Penn kids rarely take the time to venture beyond the comfort of 40th Street. But I am here to tell you that a short jaunt to the southwest will bring you to a lovely Laotian-Thai BYO, Vientiane Café. Vientiane is perfect for an exec board dinner, girls' night out or a romantic date. On a nice night, a couple may opt to dine outside. While the chairs are rickety and the candles smell a bit too much of citronella, the ambience of passing traffic, charming old homes and West Philly meanderers makes a meal at Vientiane more than just a simple dinner.
And as for the food, my date and I took the liberty of ordering a dish from nearly every part of this overzealous and somewhat overwhelming menu. The spinach soup warmed us up while we found the Tom Yum to be a tad too bitter. The edamame was lovely (is it possible to mess up soybeans?) and we were pleasantly surprised by the green papaya salad, which had a perfect combination of sweet "special sauce" and spicy chilies.
Both of our entrees, the yellow curry with tilapia and the Pad-Kee-Mao, were aesthetically pleasing and tasted great. We shared both with our jasmine rice until we could eat no more. Satiated beyond our stomachs' comfort zones, we had our leftovers wrapped, said our goodbyes, popped the cork back in our wine bottle and moseyed our way back to campus.
Vientiane Café 4728 Baltimore Ave. (215) 726-1095
