Pakse · Food
Checked 31 August 2026 · 3 official sources
EAT LIKE A LOCAL
Pakse eats Vietnamese in the morning, Lao-Thai in the evening, and drinks the best coffee in the country because it is grown an hour up the hill.
The small central market, first thing
The old market near the Pakse Hotel handles the morning trade — grilled meat, sticky rice, fruit, fresh rolls — while Dao Heuang out towards the bridge handles everything else. Come before 9am or the good stalls have packed up.
📍 Map · $
Lankham pho
Vietnamese beef pho served in the lobby of the Lankham Hotel on Route 13, small 20,000 kip and large 25,000, from early morning. It is the default Pakse breakfast for locals and travellers alike, and it is genuinely good.
📍 Map · $
Vida Bakery and the Thaluang coffee bars
Vida Bakery Café on Road 12 in Ban Thaluang makes sandwiches, wraps and bagels to order for about 28,000 kip, plus salads and smoothies; 124 Thaluang Coffee, on the side street between Banque Franco-Lao and Vida, pours Bolaven beans with madeleines. Between them, that is your plateau-day breakfast and lunch sorted.
📍 Map · $
Ping kai, tam mak hoong and a basket of sticky rice
The southern Lao evening standard: charcoal-grilled chicken, green papaya salad pounded to order, and sticky rice eaten by hand from shared plates. Say bo phet if you do not want it hot — the southern version of tam mak hoong is fiercer than the Vientiane one.
📍 Map · $