Sherman's Food Adventures: Thai New West

Thai New West

Lunch with Big D has become somewhat of a chore lately.  You see, we've done the North Road Korean food thing and it has become increasingly difficult to find good eats nearby.  Well, why not go further West in to New Westminster?  Yes, New West is not exactly a culinary hotspot, but then again, there are quite a few restaurants within its city limits.  There has to be something relatively good right?  And really, I have had decent eats in the past, why not again?  So at his suggestion, we hit up Thai New West on Columbia.

We ended up sharing 3 lunch specials much like the time we visited Go Thai down the street.  Next time, we should just do 4 since we never have a problem finishing the food.  Each special was accompanied by a Spring Roll.  They were crispy while not greasy.  The filling was a bit dry though which made it a little hard to swallow.  We tried the Pad Thai first and it was pretty mild with a pronounced sweetness that at first, we thought was ketchup (however, this is not the case, maybe there was a lot of palm sugar?).  Therefore, it neither had any tang or real depth of flavour. We would've liked to see a bit of spice too (but I guess they are appealing to the lowest common denominator).  The textures were okay though. 

Next up was the Basil Chicken. There was no absence of palm sugar as it was pretty darn sweet, but in then end it did taste good though.  Nice wok heat leading to a full-bodied flavour.  The chicken was sufficiently moist while the veggies crisp and vibrant.  As for the Green Curry, it was also mild (not much coconut milk essence nor shrimp paste, yet did have a pleasant flavour).  It was on the thinner side.  When combined with the rice, the flavours were washed out.  From our meal here, it is pretty apparent that they are appealing to the masses, hence the food is mild bordering on bland.  With that being said, it wasn't bad either.


The Good:
- Modern dining space
- Okay pricing

The Bad:
- Flavours are very mild
- Service is okay, but only one staff member makes it challenging

Thai New West on Urbanspoon

3 comments:

New Age Marketing said...

Dear Sherman,
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve you; it is our best intention to provide our guests with pure and fresh Thai cuisine of Bangkok. Your feedback is very valuable as it helps us improve the quality of our product.
Referencing our Pad Thai as a ‘ketchupy’ version is a pure insult to our cooking. Our Thai chef prepares Pad Thai the way it’s prepared in Thailand using tamarind sauce. I invite you to visit Thai New West and and I will personally give you a tour of our kitchen and demonstrate the authenticity and freshness of our ingredients.
In your opinion you also mention that we “appeal to the lowest common denominator” and “masses” which is so untrue! Our guests and their discriminating tastes mean a world to us and we delight them through pure and healthy cooking methods, fresh ingredients, personalization and presentation of our dishes!
Once again we are really honored to have attracted your attention to write about us and look forward to welcoming you back many times!
Best regards,
Teg Brar
tegbrar@gmail.com 604 544 7997

Sherman Chan said...

@New Age Marketing Thank you for your comment. I can see you are very passionate about your food and stand by it. By no means was it bad. It was a pleasant meal. However, having eaten at many Thai restaurants in town, my eating partner and I concluded that the flavours were quite mild. Furthermore, I am pleased to hear you use tamarind in your Pad Thai and by no means was it trying to insult you or your chef. But, we both determined that it was "ketchupy" in taste in need of more tang. Maybe there was too much palm sugar? We realize taste is subjective, but we are merely only comparing to other meals we've had. We prefer more bold flavours, spicier in fact. In that respect, maybe we should've requested spicier? We would be happy to do a revisit sometime to re-evaluate the food. After all, we only tried 3 dishes and it was during lunch, not dinner.

New Age Marketing said...

Dear Sherman,
Thank you for allowing us to express our views on your blog. I apologize the dishes you ordered were not as spicy as you expected. We serve a local community with sensitive palates and therefore encourage our guests to choose the spice level ranging from 1 - 5 (very mild - very spicy). This is indicated on the menu and standard to communicate to the guest verbally. Once again thank you for allowing us to serve you and we promise you a more spicier and bolder experience on your next visit.
Best regards from Thai New West.
Teg Brar

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