Lao Kitchen is the easiest introduction to Lao food in Vientiane. The menu is in English with photographs, the staff explain dishes if you ask, and prices are mid-range without being touristy. The room itself is bright and informal — a wooden townhouse near the centre, usually packed with a mix of travellers and locals.
Order the laap with chicken or fish, the mok pa (steamed fish wrapped in banana leaf), and a basket of sticky rice. The sin dat barbecue, where you grill thin slices of meat on a domed hotplate while the broth boils around it, is fun in a group. Cold Beer Lao all round.