I’ve been craving some good Laotian Thai cuisine and I stumbled across a new restaurant in Alameda.

Bhan Mae Vane has a plethora of options and everything on their menu sounded delicious. I didn’t eat at the restaurant but ordered a nice range of dishes for takeout to share with the family.

BMV Ultimate Papaya Platter, Lao Spring Rolls, Pumpkin Curry, and Pad Mak Kuer.

BMV Ultimate Papaya Platter (8.5-9/10).

One of the dishes I wanted without a doubt was the BMW ultimate papaya platter where you get either Lao or Thai style papaya salad, pork rinds, vermicelli noodles, cabbage, rice (steamed or sticky), and three options of protein. I was super bummed that they were out of the crispy pork belly (pictures of this looked insanely good) so we ended up getting angel chicken wings, fried chicken wings, and bbq pork ribs. Both chicken wings were very crunchy and flavorful and I really enjoyed the marinated flavor of the bbq pork ribs.

Pumpkin Curry (8.5/10) and Pad Mak Kuer (8/10).

Pumpkin curry is one of my favorite types of Thai curry and their version had pieces of pumpkin simmered in coconut milk with red curry, onions, bamboo shoots, bell peppers, and we added tofu as the protein. We also got the pad mak keur, a vegetarian dish of wok fried purple eggplant, tofu, onions, and bell peppers in a chili garlic sauce.

Lao Spring Rolls (8/10).

The last dish we got was the grilled shrimp spring rolls wrapped in rice paper with herbs and lettuce served with a pineapple anchovy sauce and a peanut sauce. Super fresh and tasty.

I was pleasantly surprised by all the food we tried at Bhan Mae Vane especially since we ordered takeout. Flavors were spot on and all the food was prepared nicely so my rating is an 8/10.