Category: Lao

AsianLaoNew MexicoRating: OutstandingRio RanchoSushiThai

Vong Sushi Thai and Laos Cuisine – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Grammatically any of the following is correct:  Laotian cuisine, Lao cuisine or the cuisine of Laos.  Just don’t ever call it “Laosy cuisine.”  That would not only be a malapropism, it would be wholly inaccurate.  The cuisine of Laos is among the most dynamic and delicious in Southeast Asia, if not the world.  One of the reasons Laotian cuisine doesn’t receive the accolades it deserves is because of its neighbors.  The Lao People’s Democratic Republic is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia bordered by Myanmar (formerly Burma), China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.  To some extent, these neighbors (at least China, Vietnam and Thailand) have surpassed Laos on the world’s culinary stage–not necessarily because their cuisine is superior, but because it’s got a much larger platform. It’s no surprise that Lao cusine has been greatly influenced by neighboring nations, but a French influence is also in evidence. From 1893 to 1954 when it gained full independence, Laos was part of the Protectorate of French Indonesia.  So what’s the Cuisine of Lao like? It might help to understand that its closest “relative” is the cuisine of the Issan region of northern Thailand. New Mexicans who love their food a bit on the…

2023 James Beard Foundation - "Best Chef - Southwest" Finalist2024 James Beard Foundation "Best Chef - Southwest" FinalistAsianJames Beard Foundation (JBF) Award Nominees & WinnersLaoOklahomaRating: N/R (Not Rated)United States

Ma Der Lao Kitchen – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

In Italian, the term “mangia, mangia,” is an encouragement to enjoy food abundantly.  In Spanish, the polite phrase “Buen Provecho” translates to “enjoy your meal.”  The French term for “enjoy your meal” is “bon appétit” while the Cajun equivalent is “Allons manger.”   You’re probably acquainted with most of these terms, but here’s one you may not know.  In Lao, “Ma Der!”(ma-derr) is a phrase that basically means “come eat! or “come through!”  Throngs of Oklahoma City’s savvy diners have been coming to eat at Ma Der Lao Kitchen since 2022.  It’s a good bet not all of them realize the meaning of the restaurant’s name.  Perhaps some of them believe “Ma Der” is someone’s mother. Even if not everyone understands the term “Ma Der,” denizens of the Oklahoma state capital and beyond are intimately familiar with the restaurant’s reputation.  Indeed, Ma Der Lao Kitchen has a national profile.  In 2022, Bon Apetit named it among the 50 best new restaurants in the country.  The New York Times went one better, in 2022 naming it one of America’s fifty best restauants.  Ma Der also made it to USA Today’s listing of restaurants of the year for 2024.  Additionally, Chef and owner…

AlbuquerqueLaoNew Mexico

Sticky Rice – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Because of the mulicultural melting pot that is America, it’s impossible to name the one food that defines us as Americans, the one food universally loved by us all.  Hot dogs and apple pie?  Contrary to the aphorism “as American as hot dogs and apple pie,” even hot dogs and apple pie have their detractors.  Ditto for burgers, mashed potatoes, fried chicken or any of the foods named by respondents to “most popular food in America” polls such as this one. Only in countries that are more monocultural will you truly find foods that represent an entire culture and which are beloved by virtually all its citizenry.  In Vietnam, for example, the consensus national food is pho.  Pho is served in households, stalls on street corners where people gather and at upscale and inexpensive restaurants throughout the country.  It’s eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner (and probably as a snack). Perhaps no country’s national identity is more inextricably tied to one food than the identity of Laos is linked to sticky rice.   Yes, far more than pho is considered the definitive food of Vietnam.  Sticky, or “glutinous,” rice (despite the fact that it’s actually gluten-free) has been growing in mainland…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2021Gone But Not ForgottenLaoNew Mexico

Pho Lao – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno9:52 AM

One definition of audacity is “the state of being bold or daring—particularly with disregard for danger, rudeness or pressure.” Audacity is nine-year-old fourth grader Akilan Sankaran (son of my friend Sridevi) unflinchingly spelling such words as “rejoneador” and “mnemonic” to win the New Mexico Spelling bee over eighth graders who’d participated in the annual event as many as six times. Audacity is a miniature dachshund protecting its family from the menacing mailman who dares trespass daily into the family’s territory. Audacity is Homer Simpson eating fugu, a blowfish which can be toxic if not properly sliced. It may not be as bold or daring as the aforementioned examples, but your humble blogger recently demonstrated great audacity. When my friend and colleague Tuan Bui asked me to pick a restaurant where we could enjoy pho-nomenal pho, I didn’t take him to one of the Duke City’s tried and proven Vietnamese restaurants, but to a Lao restaurant which itself demonstrates audacity by calling itself “Pho Lao.” Having grown up in Vietnam and still partaking frequently of his mom’s very authentic Vietnamese food preparations, Tuan certainly knows more about pho than I ever will. My restaurant choice would either expose me as a…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2026Gone But Not ForgottenLaoSushiThai

Sakura Sushi Thai & Laos Cuisine – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno2:02 AM

Opinions vary as to what the next “hot” cuisine in America will be. As an independent observer of the New Mexico culinary condition, I’m more interested in how long it will take for that heat to make its way to the Land of Enchantment…and whether its sizzle will wow Duke City diners or pass us by. In 2005, Bon Appetit declared Peruvian the next hot cuisine. Apparently Albuquerque didn’t think it was so hot because Perumex, the city’s first and only Peruvian restaurant at the time both opened and closed the year of Bon Appetit’s proclamation. Thankfully in 2011 Rene and Monica Coronado opened Pollito Con Papas to give the Duke City a second chance at a taste of Peru. In 2013, Sara Correa launched Sara’s Pastries which gives Duke City diners a sweeter perspective on Peruvian cuisine. If history repeats itself, perhaps Lao cuisine, the cuisine of Laos (officially the Lao People’s Democratic Republic) will follow Thai and Vietnamese cuisines as the hot cuisine embraced by ethnic-food ravenous American diners. That would be my wish and my prediction. Laos is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia bordered by Myanmar (formerly Burma), China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. The influence of…

AsianClosed in 2016Gone But Not ForgottenLaoThaiVietnamese

Mekong Ramen House – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno11:51 PM

In a 2009 movie entitled Ramen Girl, Abby, a wayward American girl unacculturated to life in Tokyo witnesses the radiant smiles on the faces of diners as they eat ramen and receives an epiphany that her life’s calling is to become a ramen chef. Over time she persuades a ramen restaurant’s temperamental Japanese chef to mentor her. Initially he assigns her to perform the most menial and degrading tasks, but she perseveres and eventually convinces her tyrannical mentor of her sincerity and he teaches her how to make ramen. Alas, it’s ramen with no soul until she also learns that ramen must be prepared from the heart and not from her head. Ramen with soul? Ramen chefs? Ramen prepared from the heart? That just doesn’t describe the ramen experience for most Americans. In the fruited plain, ramen is typically thought of as “budget” food, something to fill your belly when your bank account is empty. Few foods offer as much bang for the buck as the ubiquitous low-brow meal most often associated with the college student demographic. Fittingly, in Japan ramen is often called “gakusei ryori” which translates to “student cuisine.” It’s not just students and budget-conscious diners, however, who…