Cafe De Laos

I love everything from this restaurant. My fave thai Resturant. Druken noddles and payaya salad are my fave dishes

Café De Laos is now Champa Laos and is as good as ever.
My fave dish is the Curry Duck dish !

Love, love, LoVe this place!
So beautiful on the inside and the food is absolutely delicious!
The green curry is my favorite but everything my husband and I have tried here has been amazing. Corn fritters, cabbage salad and the chicken coconut soup are all great. It is one of our favorite places for date night.

Another dinner outing with my family. My husband choose this Thai/​Laos restaurant. We ordered the Som Tum Laos Style super spicey. The thai dumpling, mussels, sticky rice, laab beef and Pad Kiew Mou.
The som tum was great. Super spicy as requested. The thai dumpling tasted floury. lol. It was a mixture of ground pork, minced fungus mushroom and fried wonton shell. Sticky rice was good but small portion. Laab beef was good. Pad Kiew Mou is ok and the Mussells was good. We had 2 thai teas and 2 cokes.
Our bill was up there for two adults and 2 kids. lol. Overall the service was good and the food was good. I will give this one a 4 star because food portions were small. If it were alittle bigger I would give it a five star.
It’s also byob.

After going on an epic search for the best Thai BYOB’s in Philly, Café de Laos nears the top of the list. The pad thai & curry options are all ~$ 13 (and really, what else do you need at a Thai place?), and did I mention BYOB? However, the waiter did not hide his judgement as my (3) friends and I pulled out our second 1.5L bottle of wine for him to uncork (minus half a star). Minus the other half of a star because all though the pad thai was very good & a huge portion, it didn’t wow me.
The atmosphere is actually half-​classy, but casual enough to go on a 2^nd or 3^rd date with someone, or go with a group of friends. I read some complaints that it was too quiet, but when we went around 8:30pm it was about half full and had enough buzz about it that nobody seemed to mind our (probably loud) drunk ramblings.

So the last time i was here was prob when I was a senior in highschool. I thought the pad thai here was the most amazing thing i’ve ever eaten. I never went back, not sure why. But finally the other night a friend of mine said she wanted to try it out — so i figured, why not. I might as well since I remember it being amazing.
I must’ve had a terrible palate for food as a teen, bc it was far from amazing. It was decent, but nothing to rave about. Also, the restaurant was ridiculously quiet. It was almost uncomfortable.
Back to the food, we ordered…
Mok Nor Mai — catfish w/​steamed bamboo — wanted to give Laos food a try (even tho some have mentioned that it was not very authentic. The taste was kind of interesting — I dont know how else to describe it.
Tofu Massaman Curry — I’ve had better
Vegetarian Pad Thai — It was terrible. It was SUPER sweet and just all around NOT GOOD. I’m so sad that it was not as I remembered.
Cabbage Salad — This was probably the best dish of the night BUT I wouldn’t order it again bc you could easily make this at home.
All in all, it’s good enough to eat so i may return… eventually.

A friend and I came here and both ordered off the lunch menu (soup, appetizer and entrée for $ 8.95).
Soups:
— Lemon grass soup was a delicious blend of spicy and sour.
— Jasmine soup had WAY too much pepper — it was a struggle to finish.
Appetizers:
We both opted for Buddha’s dumplings, which were… interesting. in a good way. I think. The dipping sauce was a pleasant sweet and tangy concoction, but it didn’t seem all that fresh and I wouldn’t be surprised if it came from Trader Joe’s or something. The dumplings were fried and filled with some veggies of sorts. Not the most appetizing dish visually-​speaking, but it was pretty tasty.
Entrees:
The pad thai and the panang beef were satisfying and portioned just right. Neither were groundbreaking in any way, but there was nothing to complain about either.
The service was friendly and efficient. Ambience-​wise, this place is much better for dinner than lunch, with it’s handsome, but heavy, dark wood paneling covering every wall, thus making the place very dark. In general, I wouldn’t make a special trip here, but if you are in the area and craving Thai, Café de Laos is a solid option.

I love this place, they have some good Thai and Laos food. My fav is Som tun poo gong. I have a picture for that too. Take a look! I have this dish almost every week. OMG! Is was delicious everytime I went. The food come very quickly and alway right temp. But i have a small issue is little expensive. However, I still want to visit here again.

I came here with high hopes. I’ve tried Laotian food in West Philly and wasn’t a huge fan, but I was hoping to find a good new Thai place. The people here were really nice and the décor was cute enough, but it all just didn’t add up. The food was decent but not great, and it was a little expensive for what it was.
The green curry was deliciously flavored with a delicate heat, but the beef in it was tough and obviously just slices of London broil or some other cheap cut that normally requires long hours of cooking to make palatable. For $ 12, I expected this bowl to be bigger, or at least contain better quality beef. The rice it came with looked a bit hard and dry, and wasn’t fragrant like jasmine is supposed to be. The pad thai tasted fine, with unusually thin noodles that were pretty unique. However, there was not a lot of chicken in it, and the little chicken it did contain was quite dry. I also would have appreciated some more bean sprouts cooked into the pad thai, and maybe some tofu, egg, chives, peanuts, or other standard non-​noodle pad thai ingredients. The flavoring of the dish was decent, but overall it was pretty noodle-​heavy and monotonous.
I can’t say I’ll be back, but I’ll be nice and give them 3 stars rather than 2.

this restaurant is a two man show. the cook/​chef and the host-​waiter-​cashier-​busboy extraordinaire. that’s cuz the entire time we dined there on a tuesday night, there was only one other couple that came in halfway through our meal and a guy who came to pick up his takeout.
it’s located near the corner of 11^th and washington ave, so it’s in direct competition with a plethora of vietnamese restaurants.
i decided to order from the laotian side of the menu because i’ve had enough mediocre thai in this city to last me a lifetime. i went with the green curry with catfish (kaeng keo kwan pla duk — i had to look this up).
catfish is not my first choice of fish, but it’s very popular in laos (as verified by a quick google search). however, the catfish itself was essentially flavorless — either that or the coconut milk was so strong it masked the taste of the catfish. i love the assortment of vegetables that come in the curry, but it takes away from the catfish as the centerpiece of the dish.
portions are filling, but a bit small for the price. just sayin. and i think the prices are also a tad high for this part of town.
café de laos didn’t elicit any type of strong response from me, one way or the other.

I keep forgetting how much I love this place.
It’s a great neighborhood Thai-​Latotian BYOB. The food is always flavorful and fresh.
We had chicken in spicy green curry today which had a very nice texture and spicy sour flavor with a sweet smell of coconut. We had some Chicken Pad-​Thai that came very freshly made with a sweet tangy flavor. Thai dumplings for appetizers — yum.
Love it that it’s quiet and peaceful there especially in the middle of the week. Love the great selection in the menu. Love the calm service by the same staff that has been there for ages and ages. Love it that it is a BYOB and you can have a quiet conversation at dinner witout having to top the table next to you.
And I love the sticky rice with Mango for desert.
A note about kids — we came with a toddler and they were very accomodating, had a booster seat and high chair and she loved the Pad-​Thai.

Go here.
Order «Young Girl on Fire».
Thank me later.

This place really is as good as it gets. The food is superb– spicy, original, fresh. The service is quiet, efficient, and good-​natured. The location is also a plus, as there is street parking available and it’s just off of Washington Ave. It gets overshadowed by the Vietnamese/​Chinese places that surround it, but I’m glad because Café de Laos is never packed or loud. The BYOB is a huge plus, too.
I tend to stick with curries because I know what I like and because the menu is massive! I’ve tried several of the Thai and Laos curries and haven’t been disappointed yet. I don’t think I enjoyed the Pad Thai so much at this place though, but I think it could’ve been because I tried branching out and really wanted the curry anyway! It happens!
I tried the appetizer that has a taste of everything and wasn’t super-​impressed. It was fun to try a bit of everything though and we did finish it, but overall, I’m not that impressed with the apps. The soups are good and that’s what I generally choose if getting something before my delicious curry :)

Café De Laos should be under scientific observation because somehow the radio is still receiving signals from 1997. While deciding which bowl of stuff to order I was assaulted by Hanson’s Mmmbop, some Spice Girls and R. Kelly’s I Believe I Can Fly for the first time in over a decade. It might just be that there is something truly miraculous happening in the magnetosphere but I suspect something more ominous. While pretending to go to the bathroom I had a peek around for anything out of the ordinary. I found no evidence of Communist subversion but then again, I am no expert.
The quality of the food put my mind at ease for the moment. I doubt a front for high powered transmission equipment would be any good foodwise, but again I’m not an expert.

I thought this place was ok. Not thrilling, but ok.
Came here with my asian food meetup group. My bowl Tom Yum Goong of soup was really tasty. I also thought the Sai Krog (thai sausage) was incredibly flavorful. It was a really good portion for the price and I never had sausage with such a copious amount of Kaffir Lime in it. It was serious.
Next came the entrees. There was something crazy traditional that was pickled and I swear to God it was rotten. As we passed it around the table, each person took one bite of it and that was all we could stomach. Hey, we’re adventurous.
Honestly, I’m having trouble remembering my entrée. It really didn’t impress me that much. Most of the food we had struck me as good, but not enough to make me want to run back.
Maybe one day.

The décor is very nice (love the mosaic elephants), but the food is hit or miss. I went with a group so I got to try a bunch of different things. Their Tom Yum soup is delicious, with moderately spicy lemongrass-​infused broth and loads and loads and loads of fresh veggies. (tom) Yum. Perfect for a FRIGID February night. We also ordered the Laos sausage (thanks to Jamie S.‘s review) and loved all of the kaffir lime goodness.
The entrees were not as successful, but let’s start with the good. Pad Prik Khing — shrimp, red curry paste, string bean, kaffir lime — was a big hit with tangy sauce and fresh, crisp veggies. I’m also happy to report that the Green Curry was not overwhelmingly sweet or coconut-​y. On the otherhand, the Som Tum Laos — fresh grated green papaya with fermented fish & tomatoes — was just too fermented. I consider myself to be an adventurous eater, but I could not get past the rotten smell/​taste. Som Tum Laos: 1, Hayley: 0. I also was not impressed with the Holy Basil — the sauce was bland and there was little basil to speak of.
Philly has a severe lack of good Thai options, so I would come back here if the mood should strike me, especially since it’s BYOB… but next time I’m going to try the noodles.

This was the last place in Philly we stopped before heading back to D.C. We were looking for a nice place to eat, and were curious about what Lao cuisine was all about.
When we first entered the restaurant, it was almost completely empty. There was one person finishing up, but otherwise we had the entire place to ourselves. There were five people in the group, so there wasn’t a big problem getting a seat right away. The restaurant is nice, and has traditional Thai and Lao décor.
We ordered both the Thai and the Lao appetizers to try the full flavors of Southeast Asia. While I enjoyed the Thai papya salad a lot more than the Lao (personally preference), I really enjoyed the Lao beef jerky and the lao sausage. The Lao sausage was full of spices but not spicy, and its was really flavorful– something that I didn’t expect.
We also ordered the red curry and noodles with chicken. If you go, you should order a side of the cocunut jasmine rice– it will go very well with any dish. It’s big enough to share with one other person too. They also have sticky rice which comes in its own bamboo container.
The service was a little slow– with only the five of us, we managed to be there for two+ hours. Even when more customers came into the restaurant, it took forever for the food to come out and then for the server to take away our plates. When we asked for the check, she just flirted with another customer until we had to ask for the check again.
Overall, the food is good, and one of the onyl places I’ve seen so far that serves Lao food. I would go back, if the service was a little faster.

I think maybe our waittress was rude to us (at least at first), though I can’t be sure because there is that language/​cultural barrier. Even so, it wasn’t bubbling enthusiasm and hospitality that I was getting from her. My friend and I always seem to show up to a restaurant just before parties start filing in — which is a great thing for us, though it definitely throws us off when we first walk in. At any rate, it was empty when we arrived and yet, we felt like they really didn’t want us there.
As for the food, my chicken/​rice/​veggie combo was essentially fried rice without egg. It was not very exciting, but I should chalk this up to me being both somewhat ignorant of Thai food and also, somewhat afraid of spicey things. Still, it could have been at least slightly more interesting/​tasty.
I will probably try this again, as I do really like Thai food and I feel that it’s possible I just ordered something boring from their extensive menu. (My judgement of the ambience/​staff still stands.)

This has become my favorite place for thai food in the city!
I still crave their pad thai above all others, or more specifically their Siam Noodles, which is basically pad thai with a ton of veggies and tofu and incredibly delicious.
We’ve continued to sample their dishes and have yet to be disappointed; hubby’s favorite is the stuffed catfish, and their curry. Try the thai crepes also.
Service has also been much better the many times we’ve been, and the staff are really friendly. They recognize us and many of the people who come in, so it has that great combination feel of something exotic and something really neighborhoody.

A sit-​down restaurant serving Laotion, Thai, and Laotion-​Thai fusion food (that section is lovingly titled «Thai-​Laos Relationship Bridge»). Its a really cute byo and alternative date spot. I don’t know much about Laotion food, but I do know I like how they handle their sausage. As a guide, the Laos sausage is under the salad section of the Laos menu, naturally… The sausage are housemade and are a must order. I felt like I was eating chorizo injected with Tom Yum soup, which makes sense, its packed with lemongrass and lime and well crisped on the outside.
An order of beef Om Laos curry proved neither impressive nor unique. Hor Mok Pla w catfish (steamed marinated fish in banana leaf) was more entertaining. The pieces of cat fish were joined by lightly pickled bamboo shoot strings that were subtle but tangy. The menu is HUGE and we barely touched the surface.