Ban Moon Restaurant
Ban Moon Restaurant and Beer Garden is a true-blue Aussie ‘home-style’ restaurant set in the garden terrace of Barry and his wife’s Vientiane home. As you walk in you will be greeted by Barry with a nod and a handshake and ushered to your seat for possibly the coldest beer in Laos. Barry will have a good yarn with you whilst he takes your order and the hospitality of him and his wife Moon is so generous that you feel as though you’re sitting down to dinner at the home of a long-lost Uncle and Aunt. And this is what makes the place so great; it’s comfort food in a comfortable setting.
Ban Moon has a menu that towers over everything else in Vientiane. All dishes come in ‘man sized’ serves (you’ll see what we mean when you get there) so you have to have a good hunger before you go. The top-selling item would have to be Barry’s home made ‘king bonza’ pies. For the uninitiated, these are Australian-style meat pies with thick, crispy pastry and a rich meat filling. There are a myriad of variations including plain steak, steak and mushroom, steak and bacon, steak and kidney, chicken, seafood… the list goes on! Although the menu is always changing depending on availability of ingredients, favourites include chicken schnitzel, fish fillet, pork cutlet with spaghetti, rouladen and sausage casserole. This week’s special is the gigantic Pork Knuckle. Sides are usually mash and veggies or fries and salad (but we did see a certain Australian football team ordering mash and fries). That being said, there’s nothing that Barry and Moon won’t have a go at. They’ll happily cook you up a great Thai green curry or a beautiful Malaysian Rendang. Barry even makes his own home-made pate on occasion, as well as sausage rolls and small pies which are great for parties or other special occasions.
Originally one of Vientiane’s better kept secrets, Ban Moon is now becoming quite popular and Friday nights are particularly busy. Get in early or be prepared to drink a lot of cold beer. Open almost every day for lunch and dinner, you can’t go past Ban Moon for a big meal and some good old Aussie hospitality. Barry’s place is located off KhuVieng Road, just look out for the yellow restaurant sign “Ban Moon”, turn into the soi and drive to the end.
Ph: +856 20 55 705 750
