March arrives and Funky Lam marks it in the most Lao manner possible: with heat, herbs and a generous hand. From Tuesday March 3, every woman who walks through the door receives tam mak hoong on the house, all month. Consider it less a promotion, more a gesture. This is papaya salad as Luang Prabang makes it. The fruit is shaved into ribbons rather than hacked into chunks, then worked patiently in a clay mortar until the dressing seeps through every strand. Padaek brings its deep, funky bass note, anchoring lime, chilli and tomato with unapologetic strength. The result tastes bold, savoury and fiercely itself.
Until March 31. Free. Funky Lam, 6pm-midnight
