Simmaly Restaurant

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#2 of 10 Restaurants in PhonsavanAsian, Vegetarian friendly, R

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Simmaly Restaurant

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Features

CUISINES

Asian

Meal types

Lunch, Dinner

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly

FEATURES

Outdoor Seating

Seating

Serves Alcohol

Table Service

Takeout

Location

Phonsavan Laos

Does this restaurant offer free wifi?

Yes

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3.9

127 reviews

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kiwi-traveller-PS

Wellington761 contributions

Cheap and cheerful

Oct 2019 • couples

Large portions - recomend the chicken fried rice - we also had a pork and ginger dish which had a good flavour but had way too much onion - plus a vegetable noodle dish which was okay - prices in the 20,000 to 30,000 per plate

Written 6 October 2019

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Kai Wah

Malaysia3806 contributions

Reasonably Priced Good Food

Jul 2019 • couples

This place is popular among locals and tourists where is one of the eatery with reasonably good food with reasonable price with English menu provided. However, there is no price shown on the menu which we had to clarify the price with the order taker (who is the lady owner). The price given by the order taker means it is price for one person per dish. There were two of us. Hence, we ordered few dishes to share (fried chicken wing, assorted fried vegetables and tomyum soup). Hence, the dishes served in super huge portion for every item we ordered that was double portion. It was too much for us and due to limited English spoken, we were unable to clarify. For example, one portion of fried chicken wing is 7 of them, when we ordered for two person, the portion will be multiplied by two with 14 chicken wings for both of us. We have learnt that culture difference and ordered just one portion for two person in another restaurant, so that we could have more variety of food with smaller portion (for one person, instead of them multiplying the portion by number of people). Well, it’s an interesting culture shock for us.

Written 3 October 2019

Nicola S

79 contributions

Dinner

Aug 2019 • couples

Food was good large portion sizes plus broth. Not much English spoken you pick from pictures. Easy to find on the Main Street.

Written 13 August 2019

Kayvon

New York City32 contributions

Delicious, inexpensive, authentic cuisine

Feb 2020 • none

Simmaly was recommended to me by my guide for the Plain of Jars tour and the food here was the best I had in Phonsavan. It’s no frills but delicious, authentic, and so cheap that you should try ordering several full dishes to sample the cuisine of the region. Tip: make sure to go to Simmaly, not Simmaly 2 (which is just a couple doors down to the left if you’re facing both restaurants).

Written 9 February 2020

Moua Y

4 contributions

Best place in town

Mar 2023 • family

Portion were great. Taste ranges from good to great depending of what you order. Their fish dishes are awesome! Price is reasonable and service is good. It's a bit busy but that's what to expect from a place that delivers quality.

Written 7 March 2023

Barreldogs

Cremorne304 contributions

Not a fan

Mar 2023 • solo

This place was recommended to me by my taxi driver that picked me up from the bus station. I can only assume he is friends with the owner, because it was horrible. The floor was filthy, and mopping it simply made it muddy, not clean. There were flies swarming me, and it was the only time in Laos that beggars asked me for money, let alone in the restaurant. Didn't even finish my food, coz it was pretty ordinary.

Written 26 April 2023

haplo89

Antwerp2445 contributions

Good food, big portions

Jul 2019 • couples

Simmaly has all the local favourites, the food is good and the portions are huge, if you have a lot of leftovers you can ask for takeaway containers and give food to the children who live on the street rather than give them money. (there are plenty)

Written 28 July 2019

xlne

Singapore770 contributions

Generous local delights

Jun 2019 • friends

Large portions of local food with friendly staff. Chicken soup had a tomyam base and was awesome to eat in cold weather. The fried rice and omelette was also not bad, but the beef was quite hard to bite into.

Written 20 June 2019

Epic-Traveller

Rushden4545 contributions

Huge Portions

Apr 2019 • solo

I read reviews on TripAdvisor about large portions being served at this restaurant and was a tad sceptical. However when the food arrived my scepticism diminished. The potion was so big that I couldn’t eat it all. The staff aren’t that friendly and they don’t speak very good English so you’ll have to point to what you want on the menu. However, the food was very nice and the prices were very cheap. I paid 20k for fried rice with pork and a can of 7-Up. It’s quite a large restaurant so you won’t have to worry about it being busy. Can sit by the front and watch people go by.

Written 23 April 2019

vamsally

Seattle676 contributions

good food, but be willing to point

Nov 2018 • couples

Food is good and has large portions. It is very cheap. The issue is that no one speaks English so you should be just willing to nod and point at the food. They do have "English" menu (meaning, hard to understand if you don't know sort of foods that they serve in SE Asia, but some have pictures.

Written 31 March 2019

THAM38

Malaysia820 contributions

Yummy!

Jan 2019 • solo

Ate twice during my short trip in town. Only 1 of the staff is able to speak English, however thy have a English menu,with price. The fried rice& Lao blck coffee is definitely my best pick. For breakfast i had the first item in the menu-bacon, fry eggs&baguette with milk coffee. Even for someone with huge appetite,the portion will hold u till teatime! As with other local restaurants in Phonsavan, the price are very reasonable

Written 17 January 2019

Rose+Doris

London185 contributions

Good casual eating

Jan 2019 • couples

The food here is pretty good, massive portions, cheap prices. Downside is, it lacks atmosphere, so don’t expect a scintillating ‘evening’.

Written 15 January 2019

theunseencolors

Bangkok95 contributions

It’s fine. Just fine.

Dec 2018 • couples

Nothing much more to say. It shouldn’t blow anyone away, the food is pretty basic. Had much better Lao food in other parts of the country, including random bus stops, but nothing was bad here.

Written 30 December 2018

Forest1006

Singapore57 contributions

Best in Phonsavan

Oct 2018 • couples

Simmaly Restaurant I think Sinmaly is the best Laotian restaurant in town. While we were there, there were many locals eating a variety of Laotian food. For tourists like us, they have an English menu. Though the staff speak very little English, we managed to order what we want by pointing to the items in the menu. They were generous with their food portions. We ordered a plate of fried rice which looked like it can feed at least two hungry persons. The rice tasted as if it was fried under a strong fire and tasted great. The fried fish we had was sweet and juicy. It was well fried, crispy on the outside but still moist and tender on the inside. We thought the fish was cheap as the price listed on the menu was 25K. But when the bill came, we were charged 40k for it. We did not make an issue as we thought 40k was still reasonable and not knowing Lao, it would be a hassle. On another day, we had a bowl of pork noodle soup. Big portion for 15k. Generally it's a clean Laotian restaurant serving tasty food. We recommend it highly.