Soukvimarn Cuisine Lao
While Laos has great street food, if you’re after restaurant fare, locals in Vientiane will probably point you to Soukvimarn Cuisine Lao.
This family-run establishment has been operating since 1990 and presently remains in the capable hands of the family matriarch, Khamxao Southivongnorath.
It serves a wide variety of traditional dishes, including laap (minced meat and herb salad), sai gok (fermented sausage), sin thoup (grilled beef) and keng normai (bamboo shoot soup).
The restaurant also offers dishes that aren’t easy to find elsewhere like goy plaa or raw fish salad, and turkey laap, but do call ahead to check for availability.
Adress: 133 Chanthakhoummarn Road, Chanthabouly District, Vientiane, Laos
New Toho Food Center
In 1888, five friends from China opened a noodle shop called Toho Antigua Panciteria in Binondo district in the Philippines.
When the founders returned to their homeland, they sold the restaurant to the Wong family, who have run the eatery – now called New Toho Food Center – for three generations.
Despite the change of owner, the original Chinese Filipino menu remains almost unchanged. You can’t go wrong with favourites like asado (braised pork), lumpiang shanghai (deep-fried spring rolls) and the restaurant’s signature pancit canton (stir-fried noodles).
The restaurant has expanded, and now operates four Toho Antigua outlets in Metro Manila.
Adress: 422 Tomas Pinpin Street, Binondo, Metro Manila, Philippines
Khmer Surin
If you’re in the mood for authentic Khmer cuisine in the comfort of a sit-down restaurant, head to Khmer Surin.
Dating back to 1996, it is considered one of the oldest restaurants in Phnom Penh. The “Surin” in its name refers to the neighbouring Thai province of Surin, and the restaurant serves Thai cuisine alongside Khmer specialties.
A must-try is amok trei or spiced fish mousse, considered the national dish of Cambodia.
Another favourite is samlor majew kroeung, a traditional soup that gets its characteristic sourness from kroeung, a spice paste made of lemongrass, turmeric, galangal and kaffir lime leaves.
Adress: No 8E0, Street 57, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Pho Dau
Pho is the dish that comes to mind when people think of Vietnamese food, and Pho Dau is the place locals in Ho Chi Minh City go to when they’re hankering for the rice noodle soup.
The humble eatery dates back to 1958 when it was opened by Madame Dau who hailed from the city of Nam Dinh in northern Vietnam. It is now run by her son Binh.
Typically, northern-style pho has no beansprouts, and unabashedly uses MSG for umami in place of hoisin sauce, which is more common in the southern version.
Beef pho is the only delicacy served at Pho Dau, and you can choose from regular sliced beef or oxtail.
Adress: 288 M1 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, Ward 8, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Nasi Katok Mabohai
Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei, is said to be the second-most expensive city in Southeast Asia after Singapore.
But in this oil-rich sultanate, there’s an iconic staple called nasi katok that is priced at just 1 Brunei dollar ($0.75).
Nasi means “rice” and katok means “to knock” in the local Malay dialect, as customers have to knock on the vendor’s window to place their orders.
Nowadays, there are countless nasi katok stalls across Brunei, but Nasi Katok Mabohai, which first opened its window in the 1980s, is the real OG.
Nasi Katok Mabohai still serves nasi katok – which is similar to nasi lemak except the rice is cooked in less coconut milk and the sambal is sweeter – and ordering this specialty through the window makes for an experience of its own.
Adress: Low San Flat, 10 Jalan Mabohai, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
According to airasia.com
