6.147 Lao Spaghetti

6.147

1 (Mon) June 2015

Lao Spaghetti

2.5

at Côte d’Azur

-Vientiane-

with various participants of the meeting
IMG_0954

Mission to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic + Personal Deviation : Day 3 (see previously 6.146 Stir-Fried Pork with Basil).

In Vientiane for a tobacco-related mission, follow-up to the mission that had brought me here last March (see generally 6.067 Salmon Zosui).  Arrived Saturday night, a day early to do some prep work while hanging out in the city.  The mission was completed in a single day today.  Heading back to Manila tonight.

IMG_0956
Côte D’Azur is a French restaurant, located on Quai Fa Ngum along the Mekong River.
IMG_0962
Very popular, particularly among expats.
IMG_0963
Wood-fired oven, nice.

After a hard day’s work, various participants of the meeting shared a quick dinner before I had to leave for the airport.

The venue was Côte D’Azur, as highly recommended by our local counterparts.

IMG_0957
As with other French restaurants that I’ve visited in Vientiane (see for example 5.171 Lamb Ribs in Cream Sauce ), the menu here also offers Italian items, such as pizza and pasta.

The food was quite good.  I left the ordering up to others, who opted only for pizzas and pastas.  The Lao Spaghetti, an otherwise simple and standard Mediterranean-syle oil-based seafood pasta, had a distinct local flavor from the addition of holy basil and chilies, way too spicy but tasty nevertheless, perfectly al dente spaghetti.  Every item on the table was okay per se, but a meat dish* or two, something more classically French, would’ve been better to round out the spread.

On my next trip, I may explore this restaurant further.

 

IMG_0960
Pizza Côte D’Azur (3.0) — the eponymous house pie; crust was dry and thin, yet moist and chewy; perfectly cooked; rogue olive.

*In retrospect, I’m wondering if they’d intentionally avoided ordering anything too expensive out of politeness, as I was footing the bill.  If I’d realized this at the time, I would’ve taken an active role in the selection.

IMG_0967

Leave a Reply