The night market on the main road is the default eating option for most visitors, offering cheap Lao standards in a sociable outdoor setting. For a more considered meal, the Boat Landing restaurant south of town is the long-standing recommendation for traditional highland cuisine from the region's various ethnic communities.
In town, several Lao restaurants around the market serve reliable noodle soups (khao piak sen) and rice dishes, and the Vietnamese and Chinese influences visible in the town's demographics appear in a few Chinese-Lao restaurants. Coffee from the Bolaven Plateau is widely available; Luang Namtha's own guesthouses and cafes do a reasonable morning cup.