Mekong Meals Food Tour with 15+ Tastings
Description
As the sun sets over Luang Prabang, the real food scene starts to simmer. Street stalls fire up their grills, pestles pound out papaya salad, and the city’s boldest flavours come to life. On this evening moveable feast , a local food guide will take you far beyond the tourist menus. We’ll graze our way through riverside eateries, local favourites, and back-alley markets. Expect over 15 tastings - from sticky rice roasted over hot coals to herb-packed Lao sausage, sesame-spiked beef platter, grilled Mekong fish, and a steamy bowl of khao piak sen noodles, and much more. It’s everything you need to get a real taste of Laos, and off the tourist trail.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Our evening feasting tour of 15+ tastings invites guests on a culinary experience around the historical city of Luang Prabang. It's a carefully curated food adventure, led by our team of professional Laos food guides. Before we get started, our tour reflects the local cuisine, & the limitations of street food vendors means we unfortunately cannot cater for every dietary restriction. Here's an honest appraisal for the tour, so no-one is disappointed: ✘ Unsuitable for vegetarian diets sorry, as there would be 4-5 less tastings. ✓ Suitable for mild gluten & lactose intolerances, but we advise against ✖️ celiac disease, as there are traces of gluten in 3-4 tastings with unavoidable soy sauce. ✔ Pork & beef is used at a couple of places where there's no alternatives, though the guest won't go hungry if either meat is their only restriction. ✖️ Unsuitable for severe allergies & halal, due to risk of traces & cross-contamination. If you are feeling adventurous for a foodie journey, read on!
Meet our food-obsessed host, as we crunch into riverweed crackers and hmong mushroom dip, before an saffron orange-robed monk invites us for an open floor chat to discover about their unique lifestyle in Luang Prabang. After a short blessing, we'll hop foot to the Mekong, as sun sets over the riverside eateries, with plates of pun pa grilled fish served with a bundle of fresh herbs and vegetables.
As night falls over Luang Prabang, the true flavours of the city come alive. The air fills with the scent of sizzling charcoal-grilled meats and piquant papaya salads. Go it alone though and you'll merely scratch the surface of Laotian cuisine. On our nightly moveable feast, a local food guide will take you far beyond the tourist menus. We’ll graze our way by foot through family owned joints, local favourites, and back-alley markets. Expect 15+ tastings - from steamed catfish in banana leaf, to herb-packed Lao sausage, beef platter and a cold beer Laos, and charcoal-fired khao piak sen noodles in pork broth, among many more surprises. It’s everything you need to get a real taste of Laos. This is the side of Luang Prabang that restaurants won’t show you. Come hungry.
A short tuk-tuk ride takes us a 60 year-old dessert shop, whose recipes are a closely guarded family secret, passed over generations. The tour ends close to the meeting point in central Luang Prabang. Enjoy local hospitality and meet new friends along the way, ,ending the tour armed with the knowledge you’ll need to continue eating local food across Laos and beyond.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- See 'What to Expect' section and 'What's Included' for info on dietary restrictions
- We recommend comfortable shoes. Bring rain gear, if rain looks likely. There's lot of tastings to try, come hungry!
Reviews(82)
Toun was great. It ended up being a solo tour and we had a lot of great food and he was very knowledgeable.
Our guide MJ or otherwise Money was a very nice and helpful guy! We had enough time to taste all the different meals! Everything is on walking distance and for the last meal you go by TukTuk! Unfortunately it started raining during our tour, after we visited the local temple, however MJ arranged a TukTuk who brought us to all the different restaurants! Overall a very nice experience to enjoy the local food and hospitality of the Lao people!
It was a very nice experiance. The places we went to try food were local and the food itself was tasty. We enjoyed the visit at the temple and talk with the monk very much. Our guide was very friendly and told us a lot about the culture. We had a good time!
Our guide Toun was amazing. He was very informative, patient and made our tour very enjoyable. We had a great time with lots of unique and delicious food, and very generous servings. We highly recommend this tour and Toun in particular!
We had a great time with our guide „Money“. He explained a lot about Lao, the culture and the food. The time in the temple with the monk was interesting as well. The food was great and we enjoyed it. Thanks for this lovely evening!!!
Wow! I cannot recommend this tour enough! Our guide, Sack, was so knowledgeable and told us so much about the history (and present) of Laos, and even shared his own personal stories of being a novice monk! The food was INCREDIBLE and the locations we were brought to were all really cool. Probably the most generous food tour I’ve been on (and I’ve been on many)! Full-sized portions at each place, and all delicious! It’s a long tour and definitely worth it! Thank you to Sack for the amazing tour!
We had a great time on this tour with Tune. He was very friendly and we loved the food we tried.
This was a great tour. Not only did we learn about food & got to try so many different varied foods, but out guide. Somsack was a delight. He gave us a lot of information about the culture, which we found very helpful. I really liked the I formTion about the lives of the monks. After visiting so many temples, it was great to have some first hand information about it. We got to meet a monk & get a blessing, which I found very moving. The guide told us about what was going to happen & if someone was not comfortable, no one felt obliged. (My husband didn’t & all was good) The most important part: the food we tasted was great. We were so full by the end that we couldn’t have another bite.
This was a great tour. Not only did we learn about food & got to try so many different varied foods, but out guide. Somsack was a delight. He gave us a lot of information about the culture, which we found very helpful. I really liked the I formTion about the lives of the monks. After visiting so many temples, it was great to have some first hand information about it. We got to meet a monk & get a blessing, which I found very moving. The guide told us about what was going to happen & if someone was not comfortable, no one felt obliged. (My husband didn’t & all was good) The most important part: the food we tasted was great. We were so full by the end that we couldn’t have another bite. Highly recommend this experience!!
We had a wonderful food tour with Sack in Luang Prabang, evening tour. We tried a lot of new dishes and he gave excellent information and very interesting. You visit local restaurants and food stalls. The visit to the temple was a really nice addition. I recommend it 100%.
