If you've ever been to Baan Lao out in Steveston, you will know that they take Thai cuisine to a whole new level while still honoring the traditional techniques and ingredients. I've been a few times and it has been fantastic, if not a major indulgence (it's expensive). However, what if I told you that Food by Fanta out in Langley has similar elements while being significantly more affordable. Jackie and I went out for a tasting and came away rather impressed.
This isn't my first time visiting Food by Fanta, but as you will soon see, I got to experience some carefully curated smaller bites. This included the Miang Kham which literally translates to "one bite wrap". This it was with pomelo, dried shrimp, ginger, pineapple, lime, peanuts and herbs in a betel leaf. Combined with the sweet and savoury miang sauce, this had all the flavours such as brininess, sweetness, tang, nuttiness and herbaceousness.
Next little bite was the Kratong Tuna Tartare sitting in delicate pastry cups. Delicate was the operative word here as the tuna was buttery and lightly sweet. The other bite was the Yum Som with a mix of pomelo, herbs, toasted coconut, crispy shallots and garlic with Nam Prik Pao dressing and crispy prawn sprinkles. This was aromatic and toasty with tangy sweetness.
Served on a handheld metal spoon/serving vessel, the Tom Kah Scallop Bites were one of my favourite dishes. It featured a fairly large scallop that was beautifully seared. It was slightly rare in the middle being buttery and soft. Plenty of natural scallop sweetness that was concentrated due to the caramelization from the sear. In addition to being properly seasoned, the scallop all benefitted from the creamy and aromatic tom kha which had balancing tanginess.
Another little bite that was neatly presented was the Shrimp Toast. I was amazed that the toast was not greasy at all despite its thickness. Depending on your preference, this could've been too dry also. Personally, I would've liked to see the toast be less thick and surprisingly, a bit oiler. However, it was still good since the shrimp mixture was bouncy and sweet while the layer of herbs provided plenty of flavour.
In addition to the shrimp toast, we had another trio of items from their high tea service including the Khanom Krok. This crispy crepe was nutty and had a great hit of creamy coconut with the smoothness of blended rice. I absolutely loved the Khao Kriap Pak Mor which was steamed rice-flour dumpling that had a beautiful soft texture with appealing elasticity. It was filled with a tender savoury minced chicken mixture. At the top, we found the Khanom Buang which was a crispy pancake filled with grated coconut, diced shrimp and lime leaves on top of lemon meringue. This pancake had a light crunch coupled with the sweet and briny filling. Lots of aromatics going on here.
One of their most beautiful dishes happens to be the Chor Muang Flower Dumplings. These glutinous rice flour dumplings were texturally on point with a delicate chewiness with elasticity. Inside, we found 3 fillings including chicken, pork and veggie. Believe it or not, my favourite was the veggies with its combination peanuts, sweet radish, onion and cilantro. It was not hurting for texture or flavour. Loved the sweet tanginess with aromatics.
Colourful and presented as individual components (prior to mixing), the Khao Yum Salad consisted of 22 fresh-cut ingredients. I'm not going to list them all here but the crispy rice made this dish. Not only did it add texture, but the aromatics and nuttiness blended well with the crunchy vegetables, sweet fruit and herbaceous components. This was dressed with tangy tamarind and that brought out even more sweetness and tang.
One dish I've had before was the Bechamel Taro Nachos. Featuring thin waffle-cut taro chips, these were topped with tamarind prawns, melted Swiss and mozzarella and of course, an avocado bechamel. Beyond the crispiness of the thin taro chips, the best part of this dish was the little bits of prawns. Due to the cook on them, they were rather meaty and held up to the rest of the components. They were sweet with a slight tang while the cheese held everything together.
Another nicely-plated dish was the Miso-Orange Roasted Carrots. This consisted of a variety of carrots that had been butter-poached. As such, they were super tender to the point they were almost breaking apart, but stayed intact. The natural sweetness was definitely there with background earthiness. Complimenting the nutty peanut sauce, we found a bright and tangy beet vinaigrette.
One of the more interesting dishes was the Seared Eggplant with Green Curry. This acted almost like a vegetarian pate with a silky baked eggplant topped by poached carrots. This was spread onto toasted and buttered ciabatta served on the side. Texturally, this only worked because the toasted bread was the contrast. Eggplant and carrots by themselves were very soft and hence spreadable.
Something a bit more usual was the Confit Chicken Leg Khao Soi. The combination of delicate egg noodles and crispy noodles helped soak up the rich and coconut curry soup. It was aromatic, slightly sweet, a bit earthy and plenty creamy. The large chicken leg was definitely meaty and tender, but at the same time, it was maybe too tender? I loved the crispy skin though.
One of the most impactful dishes we had was the Khao Khluk Kapi Bowl Thai Fried Rice. This was not only due to the fact it was the beneficiary of smoky wok hei (high BTUs), but the fermented shrimp paste afforded plenty of umaminess. With that being said, it wasn't so pungent that it was overwhelming. Just enough of it. As evidenced in the picture, the plate was also loaded with crunchy veggies as well as crispy shallots and fried garlic. Lots of textures and further aromatics.
Encased with an egg lattice, the Pad Thai featured 2 large prawns on top. They were meaty with a bounce texture. Inside the lattice, the chewy rice noodles were coated with just enough homemade tamarind sauce. It was quite balanced as the noodles weren't too tangy nor too sweet. It had plenty of savouriness with smokiness from the wok hei.
I was happy that we got to try the Coconut Crème Brûlée since I enjoyed it very much the last time I was here. Presented beautifully in a half-coconut, the dessert benefitted from the fresh coconut meat on the sides. Beyond that, the custard was creamy and had a light thickness. Sweetness was balanced and the brûlée was crunchy and caramelized.
Seemingly super simple, the Som Choon consisted of lychee, pineapple, strawberry, jackfruit, and orange in jasmine-scented syrup, with orange zest, ginger and crisp shallots. The trick with this was to drizzle the syrup to your fancy and then serve it with ice. The result was something that was fruity, refreshing and pretty cold. I loved it!
Colourful with a variety of ingredients, the Pandan Chocolate & Strawberry Khunafeh was full of different textures. The crunch from the khunafeh was reminiscent of that in a Dubai Chocolate. Heck, the chocolate drizzle helped it even more so. The house-made pandan custard even looked like pistachio, but instead, it gave off a different form of nuttiness. It was like a Jedi mind trick as it looked like Dubai Chocolate, but it had a twist of slightly different flavours.
A stealthily delicious dessert was the Gluay Buad Chee. It featured a coconut cream mousse that was silky and rich. It had plenty of aromatics and sweetness. That in itself was quite satisfying already but we found a brûléed slice of banana on top. The contrasting textures between the soft banana and the smoky crunchiness of the torched sugar was appealing and gave the dessert some body.
Of course we ordered some bevvies to go with our meal too. We thought the Watermelon Mule was the most refreshing with fresh-squeezed fruit. Loved the natural flavours and the texture of the drink. Mango Supreme was floral and also fruity. The Mojito was refreshing from the passionfruit and also the mint. Being savoury, the Tom Yamgrita was a bit spicy with the usual fragrances of lemongrass and galangal. Overall, the meal was impressive as it featured traditional Thai flavours with some twists and a dose of modern presentation. Definitely something to consider as the prices are quite reasonable given the quality of the food.
*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*
The Good:
- Traditional Thai flavours but with a certain refinement
- Reasonable pricing
- Unique dining space
The Bad:
- Confit chicken was far too soft
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