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    Lao Ocean

    4.5 (148 reviews)
    ModerateSushi Bars, Laotian, Thai

    Lao Ocean Photos

    Business Info

    LAO OCEAN ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Trendy
    Good for kids
    Outdoor seating

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    Recommended Reviews - Lao Ocean

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    Chicken wing
    thienly n.

    Lao food for my mom's birthday on the road! Such a good hole in the wall. Our waiter was extremely kind and helpful! The food came out fast and was very tasty. Our favorites were the green curry and mango sticky rice! They had pandan green rice and taro purple rice! Would recommend going here! It was a yummy Lao/thai fusion

    Chicken bites
    Joyce C.

    I love their sticky rice... the curry shrimp and beef was ok..the fried rice was good too

    Fried pork belly, Lao style papaya salad and Mee Katit
    Joy M.

    Vacationing in Pensacola and excited to discover a Lao restaurant. Being Laotian myself, I love the name of the restaurant. It's even more fitting that the restaurant is close to the ocean! I didn't have high expectation since it doesn't seem like there's enough Laotians around for them to serve authentic Lao food. They proved me wrong. They have the option of Lao style (more pungent) or Thai style papaya salad. They even serve mee Katit, a traditional creamy rice noodle soup from Laos. I don't know of many Lao restaurants that would even serve this dish. Everything we tried was delicious. The restaurant was packed for lunch on a weekday with a mixture of crowds. I was excited to see so many people enjoying Lao food!

    Beef appetizer with papaya salad which is soooo good. The wrapped hot towel is nice touch.
    Stella H.

    So glad this place did not close. Their food is always great. Counter service and sit where you want, then enjoy! You won't be disappointed.

    Mango Sticky Rice
    Cherelle T.

    Pandan mango sticky rice my fav dessert. Sooo freaking yummy my second time ordering it

    Mee Ka Tee
    Renee D.

    What a wonderful first time experiencing this hidden gem! Food was fresh and delicious! Looking forward to going back and working my way down the menu!

    Fried Chicken Wings
    Ka V.

    Order before you sit down - the person taking our order was very nice and patient with us when my husband didn't know what he wanted. Pho definitely tasted like Laos style - which I do like and it came with a lot of meat. However, there was barely any broth. The fried chicken wings were okay. I loveeeeee me some Pad kee Mao, but this was just okay. The noodles were not my favorite, I prefer fresh noodles - it tasted like the dry noodles (I don't mind them but not for my pad kee mao). I wish they would've used fresh pepper instead of powder chili pepper for spice. They have a take out area where you can grab your own to go boxes, which was pretty convenient.

    Lao Ocean makes any rainy day better.
    Blake S.

    On a rainy December day I couldn't think of a better restaurant near the house than Lao Ocean. If you are looking for some soul warming food, think soup, and there are several here to try. If you haven't seen the off the menu soups let alone taste them, you are missing out. There is an Onion Soup that tastes just like Funyuns and it is actually sprinkled with them. Think East meets West. A light Asian version of French onion soup. No cheese or bread. Then there's the Shumai Soup. It is a lighter broth, maybe vegetable based, with shumai floating around in it with tender baby bok choy. Both are delicious! We have seen the Shumai Soup offered as a special of the day before, but today we called and they said they had it, even though it was not on the specials menu board. Then there is the Lao Beef Pho, the Pho Gai (chicken pho), Miso soup, Tom Yum, and Tom Ka. We haven't tried all of them yet. They're so good we discussed buying one of each of the soups and freezing them for the future. How wonderful would it be if you had a cold to warm up some of those soups? Other things we ordered were the egg roll which somehow are impossibly light feeling in your mouth, without that greasy coating so many egg rolls will give you. I'm not sure how they accomplish it but there might be rice vermicelli in them with the vegetables. I could eat like five orders of them. So good! We both ordered the fried rice. I ordered the Lao Fried Rice with shrimp as my added protein. Helen ordered Lao Seafood Fried Rice which was a special for the day. Both were fantastic! You know how you can never get the rice to be perfectly crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside at home? These guys can accomplish it no problem! It's perfectly cooked, and perfectly seasoned. Just a little bit of soy sauce to finish, and it's an explosion of flavor in your mouth! It was a ridiculous amount of food for two people, but we planned it that way. We wanted lots of leftovers to eat for the remainder of the dreary weekend. By Sunday afternoon everything was gone! If you haven't tried Lao Ocean do yourself a favor! Don't forget that they have sushi too! The Super Seaweed Salad is where it's at!

    Pho Beef
    Mikelyn P.

    This place is amazing! Location is in the Walmart/ Starbucks parking lot on the side facing Holiday Inn. Absolutely amazing staff. I found this by actually doing a door dash at lunch time and I HAD TO GO BACK! Authentic! Delicious!! JUST GO!

    Drunken noodle

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    6 months ago

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    4 months ago

    Amazing food and my go to in the Gulf Breeze area. Pineapple fried rice is truly incredible and not to be missed.

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    9 months ago

    Tasty Thai Food in an unexpected place. Pick up times are not accurate, plan much longer.

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    2 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    1 year ago

    The people are amazing! We eat regularly at this restaurant and the food is always consistent and fantastic! I highly recommend!

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    9 months ago

    Good fried rice but not alcohol , the service was tooooooo slow!unless you have a long time to eat do not come here

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    2 years ago

    Food and drinks are too sweet for my liking. Tried it twice. Dining area was packed when I went.

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    2 years ago

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    2 years ago

    The most authentic Laotian/Thai food in the area. Was pleasantly surprised to see Nam Khao on the menu! Everything we tried was SO good!

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    4 years ago

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    Page 1 of 4

    Ask the Community - Lao Ocean

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    Lao Ocean - sushi - Updated May 2026

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