So this guy walks into a Thai restaurant with his friend JD.
Sounds like the start to a sophomoric joke doesn’t it? I can imagine some sort of trite misunderstanding ensues before a predictable denouement, maybe involving the term Tom Yum.
In actual fact, I did recently visit Lower Lonsdale’s Thai House in recognition of the restaurant’s 30th anniversary, accompanied by my friend JD. I was keen to check out a number of Thai House’s newer menu additions, items that complement the more traditional lineup of Thai favourites but demonstrate a progressive, forward-looking perspective that likely accounts for this North Shore institution’s longevity.
Thirty years ago, Vancouver welcomed 22 million people to the city via Expo 86, the massive world’s fair for which the city constructed some key infrastructure that still serves us today. I remember the Thailand Pavilion of that fair; the exhibit’s bright silks and imposing statues impressed themselves firmly in my young mind, though it wasn’t until my late teens that I had my first experience with the cuisine of Thailand.
My first Thai meal was an affair to remember.
The bold, perfumed flavours of lemongrass and lime leaf, galangal and pandan, were new to me, as was the prolific use of smooth and rich coconut milk to temper the food’s fierce chilli heat. I sweated my way through that meal but somehow didn’t know when to stop; I devoured curries, grilled seafood, soups, and skewered meats, washing it all down with sweetened tea the colour of terra cotta.
I paid for that indulgence, doubled over for two days with intense stomach cramps. I was unaccustomed to Thai spices and ingredients back then and they sacked every inch of my fledgling foodie digestive tract like merciless raiders of a remote tomb. Eventually, I learned to both eat and cook Thai food and it has become a comforting staple of my adulthood.
Today I seek the boldest and hottest iterations of Thai food that I can find. If this sounds like your approach as well, then please heed this advice: ask for your dishes to be prepared extra hot at Thai House.
JD and I both have a good threshold for spicy food and neither of us achieved even a glow during our meal, let alone broke a sweat. Now, to be clear, this doesn’t mean that the food didn’t deliver on bold taste. Indeed it did, with lovely fresh ingredients finding sophisticated expression in thoughtful, vibrant sauces laden with roasted spices and fragrant herbs. I enjoyed every dish, but would have even more if the kitchen had not sought to protect my palate so diligently.
Tied for the best of our dinner lineup, which included eight dishes in total, were a delicate, silken oxtail dish served with flaky roti, and a hearty dish of wok-fried broad egg noodles with ground pork and vegetables. The fall-from-the-bone tender oxtail, AAA grade, was served in bite-sized morsels and was greatly enhanced by a coconut-rich, mild matsaman curry sauce.
The accompanying roti, dense, multi-layered and flaky, was one of the best versions of the bread I’ve had in recent memory. The Gwoi Teaw Pad Kee Mao noodles, deliberately chosen to sidestep the very common (but still a favourite) Pad Thai, were a delight.
The noodles were perfectly al dente and absorbed a sauce that was rich in Thai basil; this dish packed the most heat of anything we ate, save perhaps JD’s small bowl of Tom Yum, the popular orange-hued hot and sour soup with mushrooms, tomato, lemon grass and Thai spices.
A cool salad of prawns and squid, Yum Rommitr Ta-Lay, featured a generous serving of meaty tiger prawns and toothsome cylinders of squid in a tangy, fresh and acidic dressing of lime, nam-pla (fish sauce) and chilies. This dish was attended by three chili symbols on the menu, suggesting significant heat, which JD and I found lacking, despite its robust citrus notes and otherwise good balance of sweet, salty and sour. Pork jowl (“scary but delicious,” the menu said), was indeed very tasty, but far from scary; this is just lovely lean pork cheek meat, given a little flare courtesy of a spicy, tangy dipping sauce. A mild dish of asparagus was novel, featuring still-crunchy spears of the vegetable set atop pillowy, light and nicely seasoned squares of deep-fried tofu, drizzled with a salty soy glaze.
We summoned the server for a final dish, asking for something truly fiery in light of our tame meal. He recommended Gai Pad Ma-Mung Him Ma-Pan, a wok-fried chicken dish with bell peppers, cashews and toasted Thai bird chilies.
While the dish had a delicious combination of flavours and was certainly deftly prepared, it was again much milder than expected, suggesting that JD and I either have steely constitutions impervious to heat, or that our meal was tempered for us by a well-meaning kitchen team. Our bill, which included two Singha beers apiece, was $139 before gratuity.
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Long-running waterfront institution Marinaside Grill has recently closed its doors. Pursuant to discovering some ailing infrastructure, the decision was made to shutter the casual eatery. A source within the ownership group told me that there is no plan to reopen the restaurant elsewhere, nor are there any currently known plans for the future of the existing space.
Chris Dagenais served as a manager for several restaurants downtown and on the North Shore. [email protected]. North Shore News dining reviews are conducted anonymously and all meals are paid for by the newspaper.
