The Europe Steak House

Wanting a little break from Asian food tonight, I suggested we try a little restaurant, the Europe Steak House, I had noticed near the ambassador's residence and about a fifteen minute walk from our house. Although  I had no reason to think so since I had only seen the restaurant as I drove by in a car, I was convinced it was a bar/restaurant set in a little garden. So, when Beth and I walked in and saw fancy cloth napkins and white tablecloths we felt a little out of place (Beth at least looked somewhat nice, I was wearing shorts, Nike sandals and my t-shirt proclaiming Des Moines the greatest city in the world). The menu was slightly more expensive than we were expecting and ranged from steaks to pork, chicken to seafood. The specials even included ostrich and crocodile. We finally settled on the set menu of salad, steak, french fries (spelled "french fried" on the menu), assorted vegetables and a fruit plate for dessert. Before you think we've become completely spoiled diplomats, I will point out we ordered the significantly cheaper local beef as opposed to the imported New Zealand cows. Dinner was nice but we were happy to duck (also available on the menu) out early before the more cultured and better dressed Europeans arrived. As we left I thought, "what better way to end the evening with a nice twilight stroll home through the quiet streets of Vientiane." However, darkness quickly fell and we were forced to resort to the light provided by Beth's cell phone to lead us home while dodging cars and motorcycles. As if this wasn't enough, suddenly out of the shadows came a vicious barking. Beth, who thanks to Niger, has, shall we say a healthy respect for dogs, proceeded to leap into the road in front of oncoming traffic. Meanwhile I was left in the precarious position of grabbing my wife while trying to determine whether the dog could reach us through the hole in the fence. Luckily the crisis was averted and we followed that excitement by buying some toilet paper at the little market near our house. Alas, no pictures of our adventure but we are slowly making our way through the fine dining available in Vientiane.