In celebration of Auckland Restaurant Month, I will be posting 31 quick-fire reviews on 31 restaurants and cafes in the Auckland CBD and city fringe.

The atmosphere is…
Simple, light, warm, inviting with Laotian inspired touches. Love the floor to ceiling display of dried ingredients.

Come here for…
Laos food and regular cafe food by day. Laos food only by night.

The most interesting thing on the menu…

• Sticky rice with fried egg and Jeow Mak Len (Laotian style salsa)

Unexpectedly wonderful…

• Their hand drawn, hand written menu (swoon)
• Sticky rice in baskets (just like in Laos)
• Eclairs

I would come back to try…

• Pho with all the trimmings
• Pork belly with sticky caramel, anise, braised egg, crackling & watercress

Catering to…
South East Asian food lovers, but also a couple of regular cafe dishes and plenty of pastries and baked goodies at the counter. A couple of options for vegetarians and gluten free, marked on menu.

Expect to spend…
$20-$30 per person

The service is…
Friendly and warm.

Avoid if…
You are in a tight budget. There are cheaper (and some may argue better) Asian food places out there.

Bolaven
597 Mt Eden Road, Mt Eden
Open 7 days
www.bolaven.co.nz