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Café De Laos is a Laotian-Thai restaurant located in South Philadelphia, right off of 11th and Washington Ave. I highly recommend it as an alternative to the large, warehouse-style Chinese restaurants which are located right on the corner. Café De Laos is definitely a step up.

We had an appetizer of thai crepes, which featured ground chicken and peanuts with a light salad. It was really excellent. We had that along with a bowl of Lemon Grass Soup with Chicken. It was nice and spicey - good if you’re having a cold. Our entrées consisted of Pad Thay, which was good but not spectacular - the real treat was the Laotian Duck Curry or Kaeng Ped Yang. This was a dark yellow curry sauce, both rich and creamy with a slightly sweet tang to it. The mix had roasted duck, tomatoes, egg plant, mushrooms and a variety of other ingredients. I can’t say how good this was but it did cause me to eat to the point in needed some mild pain killers. It was served with traditional sticky rice.

All in all, the food was really excellent. The bathrooms were very clean and elegant with a candle lit in each. The only complaint would be the sound track - it was really horrible. Like some really bad John Tesh box set. I would consider Café De Laos a hidden gem in South Philly well worth checking out. Hope to see you there.

Café De Laos
1117 South 11th Street, Philadelphia, PA
Tel: [215] 467-1546

Bon Appétit

Man, I’ve had Chinese food eveyrday for the past week and a half. I don’t know what it is, but I’m hooked. I usually prefer Japanese to Chinese but I haven’t found a really good Japanese restaurant to go to (or one close to work, either). What could it mean?

Yeah, Yirgalem, the new Etheopian restaurant opened their doors last night and dropped a bomb more righteous than the Bush Administration. I highly recommend it. They’re located in the Knickerbocker Place at 2623 Monroe Street.

Mmm…, Taj is definitely the spot for good, cheap eats. Thanks to Charles and Jack for makin’ the trip. Until the next belly-breaking episode.