Sherman's Food Adventures: Longtail Kitchen

Longtail Kitchen

Good affordable Thai food.  Sounds somewhat like an oxymoron eh?  Sometimes, we have inexpensive Thai food, yet it may not be actually that great.  Then we have good Thai food (authentic and somewhat authentic) that features miniscule portions for a pretty penny.  When Whipping Girl exclaimed we could get great Thai food for a reasonable price, it got me interested.  Normally, I generally ignore what she says...

She had recently visited Longtail Kitchen in New West and was chomping at the bit to get me to try it.  So much so, she drove and paid!  What a great deal for me!  Apparently associated with Maenam, but with a more reasonable price tag, I was looking forward to it. We started with the Chicken Satay first and it was pretty average.  The chicken exhibited a minimal amount of grilled appearance and flavour.  The meat was tender enough, especially for white meat, but was not that "hot" in temperature.  The peanut sauce on top was mildly sweet and only a bit nutty.  Next, the Fried Oysters were lightly fried with a slightly crispy exterior.  The oysters themselves were sweet and juicy.  What made the dish was the sweet and slightly spicy dip.

The best appie had to be the Fried Chicken Wings which reminded me of Phnom Penh in terms of texture.  They were airy crisp with hot juicy flesh on the inside.  The flavours were really apparent with a nice wok-toss with salt, pepper, fried onion and garlic.  Completing the flavours was the dipping sauce which was a nice balance of spice, tartness and sweetness. Unlike most of the Pad Thai dishes found in the GVRD, this one was bursting with tarmarind flavour.  So much so, it was super tart which suited us just fine. In addition to the tamarind, there was a slow rumble of spice.  The noodles were still chewy while there was just enough "sauce" to flavour the noodles without drowning them.  We weren't fond of the prawns though as they were overcooked and chewy.  

Lastly, we shared the Fresh Turmeric Curry of Ling Cod and Mussels.  We got a couple bowls of rice because the sauce couldn't be wasted.  It was creamy and aromatic from the coconut milk, lemongrass and galangal.  Again, there was a slow rumble from the spice that lingered.  The ling cod was a bit broken, yet was still moist.  As for the mussels, they were fat and plump.  Not bad, not bad at all.  Decent Thai Food for a reasonable price.  I'll be back.

The Good:
- Although not super spicy, the flavours were not weak
- Above average eats
- Reasonably-priced

The Bad:
- Reasonably-priced, but the portions are still small
- Not the most comfortable place to sit and linger

Longtail Kitchen on Urbanspoon

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