Fathima and Vista cafe

We tried a new Indian restaurant for dinner last night called Fathima. The prices there are very reasonable, and I thought the food was quite good too. The hightlights were the crisp dosa filled with spiced vegetables and the tandoori chicken. The breads were quite good, but would have been better had they served them hotter. The curries were spicier than the other Indian restaurants around Vientiane which was good. Vegetarian curries are around 10 000 Kip ($1 US) and meat curries cost up to 25000 kip ($2.50 US).

I think there's only one Indian restaurant in Vientiane to go! I do think Fathima is the best one. I've had the buffet at Rashimis which is quite good, but you can have a better variety of food for cheaper if you just go out with at least 4 friends and order a few different dishes. Definitely better than Nazims and the availability of dosa and being slightly spicier pushes it just past Taj Mahal.

One activity that I'm starting to do regularly on the weekends is ride my bicycle into town and have breakfast at Vista Cafe. I've even found a good journey there as the main road through Vientiane is being repaired and is entirely trashed. They've dug the road a few metres deep and are starting to fill it up. Vista Cafe makes a nice cooked breakfast which is a more manageable size than the ones I in Sydney. Brekky comprises tea or coffee, fruit salad, eggs, pancake or waffle and sausage or bacon. All for 21000 kip ($2.20 US). It's popular because you can use the internet free if you eat there and the connection is quite good. They use Linux on their computers too which I hear is good- that was my first experience with it. There is wifi access so you can byo laptop, although this isn't always reliable. It has a nice verandah to sit on, or you go inside to air conditioning if you wish. Pastries, cakes and tarts are from nearby Croissant D'or so are always perfect. Vista also has a massage business upstairs which I'll have to check out sometime.