Sen Pad Thai

November 19, 2018November 18, 2018Leave a comment

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I’ve heard many great things about Sen Pad Thai, which is part of the large group of restaurants Chef Angus An runs. The shop used to be inside The Loft at Granville Island, but recently moved to The Granville Island Public Market where the rest of the restaurants are. It is more of a food court set up to be honest, where you order and pay up front first and find your own seat in the area or take out. I liked how they give you a buzzer so you can wander around until it buzzes which means your food is ready.

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The shop offers a variety of noodles, curries, and a few appetizers. The prices are roughly all $12- $15 which is a bit pricey given you’re eating in a food court setting. However, we were pleasantly surprised that the portions were pretty reasonable given the price.

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Crispy Wings with Thai Garlic

We started off sharing the Crispy Wings with Thai Garlic which were served with a tamarind sauce. The wings were rather small in size but they were very crispy with the inside moist. I enjoyed the flavours and especially when dipped in the tamarind sauce which was a bit acidic and sweet.

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Pad Thai

I heard great things about the Pad Thai so had to give this a try. The pad thai was served with tamarind, tofu and egg. The portion of this dish was huge! I kept eating and it didn’t end! This is great to be shared between two if you’re going to have an appetizer as well.

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The noodles were chewy and not overly dressed in sauce. It was quite flavourful but I would’ve liked it to have a bit of a kick. Seems like they do not add any spice unless you ask or you can add their homemade chili sauces which is on the side when you pick up your order.

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Pad Siew Beef

My favourite dish we tried was the Pad Siew Beef which featured fresh rice sheet noodles stir-fried with beef, gai lan and egg. This dish had so much “wok-hay” which is hard to find. The noodles were also a new type of noodles I’ve never tried before. They were translucent and wide and very chewy. The beef was tender and I loved the gai lan which added a bit of crunch. A must try if you’d like to try something new.

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Overall, we really enjoyed the dishes at Sen Pad Thai. They have great wok flavour and the portions are very generous for the price. You’ll have to scout around the market place for a seat during peak hours though!

Pros:
– Dishes have great flavour and “wok hay”
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Cons:
– A bit pricey for food court setting

Price Range: $15-20 per person

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4 Service: 3.5 Ambiance: N/A Parking: Free and paid parking in Granville Island Overall: 4

Sawasdee Thai Restaurant

July 3, 2018July 3, 2018Leave a comment

01.jpg by SophiaHo on 500px.com

Sawasdee Thai Restaurant has been on my list of places to try for a while. So when JH was back in town, we decided to meet up for dinner here. Both JW and JH have been here before, so I relied on them to do most of the ordering. The exterior is pretty simple looking, but the inside is actually quite nice. There was a party going on when we went too so it seems like they can cater large parties.

02.jpg by SophiaHo on 500px.com

Tom Yum

We started off with a bowl of Tom Yum soup which was absolutely delicious! The hot and sour soup had just the right amount of spice and was well balanced. It had straw mushrooms, lemon grass and makrut lime leaves with chicken. You can choose between chicken or prawns. I don’t normally get Tom Yum soup, but I really enjoyed this one.

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Pad Eggplant

For veggies, we had the Pad Eggplant which was stir fried with bell peppers and basil leaves with black bean and oyster sauce. The eggplant was cooked to soft and full of flavour. This would be delicious paired with a bowl of rice.

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Garlic Beef

Another dish that pairs nicely with rice is the Garlic Beef. This dish features pan fried marinated beef with garlic and black pepper, and garnished with green onion and cilantro. I thought the beef was a tad overcooked but the flavours were strong and not overly salty.

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Green Curry with Chicken

Of course we had to try one of their curry dishes. You can choose between red, green or yellow curry and your choice of protein. We went with the Green Curry with Chicken which features a coconut milk base with bell peppers, basil leaves and bamboo shoots. The curry was not very spicy so I would suggest asking for more spicy. The curry was creamy and a thin to medium consistency.

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Pad Thai

Of course we also had to try their famous Pad Thai. I had heard that the pad thai here is one of the best in Vancouver. The stir fried thin rice noodles were served with tofu, prawns, egg, green onion and bean sprout in tamarind sauce. You can choose between tamarind sauce or tomato sauce. Wow, this lived up to its hype! The noodles were nice and chewy and the sauce was sweet, tangy and slightly spicy. A must order when visiting Sawasdee Thai!

Overall, I was quite impressed with the food and will be returning again. Service was friendly and prices were reasonable for the portions.

Pros:
– Well executed Thai dishes

Cons:
– Dishes were more on the mild side (perhaps ask for more heat if you enjoy spicy)

Price Range: $25-30 per person

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4.5 Service: 4 Ambiance: 3.5 Parking: Paid street parking Overall: 4

Bob Likes Thai Food

September 6, 2016September 6, 2016Leave a comment

NOTE: All food and beverages were complimentary, but all opinions are based on my own experience.

Thanks to Jacqueline, I was invited along with a few other foodies to a tasting at Bob Likes Thai Food. The restaurant is located on Broadway and Granville, and I’ve actually been there quite a few times for their lunch menu since it’s close to my work place.

The interior is colourful but it definitely cannot fit too many diners. It can get quite cramped but all the times I’ve visited during lunch hasn’t been too bad in terms of getting a seat. Probably because of the large variety of Thai/Malay restaurants in the area.

Lychee Mimosa

We started off with a variety of drinks to try. The first was a Lychee Mimosa which I really enjoyed! With a mix of sparkling cava and lychee juice, this was a light and refreshing drink.

Mai Tai

For those who want a non-alcoholic drink, there is the colourful virgin Mai Tai. Tasted like a delicious orange punch.

Iced Thai Milk Tea, Iced Thai Lime Tea

A favourite among the group was the Iced Thai Milk Tea. Creamy and strong in tea flavour, this will give you a little wake me up. The Iced Thai Lime Tea is similar but without the milk and instead is flavoured with lime. I wasn’t a fan of this one as I didn’t like the lime and tea flavour mixed together.

Thai Mojito

The Thai Mojito is another option if you want alcohol in your drink.

Kar Tong Tong with Mango Salad

The first appetizer was the Kar Tong Tong with Mango Salad. The whole dish is edible with the little tarts made with flour and filled with corn, carrots, peas, mangoes, cashews, fish sauce, oyster sauce, and soy sauce. These bite size appies are fun to eat and delicious.

Bacon Wrapped Lychee

I’ve had bacon wrapped scallops, but Bacon Wrapped Lychee is something new! Surprisingly it worked. The sweetness of the lychee with the salty and smoky bacon complemented each other quite well!

Gai Hor Bai Toey

The Gai Hor Bai Toey is marinated chicken with Thai herbs, coriander root, white peppercorn, wrapped with pandan leaf and served with their housemade sesame soy sauce. This reminded me of the Malaysian dish I had in Singapore. So flavourful and would pair well with rice.

Koong Prah

The Koong Prah is perfect for the summer, featuring prawns with lemongrass, roasted rice, lime leaves, tomatoes, basil, cashew nuts, and organic greens tossed in lime juice, fish sauce and palm sugar.

Pompano in Wok

The Pompano in Wok features a whole golden pompano, fresh peppercorn, Thai basil, chili, fish sauce, palm sugar, and tamarind. The fish was moist and slightly spicy due to the chili.

Steamed Fish Bangkok Style

Another impressive dish was the Steamed Fish cooked Bangkok Style. The fish was topped with shallots, Laotian coriander, basil, chili, fish sauce, palm sugar, tamarind, lime, pickled plum, and pickled garlic.

Prawns in Pineapple Curry

I really enjoyed the Prawns in Pineapple Curry as large prawns in a red coconut curry filled the pineapple shell. Pair it with rice, and this tropical curry will not disappoint you!

Pad Thai

Last but not least was the Pad Thai. I usually get this for lunch, so it was a familiar dish. This classic dish features fried rice noodles with prawns, smoked tofu, peanuts, egg, bean sprouts and chives. I find that the Pad Thai here is slightly more sweet and isn’t very spicy. I’d like a little more kick to it.

Coconut Pudding

For dessert, the Coconut Pudding was visually appealing but I found it to be a little too gritty. It is made with fresh coconut, palm sugar, coconut water, and caramelized coconut.

Fresh Coconut

You can also get a full Fresh Coconut with the pulp scraped out. So refreshing for the summer!

Overall, Bob Likes Thai was consistent with the previous visits I had. I normally get their curries during lunch (they have great lunch deals too!) and they are always great. However, they also have many seafood dishes during dinner such as the ones we tried that night. I find the flavours to be more mild but I think you can ask to have it more spicy.

Pink Elephant Thai – 5 for $55

June 22, 2016June 21, 2016Leave a comment

Note: All food and beverages were complimentary, but all opinions are based on my personal experience. Dishes pictured unfortunately have a yellow tint due to a misuse of a camera setting and therefore are not a true representation of the colours of the dishes.

Pink Elephant Thai is celebrating their 5th anniversary and the Alberni location is offering a special menu for a limited time. The anniversary menu allows diners to choose 5 items for $55. To be specific, that’s 2 appetizers and 3 entrees from their select menu. I would say this is perfect for 3 people or 2 if you’re really hungry.

I was invited by Grace along with other food bloggers to check out this anniversary menu specifically. It was actually my first time at Pink Elephant Thai and I was impressed by the ambiance! Those pink cushioned sofas are perfect for a girls night out!

We started off with some virgin drinks, including this citrus tropical drink (which I forgot the name of). Fruity and refreshing, and would’ve been perfect with a shot of alcohol!

Pink Colada

The other drink we were served was the Pink Colada which is their take on a pina colada but flavoured more strongly with cherry. This wasn’t my personal favourite since I don’t like cherry flavoured drinks.

Spring Rolls

Onto the appetizers! The menu has 10 appetizers to choose from so I can imagine choosing just two to be very hard. Luckily, we got to try all of them! Starting off was the Spring Rolls, which I found subpar. I didn’t like the wrapper and found it too chewy. The filling also lacked flavour.

Chicken Satay

I loved the marinade of the Chicken Satays which featured Thai spices and a hint of coconut milk. The satay sauce was also delicious but I found the chicken to be slightly on the drier side.

Fish Cake

The Fish Cakes are home-made with Thai spices and are perfect for those who love spice! I really enjoyed these and liked how it wasn’t mushy.

Thai Shrimp Cake

A personal favourite was the Thai Shrimp Cake which came with a sweet and sour plum sauce. As Sherman would say, the shrimp was “boing” or “bouncy”. You know that texture where this is some bite to it? Yeah, hard to describe, but let’s just say these were delicious!

Thai Style Pork Cheek

Another winner at the table was the Thai Style Pork Cheek which was marinated with Thai herbs and spices and grilled to perfection. This was not tough at all and again had the perfect chew. Highly recommend this!

Crispy Tofu

The Crispy Tofu showcased soft and silky tofu lightly battered and deep fried. As tofu does not have much flavour, you really needed the accompanying sweet chili sauce to go with it.

Som Yum Papaya Salad

The Som Yum Papaya Salad featured green papaya strips seasoned with fresh lime juice and Thai spices. I found this slightly too sour for my liking.

Larb Gai

The Larb Gai was really spicy but I really enjoyed it. This dish consisted of minced chicken mixed with fresh lime juice, roasted rice, and Thai spices.

Yum Neau

Yum Neau is a Thai Style Beef Salad. Pink Elephant Thai used sliced grilled New York beef and mixed it with fresh lime juice and Thai chili. This is again a very spicy and acidic dish, but I wish the beef was more tender. I found it slightly dry.

Tom Yum Gai

The last appetizer was the Tom Yum Gai. This is the perfect appetizer since the spicy and sour flavours open up your appetite. The hot and sour soup consisted of chicken, mushrooms, tomatoes, lemongrass and Thai spices. Only downside of this dish is the chicken being too dry once again.

Red Curry, Yellow Curry, Green Curry

Onto the entrees. Your entrees also come with two bowls of rice because you pretty much need rice to go with the spicy Thai food! First up were three curries: red, yellow, and green. They were all strong in coconut flavours but my favourite was the yellow curry as it was more aromatic.

Thai Basil Stir-Fried

Sautéed with Thai chili, bell peppers, green beans and fresh basil, the Thai Basil Stir-Fried was a great dish to go with rice.

Thai Black Bean Sauce

The Chicken Thai Black Bean Sauce was sautéed with Thai black bean sauce, ginger, fresh pineapple and snap peas. Again, the chicken was slightly on the dry side.

Cashew Nut Stir Fried

I actually found the Chicken Cashew Nut Stir Fried to taste similar to the Thai Black Bean Sauce. I guess they have similar ingredients and spices at the end of the day. I really like cashews in dishes though!

Pad Thai

Stir-fried rice noodles with tamarind sauce, tofu, ground peanuts, egg, green onions and bean sprouts

Pad Kee Mao

The Pad Kee Mao is more commonly known as Drunken Noodles. These rice noodles were stir fried with Thai chili, bell peppers, onions, green beans and fresh basil. Again, I found the flavours to be quite similar to the other entrees.

Chili Pepper Fried Rice

I really liked the Chili Pepper Fried Rice with chili, egg and diced vegetables. This was very spicy, but almost addictive! If you can’t take too much spice, I would suggest letting your server know.

Mixed Seasonal Vegetables

The last entree was the Mixed Seasonal Vegetables which looked underwhelming but tasted delicious soaked in oyster sauce.

Overall, Pink Elephant Thai’s anniversary menu is a pretty good deal to try a variety of their popular dishes. I found I enjoyed their appetizers the most as I found there was more variety in the flavours whereas many of the entrees tasted simliar. I would suggest getting one curry and one noodle or rice dish to get the most variety.

Bob Likes Thai Food

August 29, 2015August 29, 2015Leave a comment

Located just on the corner of Broadway and Granville, Bob Likes Thai Food is a small joint that offers authentic Thai cuisine. It’s a colourful shop with quirky decor for ambiance. A couple of my coworkers and I came here for lunch since they have lunch specials for $10.

Pad Thai

All their lunch specials come with a side of green salad and wonton chip. E got the Pad Thai which featured fried rice noodles, prawns, tofu, peanuts, egg, and bean sprouts. She really enjoyed this and many of our coworkers said it’s probably the best around our area for pad thai.

Panang Beef

For myself, I got the Panang Beef and I asked for the curry to be mild. You get a bowl of coconut milk based red curry with beef, basil and bell peppers and a scoop of rice on the side. This was very flavourful and you could definitely taste the basil and coconut. Tons of sauce to smother over your rice. The beef was also very tender. Even though you ask for mild, you still get a bit of a kick which I liked. The wonton chips were literally just fried dough and was topped with some sweet chili sauce. I sort of wished there was some filling inside of it. Salad was dressed with a light sweet vinaigrette.

Overall, our table was quite pleased with the food. At $10 a plate during lunch, it’s quite reasonable for restaurants around our area. The food is served up quick so that’s a plus since office people are usually in a hurry. Portions are decent. I finished the dish easily, so for a hungry person, this might be a bit small. Service was efficient and friendly.

Pros:
– Reasonable lunch prices
– Decent eats

Cons:
– Portions are on the smaller side

Price Range: $10-15

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 3.5 Service: 3 Ambiance: 3 Parking: 3 Overall: 3.5

Jitlada

March 18, 2015March 18, 2015Leave a comment

Jitlada is a go to spot for my co-workers since it’s a short walk away. I’ve been here a couple of times now, but finally took out my phone to do some picture snapping this time. It’s very busy at lunch, and the restaurant isn’t too big, so be sure to arrive early. The lunch menu is quite simple with all items for $10.95. Most items come with spring rolls, salad, and rice.

The Spring Rolls arrived, and they were plated nicely with a side of dipping sauce. They were piping hot and had a generous amount of cabbage and cellophane noodles as filling. The wrapper was light and crispy.

Pad Kee Mao

E got the Pad Kee Mao, which they describe as drunken noodles. You can choose your meat, and she went for the chicken. It’s essentially stir-fried rice noodles and it’s seasoned with Thai basil leaves, onions and bell peppers. She said it was pretty good.

Gaeng Daeng

For myself, I got the Gaeng Daeng, which is red curry, and I chose the chicken for my meat. The curry is seasoned with fresh basil, bamboo shoots, red chili paste and coconut milk. You get a huge scoop of rice, and a pretty good salad filled with fruits and a light dressing. The curry itself had a good spice to it, but I didn’t think it was too special. Just average. It could have been more flavourful.

Overall, the portions are great for lunch and fairly priced for the Broadway location. Service is a bit slow during the lunch hour, but they manage to get you out within the hour lunch.

Pros:
– Friendly service
– Reasonable prices

Cons:
– Curry was just average

Price Range: $10-15

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 3
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3
Parking: 3
Overall: 3

Tropika – Lansdowne

August 5, 2014Leave a comment

Satays

Another birthday dinner, and I made the decision to have it at Tropika last minute. Tropika used to be located at Aberdeen Centre, but recently re-opened at Lansdowne Mall. There’s plenty of parking, which is the main reason why I chose it. I made reservations 30 minutes before heading there, and to my surprise, there were quite a few diners inside. We got seated in the back in the booths, and contrary to what many said about the the service, we actually had some pretty good service! First, we got the Satays. You can choose between the different types of meat, but we went for chicken and lamb. A nice char on the meat, and the satay sauce was filled with peanuts, which I loved. I did prefer the chicken over the lamb.

Roti Canai

Next was the Roti Canai. We got two orders of it, and each roti came cut in half, so perfect for sharing. I found the curry that came along a bit too oily though. I ended up dipping my roti in the green curry I ordered separately.

Pineapple Fried Rice with Ham & Chicken

For our entrees, we had the Pineapple Fried Rice with Ham & Chicken. As usual, it came in half a pineapple. I found that there was more rice than the rest of the ingredients. Definitely lacked on the pineapples, ham and veggies. Therefore, I found it a little bland and it could have been more flavourful.

Pad Thai

C got the Pad Thai for herself, but I tried some of it too. The stir fried rice noodle came with chicken, shrimp and tofu. It had a very tomato-based sauce and was sweet and sour at the same time. Also a hint of spice too! On the side were some bean sprouts, crushed peanuts, and lime.

Thai Style Green Curry Chicken

I chose to order the Thai Style Green Chicken. It came with loads of chicken, along with some green beans in a green curry paste & coconut milk. The chicken was tender, but I felt that it was pre-treated too much, so it didn’t seem very fresh. It had a texture that seemed a little fake for some reason. As for the curry, it was spicy as green curry should be. It would’ve been great with rice!

Sambal Green Beans

Lastly, for veggies, we had the Sambal Green Beans. This was my favourite dish and the green beans were covered with coconut milk and Sambal sauce. A hint of spice, but not too spicy! Definitely very appetizing! Sambal sauce is usually made with a variety of chili peppers, shrimp paste, and fish sauce, hence giving it an unique flavour.

Overall, the food at Tropika was average. I wouldn’t say it was bad, but it seems to be a hit or miss sometimes. As for service, like I said, we had pretty good service. We sat for quite some time and they didn’t try to get us to leave or anything. We even sat for 30 minutes before ordering. The server even offered us free ice cream at the end of the night since it was my birthday. We were way too full to take it, but it was a nice place to have dinner with friends.

Kumare

December 20, 2011May 4, 2013Leave a comment

Lumpiang Shanghai
Deep fried bite sized pork spring rolls

Beef Mami
Beef, egg, spring onions, and vegetables

Inihaw na Pusit
Grilled squid

Pancit Langlang
Stir-fried vermicelli and egg noodles, diced chicken and pork, and assorted vegetables.

Leche Flan

Ube Macapuno Cake
Ube chiffon cake and cream cheese icing

This is my second time at Kumare now! First time, I have to admit that I had no idea what I was ordering and wasn’t ordering the right “Filipino” food, so this time, I brought a Filipino friend with me for lunch! First off, we got some spring rolls that were filled with pork. They were really good and the filling was quite different from the ones I normally eat. Then, there was the soup, which I found quite interesting. It had a lot of vegetables and it had a sour taste to it. Not something I would normally order, but it wasn’t too bad. The squid was really interesting, as it was filled with green and red peppers, and then it was grilled. I have never tried something like this before! It was delicious other than the parts that were grilled a little too much. Those parts had a burnt taste to it. This time, my friend ordered noodles that were supposed to be Filipino – not those Pad Thai noodles I ordered last time that clearly were originated from the Malaysian and Thai Cuisine. The noodles were like vermicelli and had an interesting flavour to it. Quite delicious! And last but not least, I finally got to try their desserts, since Kumare also has a bakery section to the restaurant. I insisted on trying the Taro Chiffon Cake as I wanted to for the longest time, but my friend also suggested the Leche Flan, which is basically like a caramel pudding. So glad she ordered that because it was so delicious! Definitely one of my favourite desserts now! The Taro Cake was also not bad, as it had a nice taro flavour to it and the cream wasn’t too thick. It was also topped with some coconut that seemed to be freshly peeled off! Overall, it was a great experience having Filipino food. I think I might have a better idea of what to order next time and I’m definitely coming back!