Fear and Loathing in Kapok City

The Casino staff had told us there was nowhere to eat except in their surreal empty buffet, housing a vast array of food, and not a single person to eat it. To this, we scoffed.
We had done some research on Kapok city before arriving. A Chinese Special Economic Zone within Lao, it was growing at a massive pace, and was home to a diverse army of foreign labour. We knew that there had to be an area catering to the eclectic combination of tastes represented by the working community.
However, each restaurant we passed, seemed more closed than its predecessor. We pressed on, and as we did our senses started to activate. At first, a spicy, smoky, savory aroma emerged from the bland background smell of the street – the smell of grilling meat with cumin and chilli and ginger and more. Then came the sounds, a nasal, upbeat Chinese pop song, then gruff laughter mingled with the sound of grilling things, frying stuffs, clinking glasses.
We rounded the corner, to a beautiful sight: ramshackle tables slouched from us to the edge of the hanger about 50 feet away, where silhouetted against the inky night, stood a young man and his wife working a charcoal grill and a propane wok. To our left, two fridges and some cheap siding formed a barrier separating an identical eatery, where a table of men in work clothes slammed beer and Chinese whiskey and roared with laughter. The fridges were stuffed with varying types of beer and food. The chef approached and our options were laid out: choose meats for him to grill, he would provide us with some fried noodles and some grilled veg, and keep track of our bottles for count later.
We had stumbled across the food court which fed the city’s international workers. And what we ate over the next 3 hours, was unlike any meal I’ve ever had.