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Thursday, March 13, 2025
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Lao Restaurant Debuts on Asia’s 50 Best Extended List for First Time in History

This Week

On 12 March, Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants announced the extended 51-100 list ahead of the live awards ceremony. Lao makes its mark with Doi Ka Noi, which is ranked 86 on the extended list, making it the first Lao restaurant to be featured in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants.

Chef Ponpailin ‘Noi’ Kaewduangdy
Chef Ponpailin ‘Noi’ Kaewduangdy

Helmed by chef Ponpailin ‘Noi’ Kaewduangdee, the restaurant offers an evolving menu of regional Lao cuisine inspired by the chef’s childhood in a rural, off-grid farming community.

Ponpailin ‘Noi’ Kaewduangdee was born in 1980 in Pon Paeng village in central Laos. The second iteration of her restaurant, Doi Ka Noi, opened in 2016 and serves a small weekly changing menu of around ten dishes on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays only. 

The focus is on regional, seasonal Lao cuisine, which includes dishes from the country’s ethnic groups. Many recipes and ingredients are seldom found elsewhere. Ingredients are bought in the local morning market, grown in the restaurant’s organic garden, or foraged. 

Noi is the first and currently only Lao member of the global food movement, Slow Food, and the restaurant is the first in Laos to appear on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants extended list.

Southern-style Mekong fish soup with paddy herb and pineapple
Southern-style Mekong fish soup with paddy herb and pineapple
Stir-friend weaver ant eggs with egg, chilli and garlic
Stir-friend weaver ant eggs with egg, chilli and garlic

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2025 list of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants will be revealed at the awards ceremony held on 25 March in Seoul, in collaboration with host destination partner Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA), and the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

 

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