Restaurant L’Adresse: Your New Address for Fine Food

Some may remember L’Adresse de Tinay at its old location in the Paris Hotel on Samsenthai Rd. The food was usually excellent but the location in the hotel lobby was questionable and the atmosphere always a little stiff. The owners, Delphine and Tinay must have recognised this, as they closed the old location and disappeared for a while to re-emerge with a brand spanking new restaurant in the heart of Vientiane opposite Wat Ong Tue (next to Makphet).

The new place really is an address you’ll want to look up for your next night out. In complete contrast to the previous locale, the new design sees a more modern, casual dining space which is conducive to conversation rather than stifling it. Painted brick interior walls part at the kitchen where patrons may view the chef, Tinay, hard at work in what looks like a top-notch and professional kitchen. Elsewhere wines are displayed in an interesting glass exhibit cooled by a very obvious A/C Unit and if you can’t find the massive menu then you probably need glasses. Table settings are stylish, with modish egg-chairs that are certainly unique but also extremely comfortable. It’s kind of like eating in a very swanky lounge room with your own personal chef. Cap it all off with a nice little alcove area outdoors and you have a venue good for either a full meal or a casual drink. The only vaguely odd addition, noticed by a friend of mine, was the rugby ball and sports shirt adorning one wall which lent a vague sports-bar feeling that didn’t really fit the overall theme.

If the above description didn’t whet your appetite, let’s move on to the food. On the night that I visited there was a great set menu available and some of our party ordered this. It included a marrow soup as an entree, of which I tried a spoonful. This was served in a glass coffee cup and the flavour, though difficult to describe precisely, was exceptionally rich and creamy, slightly salty but all in all superb. One thing led to another and soon most of our party was vying for a taste: this soup is a winner and highly recommended.

When main course time came around, we took different dishes. First was the rack of lamb. This comes in a rack of three, five or seven. Five would easily satisfy most people but lamb-lovers can go for seven. The tender and flavoursome lamb is likely the best meat dish offered by L’adresse and this is the one I recommend to other carnivores out there. For myself I went with a Filet de Bouf, just to make a good comparison, which was served with French fries and my choice of red wine sauce. It was a nice cut, good size and was fairly juicy and tender on the inside. The set menu included a Shepherd’s Pie, which is a strange item to find at a French restaurant. This was served naked, without a shell of pastry, showing off a lovely layered effect. Good presentation, room for improvement on the taste though, apparently. The final main on our table was the Duck Cassoulet, nicknamed “Grandma Lydie’s Special”.  The distinctive duck is served over a slow-cooked cassoulet of white beans and is accompanied by a Toulouse sausage cooked in the same ‘bouillon’ used to cook the duck. This dish, the signature of the restaurant, was absolutely spectacular in every regard. Highly recommended.

Dessert brought a flaming banana crepe to dazzle our table and also a chocolate melloux that was nice and rich, if not quite moist enough. The wisest choice, however, is probably the sampler in which you are served coffee with a variety of tiny portions of all the desserts on the menu.

For an excellent meal in a casual but stylish setting, you can’t go past L’adresse. Find them here and book a table on +856 20 56913434. L’adresse is open for lunch and dinner every day except Tuesdays.