Vying for the title of my favourite Luang Prabang cafe with Le Banneton is the gorgeous Joma – lone frontier of air-conditioned comfort and stockist of a ridiculously good array of baked goods. Here, we scoffed everything from pizza to oatmeal cookies to sweet and savoury scones (some using locally grown mulberries), washed down with iced coffees and lime and mint drinks. Fortunately for Vietnam dwellers, Joma has ventured across the border and opened up shop in Hanoi, and Saigon is apparently next!

Go for: heat relief and sweet treats – particularly snowball biscuits, if you’re missing them from Phnom Penh’s The Shop (like I am!)
Not for: a peaceful refuge – this place is justifiably packed

Joma Bakery Cafe, Chao Fa Ngum Rd (main street), near Post Office (also in Vientiane and Hanoi)

Favourite meal in Luang Prabang? By a landslide, a Lao lunch at Tamarind – an unassuming looking restaurant, cooking school and purveyor of Lao ingredients run by an Australian/Lao couple. The emphasis here is on authentic Lao food prepared with the freshest local produce, minus the more Thai-centric coconut and curry dishes that are sometimes mistaken for being Lao (read more on Lao cuisine here).

We tried:

– The Lao dipping platter with khai pene in lieu of bread or chips – the dips provided a kaleidoscope of colour and Lao flavour, and included smoky eggplant, a hot chilli paste mixed with buffalo skin, a fresh tomato salsa and a coriander/garlic blend

– Stuffed lemongrass (oua si khai) – lemongrass stalks slitted and stuffed with a mixture of chicken, kaffir lime and coriander, then roasted, served with obligatory sticky rice

– Bamboo shoot soup (gaeng nor mai) – young bamboo shoots and a mountain of local vegetables in a rich, hearty, earthy, green soup (vitamin overload!)

– A namesake tamarind juice and a ginger/lemongrass juice – perfect antidotes to the heat and some of my all time favourite flavours

Every sip, bite and taste was amazing, with the fragrant chicken in lemongrass the overall winner. Am already regretting there wasn’t enough time to sample more of the menu or take a cooking class. Note to the travel gods: there’d better be a next time!

P.S. Total bill – in case you’re wondering – 109,000 Lao kip, just over US$13!

Tamarind, opp. Wat Nong, Luang Prabang, Laos

When you go back to one cafe five times during a three day stay, you know it must be doing something right! In Le Banneton’s case, it’s a combination of their fresh, flaky French pastries and a calm setting facing a large standing gold Buddha statue in leafy temple grounds. The cafe can be found down the chic, boutique end of Sisavangvong Road towards the end of the peninsula, so it never seems too busy. Spot on service from the lovely Lao staff, a dark wood interior, antique collectables dotted around and copies of the New Yorker and Conde Nast Traveller to read complete the crushworthy picture.

Go for: chocolate croissants, quiche and lemon tart, sweet Lao service, totally chilling out
Not for: hmmm…crowds? It’s tough to think of a ‘not for’ this time – Le Banneton has the perfect cafe experience pretty much nailed!

Le Banneton, opp. Wat Sop, Sisavangvong Rd., Luang Prabang, Laos (there’s also a branch in Vientiane)

Not so much a restaurant review as per my usual ‘Eats’ but a dish in profile – a delicious Lao snack called khai pene. Ubiquitous on Luang Prabang’s menus, khai pene is basically dried river weed (think the Mekong River’s answer to seaweed), topped with sesame seeds, dried tomato and garlic then fried. It’s light, crispy, savoury and highly moreish, equally tasty eaten alone or with some kind of dipping sauce, like Lao chilli paste. Along with gracing most of the town’s menus, it’s also for sale by the packet at the local food market, so you can spread the khai pene love beyond Luang Prabang’s muddy shores!