Fantastic Food Search

30/03/2025

YEAH, THAT GULF
Just to confuse THEM even more, shout out the place with the best spicy food, swaying palm trees and laid-back locals. ;-)

Link to order bio.
⚠️ AND you’ve probably heard about the earthquake centered in Myanmar which experienced severe destructionwith many injured and many lives lost. WE’LL DONATE TO MUTAL AID MYANMAR for every shirt sold.

02/02/2025

𝗗𝗼𝗶 𝗞𝗮 𝗡𝗼𝗶
It has been some time since we last officially added an establishment to our list of fantastic places to dine (we would update our defunct website if it were to rise, phoenix-like).  But tucked away in a quiet corner of Vientiane, demands such recognition—not merely as the finest Lao restaurant in Laos, but as one of the most exceptional dining experiences in all of Southeast Asia.

Here, Chef Ponpailin ‘Noi’ Kaewduangdee, who first learned the secrets of Lao cuisine at her grandmother’s knee, has spent years gathering and perfecting recipes from every corner of the country. Over two evenings, we worked our way through the entire menu—each dish uncompromising and utterly authentic.

The meal began with the crisp, sun-dried river w**d of Luang Prabang, stippled with sesame and paired with a grilled tomato-chili dip and then on to a medley of perfectly seasoned and prepared dishes.(See caption 2.)

The setting, too, deserves mention. Doi Ka Noi occupies a modest 1960s-era bungalow, where simple yet thoughtful design choices—woven mats, warm lighting, earthenware bowls made by Noi’s husband Mick Shippen—conjure a sense of home. Vientiane itself remains as sleepy as when we last visited 10 years ago. And so, in this modest capitol with not much more to do than  watch the Mekong flow by, there is only one fitting course of action: to return to Doi Ka Noi, again and again.

((FFS, don’t miss: everything on the menu, which changes weekly and can be consumed on 2 visits with 2-3 people.))

Doi Ka Noi
131 Soi Sapang Mor, Sisangvone Road, Baan Naxay, Vientiane, Lao PDR
+856 2055898959
Friday, Saturday & Sunday
11 A.M. – 9 P.M.
LAST TABLE 8 P.M.
www.doikanoi.com

Use our hashtags to find fantastic food:

11/01/2025

Chili oil with prickly ash, shallots and garlic. The best sticky rice ever eaten. Menu changes every week. Laab with duck confit. Many more good things. Found at

11/01/2025

24/11/2024

A fantastic meeting of the OGs! was in town and we did some eating, old spots and new joints, tasty times.

16/11/2024

Nighttime khanom jeen. Very tasty. 4pm-4am! After party spot. 🎉

24/08/2024

In 2019, and launched FantasticFoodSearch—a spontaneous idea that came to Chris: FSS, eat well. Our goal was to avoid “best of” lists and instead focus on local spots that cook with love and offer food with a true sense of place. We managed to cover a good chunk of Thailand, a side of Macau, a helping of Penang and a soupçon of Luang Prabang. Many of you have shared that our recommendations became the highlights of your culinary adventures.

As Covid spread across the globe we hibernated as well, offering recipes to remind users of what was out there beyond the lockdowns. It was difficult to know if venues survived, but in Thailand at least most of the great, classic, must-try, standbys managed to hold on. Despite our benign neglect, the website continued to serve adventurous eaters.

And yet the website truly did need a technical overall and the all the venues needed to be cross checked. Austin moved Lisbon, Chris moved to Phuket and each of us have new paths to follow and interests to develop.

So, it is with sadness that we announce the closure of www.fantasticfoodsearch.com.

The instagram account will linger on for a bit at least. There are still amazing places to discover!

Our old listings can still be filtered using a basic hash tag search —

Try it!

21/08/2024

Still as delicious as ever BUT a few dishes that were unique to the restaurant using fermented tofu disappeared off the menu. Why? The supplier located a few doors down retired with no one to take over. Tae Hieng Iew might suffer the same fate so go eat if you have the chance!

06/08/2024

End of summer SALE! Get ‘‘em while there’s still beach time left. Our graphic Thai t-shirts: KHAO SOI, SOM TAM, KAPROW, NEVER COLONIZED are on sale. And our SABAI DEE tropical shirts. -—$22 with shipping 🌞 —
Link in bio.

22/07/2024

Must call and make order 1-hour in advance. One cook does it all. (Sworn to secrecy ;-)

28/04/2024

One of our favorite restaurants in Bangkok closed three years ago. Sad. But the writer phoning it in from wherever put it on his list of places to eat now! Shows the downside of not hiring locally. (Or not having fact checkers.) Check the link in our bio for a sweet little film we made about the demise of Muslim Restaurant.

25/04/2024

Soon to be more popular than a Chang beer t-shirt. • fresh-market scale t-shirt​ •

THAI BRANDS: From fresh markets to back alleys, drugstores and mom & pop shops. Old school only.

Link in bio direct to OMG market. Currently shipping to USA and EU. More brands to come!!

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22/03/2024

Thailand has fierce pride as the only country in Southeast Asia that was never colonized.
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Its uncolonized history runs deep, with roots in centuries of fierce independence and cultural identity. This shirt shouts defiance: “I won’t be conquered, no matter what!”
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OMG! The Outstanding Market Goods website is full of new stuff and ready for your orders. We have graphic t-shirts, Northern Thai Farmers’ Shirts and Sabai Dee Tropical Shirts, with more products and styles to come.
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We ship globally, with fair rates from Thai Post included in the price. If you’re in Thailand, contact us directly for discounted shipping.
Outstanding Market Goods — Link in bio and stories.

18/03/2024

At the seaside Barahom community, in the southern Thai province of Pattani, artisans using a wax resist technique, print fabric using hand-carved blocks, then dye the cloth in rich colors. They’re one of only a handful of people in southern Thailand who continue to make batik the old way. Barahom is a settlement that goes back to the middle of the Ayutthaya period when Pattani was once an important sea trading port on the Malay Peninsula.

These large-sized, medium-weight napkins, hand-stamped and dyed, come in sets of 4.
SHOP LINK IN BIO.

Origin: Barahom Community
Materials: 100% cotton
Dimensions: 45x45cm / 17¾x17¾

02/03/2024

Do you have the mind bending skill to open one of these!? Our new t-shirts with the quirky sayings, objects and methods that can only happen in 🇹🇭 (if you know, you know)!

Link in bio direct to OMG market. Currently shipping to USA and EU. More madness to

25/02/2024

❤️ Thailand?! Show it with out our new t-shirts (and Thai farmers’ shirts) with the quirky sayings, objects and methods that can only happen in 🇹🇭(if you know, you know); graphic icons, marks and logos that are quintessentially Thai; some photographs of Thai lifestyle… And of course, Thai food banging with some heavy metal vibes!

Link in bio direct to OMG market. Currently shipping to USA and EU. More madness to come!!

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26/01/2024

Noodles forever!
You know how to make them perfect ;-)

THAILAND ONLY (for the moment.)

•khruang phrung – เดรื่องปรุง t-shirt•

Lightweight 100% cotton, heather-gray

M Chest 36”, Length 27” —600thb
L Chest 40”, Length 29” —600thb
XL Chest 44”, Length 31” —600thb
2XL Chest 48”, Length 32” —750thb
3XL Chest 52”, Length 33” —750thb

DM to order.

20/01/2024

Always enjoy reading TABLES FOR TWO in , but when there’s an effusive description of a Thai dish with its origin disguised by the restaurant; the writer NEVER knows the source. Khao Kluk Kapi (ข้าวคลุกกะปิ)