Bane Phonkeo, 110 47th Street, San Diego, California
By Sandi Masori
SAN DIEGO — My dad and I like to try out new foods, and especially new ethnic food. We’ve been trying to “eat around the world” and have been looking for restaurants that represent different countries. When it comes to Asian food, it’s easy to find some such as Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, and Korean, but much harder to find some of the smaller countries. Laos for instance. There’s only one restaurant in San Diego that is exclusively Lao, and that’s Bane Phonkeo. There are a few restaurants that are Thai and Lao, but only one for authentic Lao cuisine.
So, we made the trek to 110 47th Street to give it a try. The place is tiny, literally a “hole-in-the-wall,” with bookshelf ambiance. It’s family owned and operated, which I always like to support. You walk up to the counter, order your food, pay cash (no credit cards), and then sit at one of the seven tables in the place. Most of their business comes from take out or catering. To that end, I was pleased to see that in the time we were there, 3 people who looked as though they could be Laotian came in to order or pick up food.
We asked what was a traditional Lao dish that didn’t have pork or shellfish in it. They suggested the “Laab Salad” with beef and the Lao chicken noodle soup.
The Laab beef salad was a tangy, citrus-flavored dish made with small pieces of beef and cilantro. I ordered it at a spicy level of 2 and it still packed a pretty good kick. My dad took a big bite without noticing one of the little chilis and had to take a minute to recover. The chef suggested sticky rice with it, and we got some, but my dad is trying to do a low-carb diet so didn’t take advantage of the spice saving properties of it. The rice came in a cute little wicker basket/ bowl that I had never seen before.
We also ordered the chicken noodle soup, which used the wide rice noodles. I didn’t know what to expect from that dish, and found it a little bland, kind of like Chinese won-ton soup. You squeeze lime and add sprouts to it to give it some flavor and crunch. It wasn’t bad, and was very filling with more than enough to bring home, but it wasn’t something that I can see myself dreaming about either. A good staple or comfort food, I guess. I put some of the beef laab into the soup and that added a lot of flavor.
The people were attentive and happy to answer questions about some of the Thai and Laotian pieces that decorated the walls. The food came out very quickly, and the chef was happy to make recommendations and to help us figure out what to order.
I would say that I’m glad that I tried it, and I recommend that others try it as well, but I don’t know that it’s going to make my top 10 must-eat list. All-in-all I give it an 8.5 for an authentic experience.
*
Sandi Masori is the restaurant/ food reviewer for San Diego Jewish World. She may be contacted via sandimasori@google.com