With Local Guides
Book Authentic Food Tours Across 13 Countries
Eat like a local across Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Small groups, real food, unforgettable experiences.
Luang Prabang Monks & Morning Markets
Luang Prabang moves to a rhythm unlike anywhere else in Southeast Asia — slow, contemplative, and deeply anchored in Buddhist tradition. This four-hour tour begins before sunrise as saffron-robed monks glide silently through the misty streets collecting alms, one of the most poignant rituals in the Buddhist world. We watch respectfully before following our guide to the morning market, where hill tribe vendors lay out jungle greens, dried river fish, and wild herbs that you won't find in any other market in the region. Lao cuisine is built around sticky rice — not just eaten but revered — and this tour gives you a true understanding of its central place in Lao culture. Over four hours and 12 tastings, you'll eat alongside monks' families and market vendors, trying dishes that have barely changed for centuries: the slow-cooked or lam stew flavoured with the unique sao din herb and wood ash, smoky grilled Mekong river fish wrapped in banana leaf, and the fiery buffalo skin chilli paste jaew bong. The tour closes with Lao coffee — grown in the Bolaven Plateau and among the best in the world.
Vientiane Street Bites & Beer Lao
Vientiane is one of Southeast Asia's most underrated capitals — a sleepy, charming city on a bend of the Mekong where French colonial cafes mix with Buddhist temples and the pace of life is refreshingly gentle. Its food scene is equally understated, but those who look carefully will find some of the most authentic and deeply satisfying flavours in the region. This evening tour takes place as the sun sets over the Mekong, turning the river gold and luring the city's residents out to the riverside stalls and market corners they visit every evening. Over three hours and 10 tastings, your Lao guide will introduce you to the building blocks of Lao cuisine: the larb (a herb-laden minced meat salad considered the national dish), the fiery tam mak houng papaya salad that packs considerably more punch than its Thai counterpart, and the ritual of eating sticky rice from a communal bamboo basket. The tour ends with ice-cold Beer Lao at a plastic table by the Mekong — the perfect end to an authentic Vientiane evening.