Hard Rock Café
Today was Max’s birthday, so we all celebrated by going to Hard Rock Café in downtown Vientiane.
They’re Everywhere
Max wanted to go to Hard Rock Café since it’s odd that there’s one in Laos. He thought it would be fun since they have live music several nights a week. However, once we sat down and looked at the menu, we saw that Hard Rock had U.S. prices and not Lao prices. A basic hamburger and fries cost 250,000 kip ($12.50), which is insane in Laos. For reference, 250,000 kip is a little over half of my grocery spending for the week, which is higher because I try to only eat out once a week. No wonder it’s always empty when I walk by! (A hamburger is considered to be expensive in Laos because it’s hard to get cheese and buns, so they normally run around 100,000 kip.)
Courtesy of Tourism Laos
I looked up Hard Rock locations online the next day since I was curious about how many there are around the world. They’re everywhere!
See the full list of Hard Rock locations around the world
Max’s Birthday Dinner
Max wanted to move to another restaurant, so we went to Sticky Fingers, which is owned by a nice Australian couple. We had an appetizer board with olives, cheese, bread, paté, grilled eggplant, tomatoes, hummus, pesto, and tzatziki. The cheese was such a delicacy! Cheese is expensive here, so I never buy it at the grocery store. I had fish and chips, which were so good. The fish was breaded with panko, which made it really light and crispy.
Courtesy of Sticky Fingers
Max is celebrating his birthday by going to Pakse this weekend before school starts on October 16th. A very happy birthday to Max!