Cafe de Laos has won admirers for its affordable and delicious Thai and Lao offerings. On the Thai side, som tam, a sweet green papaya salad with thin carrot strips, ripe tomato wedges and chopped peanuts, steamed in fish sauce and shrimp paste, is fragrant and delicate. On the Vientiane side, the kang soh - a bamboo-shoot salad prepared with cilantro, lime juice, onions and fish sauce - is strangely sour and fishy, and probably won't go over well except by those enamored of Sour Patch Kids. All dishes are served with sticky rice, a staple of Laotian cooking. The fried tilapia prepared with garlic, lime juice and chili is moist and crispy.

Chicken laab - minced meat sauteed with fish sauce, green onions, garlic, chilies, pepper, mint and lime juice - strikes a balance by being spicy yet light and refreshing.

Open Sun.-Thu., 11.30 a.m.-9.45 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., .11.30a.m.-10.45 p.m.