Lao Village, written in a vibrant red, faded into the green background. The complementary color scheme decorating the awning made it difficult to read the name of the restaurant. The white text written directly below introduced the food as Laotian and Thai.

Considering how little I know about the cuisine of Laos, I was eager to try new dishes. Unfortunately, the entire experience was a bit muddled.

To be fair, I’ve had food from Lao Village before. The restaurant has an outpost at the Central New York Regional Market where it operates every Saturday. It’s a green shack that pumps out delicious offerings, all properly balanced with veggies, meat, spices and sweet and salty flavor pairings. It was at this location that Lao Village fell on my radar. There’s comfort in getting delicious food from a humble locale.

But the downtown restaurant, located on West Genesee Street near Clinton Square, doesn’t have quite the same vibe. There were only a few people eating around noon, and with no music floating in the background, the space felt empty.

Behind the counter was a large blackboard that colorfully announced the day’s specials. There were mini pork rolls stuffed with veggies and noodles, and then deep-fried in rice paper. A spicy basil fried rice served with a fried egg and a classic deep-fried banana were also scribbled on the specials list.

But what really caught my attention were the stuffed wings. Chicken wings were stuffed with ground chicken, pork, mushrooms, carrots, onions, garlic and noodles. All were deep-fried and served with a chili sauce. It sounded amazing, but sadly, it was sold out by the time noon rolled around.

The menu as a whole did a good job of covering a wide range of tastes and dishes. There were the standard Thai food items like tom yum soup, pad thai and drunken noodles. But, there were also a lot of menu items that seemed to stray away from the typical dishes available everywhere.

Since the stuffed chicken wings weren’t available, I went instead with classic chicken sticks and curry pops as appetizers. The chicken was salty, a little dry and pretty plain. The curry pops, however, were delicious. Tofu, mashed potatoes, onion, garlic and curry powder were deep-fried and provided the substance for the pops. It was an excellent and satisfying way to start off the meal.

For the main course, I ordered the classic chili Thai basil and a traditional Laotian dish called lab chin. It was at this point that Lao Village lost its stride.

The Thai basil had some nice spice and a lot of veggies to balance it out. The tofu in the dish was a little disappointing and didn’t contribute much, although the Thai basil rounded everything out nicely.

But the lab chin was a big disappointment. The description on the menu described this dish as seasoned beef prepared in a house sauce with chili peppers, cucumbers, red onions, cilantro and mint. But there were very little spices to be found and almost no flavor. The dish was runny, even with all the rice, and really just felt incomplete. It was a shame given that there were at least five traditional Laotian entrees on the menu.

It was also at this point that the restaurant was fully packed, which meant service slowed considerably. There was only one person running the register and front of house, so many of the diners wasted most of their lunch break waiting for food to arrive.

This won’t be my last visit to Lao Village, and it certainly hasn’t left a bad impression by any means. Lao Village has so much potential that I’m certain someday it will be the restaurant that takes you through the beauty and culture of Laos and Thailand.

In the Sept. 8 story, “Only Thai will tell” the photo featuring one of the restaurants dishes was mislabeled. The correct dish is called “Chili Thai Basil.” The Daily Orange regrets this error. 

Published on September 8, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Rohan: rythakor@syr.edu