6 Best Restaurants in Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park, The Central Coast

A great place to stop for a midday drink and refreshing splash in the river, this bar sits between two large bomb craters left during the American war. Run jointly by a Vietnamese couple and Australian couple, the bar is halfway between Phong Nha village and Farmstay Village. In the winter they’ll also keep a fire raging to warm you up on your Bong Lai Valley bike tour.

Quite possibly serving the best Western food in all of Vietnam, this café captures the hearts of all who eat here. There is nothing on the menu that disappoints, but the complete winners are the veggie lasagna, meatball subs, and carrot cake. Opened by an American, vegetarian chef, Capture even has hard-to-find items like bagels and ginger beer. They are located right next to the Easy Tiger.

At the midway point of one of the most incredible (and strenuous) 22-km (13½-mile) bicycle loops in the Bong Lai Valley, with views over rice fields and the river, the Pub With Cold Beer has hammocks, a pool table, and, in season, tubes for floating down the river. It’s a beautiful spot to unwind and regain energy for a few hours, which is how long your chicken lunch is going to take to prepare once you've chosen your live bird.

A couple of kilometers downstream from the Pub With Cold Beer, this rustic jungle hut, formerly called Wild Boar Eco Farm, is run by local tour operator Captain Cuong. The scenery here is awe-inspiring—swinging hammocks overlook the wilderness and Cuong’s prize collection of free-range Euro-Asian wild boar.

Hai, from Hai’s Eco Conservation Tour, runs this bamboo restaurant with his family and serves delicious dishes every day from 7 am until 10:30 pm. Try the fresh fruit smoothies. You can also take part in a morning cooking class that includes a visit to the local market.