2/16–Luang Prabang dinner

Later that evening, we decided we were in the mood for a western food and scoped out a restaurant called Boss Burger, located across the Bamboo bridge.  This had all the makings of a great adventure! First we got to actually cross the bamboo bridge, not just look at it.  The bridge is only open during the dry season as it gets washed away when the rainy season comes and the river rises.  It is rebuilt every year, and a new cycle begins. Second, we can have actual all beef burgers cooked to order on a lovely patio deck overlooking the river.  How can we lose?

We easily make our way to the bridge and pay our 5,000 Kip (.60 cents) each fee (“for building the bamboo bridge again next year and every year thereafter”) – then gingerly step up onto the bridge.  It doesn’t sway like the tree canopy, but it sure isn’t 100% sturdy either!  There are gaps in the thing big enough for a small dog to fall through, and you definitely don’t want to drop your phone, but, hey, it’s the bamboo bridge!  What do you want?

And the views from the middle are quite nice, as long as you stand still.  LOL.

On the other side, we have to climb up a set of not so even stairs to reach the top of the hillside which is bracketed on one side with a jewelry craft store and the other with the Dyen Sabai restaurant (which the bridge ticket clearly states is NOT supporting the bridge).  We navigate our way past the hens and their chicks, keeping our toes well out of pecking range…

…until we reach….what?  TV corner!  We’ve no clue what to make of this, but it is definitely a great landmark when explaining where to turn for the bridge – or for the burger or pizza joint down the street.  Too funny – where did they get all those old TVs anyway?

Being that we are early (aren’t we always?), we divert into Wat Phan Luang Ratsoudaram, on the opposite side of the street from TV corner, and manage to fall in behind the monks who are just leaving.

Its a pretty big facility, and really nicely appointed. Gorgeous gold leaf on the exterior trim and beautiful, somewhat decayed (which actually make them more interesting), murals depicting the Buddha’s life.

There are also a bunch of small stupas and some interesting statuary scattered around the courtyard.

We’ve spent enough time here that we can now proceed to the restaurant, slowly walking down the quiet and deserted street. What a difference being across the river makes!  As we approach, we find the gate securely locked and a big sign out front saying closed.  What? Darn it!  We are so jinxed with this!  Ed had just looked at their Facebook feed before we came and it didn’t say anything about being closed. But another note on the door says they are closed due to the funeral of a friend (which could be the big gathering that is happening just one house down).  Shucks!  What to do?  The only option on this side of the river is Dyen Sabai, which has good reviews, just not what we had our hearts – and taste buds set upon.

So, back we go, to Dyen Sabai, where our initial reaction is not positive. There is no hostess stand or anything when you walk in, so we sort of wander into the very small bar area, looking around, and no one pays any attention to us whatsoever.  Hmmmm.  I finally get someone’s attention at the bar and they ask if we are going or coming.  When we say we want dinner, they ask for reservations, which of course we don’t have.  The Farang woman (French maybe?) said maybe she could fit us in, and walked us back into the seating area, which turns out to be a multi-level patio stretching down to a cliff over the river, with traditional Lao huts (i.e., shoes off, sit on the flour) and regular table seating options.  It’s gorgeous!  .

She finds a table for 6 that is reserved at 8:30 and tells us we can have that table if we are gone by 8.  No problem!  We’re the fastest eaters in the West, well, East now….So we settle down at our table to peruse the menu, which turns out to be more BBQ – or what they call “fondue” – however, we don’t want that 2 nights in a row so we first order our wine and beer, then finally settle on buffalo with garlic and ginger for Ed and Fried bamboo shoots with pork for me.  But the service is not the most attentive in the world.  The drinks take forever to get to us – which we wouldn’t really care about, except we do have a deadline (albeit a very generous one) – and they never come back to take our dinner order.  To their credit, they are busy, so I finally flag someone down and give them our food order.

In a way, it doesn’t really matter that everything is taking so long because we are thoroughly entertained by the people who just walk into the restaurant and flounce their way right down through the tables, and sit where ever they please.  It is hysterical.  The waiters have to try to tell them they can’t sit, but most of the worst offenders are – yes, you guessed it – Chinese, and only one or two of the waiters speak Chinese. Then the French hostess/owner lady gets involved and has go get them and put them at a table with a time limit – but then they still don’t understand that.  And this goes on all night – for the entire time we are there – and we can only imagine how much worse it must be later in the evening.  Oh gosh – it doesn’t matter how the food turns out, the entertainment value is by far worth it. 

In the long run though, the food is worth it too. Ed’s buffalo is excellent, cooked to perfection, not tough or chewy and spiced just right. My bamboo shoots are enough to feed an army, and while I wasn’t expecting ground pork, it works really well with the texture and taste of the rest of the dish.

We finish as much of our plates as we can, then reluctantly get up to leave (we’re still having fun watching the musical tables/touched it, its mine games), paying our bill at the bar and heading down the embankment to now cross the bamboo bridge in the inky darkness.  Pick your feet up! Put your camera in your pocket!

Back on our side of the river, we make a pit stop at the Icon Klub, a snazzy little bar we have been reading about.  Turns out to be a great find, the owner is the sweetest, funniest lady, who knows her way around cocktails, and is terribly disappointed in us boring people who only want beer and wine. The crowd at the teeny tiny bar is lovely, we end up spending the whole night talking to two guys who were in a seminar in Singapore and came here for the holiday.  It was just a lovely end to a great evening.  It’s great when a plan doesn’t work out, but the evening turns out good anyway!