Hot Cafe

Laos, Thai, & Chinese Food

5286 Riverdale Road (just south of I-285)

Atlanta, GA 

Driving directions

I have had the opportunity to visit Hot Cafe twice in the last month.  What drew me to try it was the word Laos on the sign out front.  I have never had food from Laos before so I was excited to try something new. I was pleasantly surprised with the new flavors.

Sliced Pork

On my first visit I told that owner that I wanted something authentic to Laos so he made a couple of suggestions.  I decided to try one of them and then come back later for the others.  I can't remember the name of the dish but it was sliced pork with cilantro and some interesting seasonings.  It came with large pieces of lettuce, cucumber slices, and a lot of fresh basil.  The idea was to put the pork in the lettuce and eat everything else along with it.  I also ordered a small sticky rice.  I love rice and this was good authentic stuff. Overall, this was a pretty good dish and very different.

Fried Sausage & Green Papaya

On my next visit I decided to try the other options that the owner had recommended.  I ordered Papaya, Fried Sausages, and Sticky Rice. I was not prepared for what was about to happen.  The papaya dish is green papaya sliced thin, sliced cherry tomatoes, covered in fish sauce, and a big surprise to me, loaded with liquid pepper.  It came with fried pork rind and some raw green cabbage.  The owner said eat slow and eat everything together.  I found out why.  The papaya was amazing, tons of flavor with the fish sauce.  About 20 seconds after taking a big bite of papaya, I started feeling the heat.  It was so intense I was getting a little worried.  I grabbed some pork rind and cabbage and nibbled away.  In about 2 minutes the heat died down again so I tried some more.  It was extremely hot but tasted so good I couldn't stop eating it.  Next came the fried sausage.  I think that sausage, any kind of sausage, may be my favorite food of all time so I was really looking forward to this.  It was creamy, smooth, and delicious.  I don't know what was in it but I will order it again.

Bottom Line

This food was good and very different.  It was a bit pricey at $9.95 for the pork dish and $6.95 each for the fried sausage and papaya.  A small sticky rice was $2.00.  This adds up quick.  If you want to try something new, this is a good place to go.

My Recommendations

Go for the Fried Sausage. My mouth waters just thinking about it.