bundle of herbs, grab an entire fresh chili pepper, and in your other hand roll a small ball of warm sticky rice.

Dip the sticky rice into the fish salad, soak up as much of the Mekong fish as you can, and then follow it with the herb/chili chaser combo.

Hot and Sour Laos Fish Soup — A huge bowl full of fresh Mekong river fish.

Chunks of Fatty Fish Belly

Next up was a huge bowl full of chunks of fish caught right from the river. This boiled fish soup is simply called Gaeng Pla, but it can include several variations to the basic fish soup recipe – up to whatever fresh catch the chef is working with that day.

It was sour, the broth so incredibly hearty, and the chunks of fish huge and meaty.

It was so good that it could have easily been the highlight of the meal were it not for the dish that followed…

One of the best dishes I have ever had — Heavenly richness paired with a hellishly delightful chili oil burn

Chili fish poop dip

Jaew Kee Pa.

This dish was a game-changer. Our order was already a meat-lovers selection approaching maximum flavor perfection – but this last item just made our night a royal flush.

I found myself dreaming about this dish just 24 hours later. I couldn’t help myself – its the kind of thing that you write home about, blog about, send out a memo to every food lover and quote the chef himself – “Until you’ve had this dish, you haven’t arrived in Luang Prabang.”

The name you see on the menu is “Fish Penny Sauce,” but a direct translation of this would be Fish Poop Sauce.

Don’t worry – there isn’t really any poop in it. At least I don’t think so.

What it is though, is a blend of fish eggs, sesame seeds, possibly some sesame oil, and lots and lots of dried chilies and chili oil. This mash of richness easily deserves to be the example found in the dictionary of flavors when your mouth looks up ‘umami.’

I couldn’t help but order an extra woven Kratip full of steaming sticky rice just to go with this plate.

Hunting down local food in Luang Prabang, this dish would be foremost on my hit-list. It was in a daze that we left, and I would happily visit Luang Prabang again just for another order of Jaew Kee Pa.

Nothing but meat on the menu — It isn’t a contest, but every item on the menu is a winner.

And All is Good in the World

When we were nearly finished, the chef returned to our table, just in time to see each one of us slowly slump into a glorious food prompted slumber.

Finishing this meal was truly like coming out of a dream.
The owner is so quiet and calm that at first he may even seem unfriendly – but that’s only until you see how he completely devotes his passion. When you start talking with him, he’s so incredibly friendly.

It is always great to receive recommendations directly from the owner himself, and in his own words – “You haven’t truly arrived [in Luang Prabang] until you’ve had this dish.”

Prices:

Fish Soup (Kaeng Pa) – 40,000 LAK
Fish Meat Salad (Koy Pa) – 40,000 LAK
Fried Chicken (Jim Kai) – 50,000 LAK
Chili Fish Poop Dip (Jaew Kee Pa) – 20,000 LAK
Pressed Algae (Kai Pen) – 15,000 LAK

How to Get There

To go: Walk past Saffron Coffee, look for the blue fish sign. The restaurant is Xieng Tong Suwannawong, just past the Mekong Riverview Hotel. The Xieng Tong park next door is a great place to walk around and digest while dreaming about your most recent food success.

I hope you’re hungry to visit Laos after reading about the fish feast at XiengThong Restaurant in Luang Prabang. Check out another incredible dish we tried from Pa Kham Tan Laap Restaurant in Vientiane.

Also check out my Luang Prabang and Vientiane travel guide.

You Haven’t Been to Luang Prabang, Without Trying Chili Fish Poop Dip

Peaceful Views and Local Food in Luang Prabang

The Warm Up

The Opener

Freshly caught Mekong River Fish

Chunks of Fatty Fish Belly

Chili fish poop dip

And All is Good in the World

Prices:

How to Get There

Chicken Rice Balls at Kedai Kopi Chung Wah (Jonker Street, Melaka)

Karakoram Mountains of Pakistan – A Guide to the Khunjerab Pass

Lahore – Your Complete Street Food Guide

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These meals will make you want to travel, just to eat!

You must love food as much as I do!

You Haven’t Been to Luang Prabang, Without Trying Chili Fish Poop Dip

Peaceful Views and Local Food in Luang Prabang

The Warm Up

The Opener

Get exclusive updates

Freshly caught Mekong River Fish

Chunks of Fatty Fish Belly

Chili fish poop dip

And All is Good in the World

Prices:

How to Get There

Chicken Rice Balls at Kedai Kopi Chung Wah (Jonker Street, Melaka)

Karakoram Mountains of Pakistan – A Guide to the Khunjerab Pass

Lahore – Your Complete Street Food Guide

Get exclusive updates

36 comments. I'd love to hear from you!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply