Luang Prabang: Coconut Garden (February 2012)

My spouse and I enjoyed a great dinner at the Coconut Gardein late February 2013. The restaurant is a large, attractive property, with seating in a front courtyard adjacent to the main street (but separated by a picket fence). It also has outdoor seating in a rear courtyard that is open to the elements yet enclosed on all sides by either a fence or other buildings. It is very pretty and serene in the back garden, as opposed to the more noisy and busy street side, but be forewarned that there are a number of steps to reach the lowest level of the patio. We saw a tour group being led to the back garden, with many elderly members, and they had great difficulty navigating the steps. The bathrooms are in the basement, and there did not appear to be an elevator (it is Luang Prabang, after all!), so that may prove problematic to those who are mobility challenged. You can smoke in the outdoor gardens. The second floor of the property contains tables that overlook the courtyard, most of which are indoors, although the walls and doors are open to the elements so that you do not feel that you are completely inside. Our dinner totaled $13 for two appetizers, one shared entree, and two rounds of drinks. Our meal at Coconut Garden was a tremendous value for the setting and he quality of the food and service, and we wish that we had arrived there more hungry so that we could have tried more dishes. (A day previous, we attempted to dine at sister restaurant L’Elephant, and the experience was not as successful as our meal at Coconut Garden.)