Soi Ram (Dinner Service)

I generally don't throw around the term "hidden gem" because almost anything that is good which is not part of a restaurant group has been defined as such.  However, there are times when something is indeed not that well-known, other than to the locals.  This would be Soi Ram located in Ladner Village.  Yah, those who know, will know that the food is legit here and the wok hei is on point.  Yet, I'm sure most people who haven't travelled to Ladner for some of the best Thai food in the GVRD.  I've been here before during lunch, but I finally got a chance to return for dinner. 

Unfortunately, the picture of the Spring Rolls don't do it justice.  These are thicc and stuffed full of perfectly cooked veggies.  Normally, the veggies (and vermicelli) are obliterated by the deep fry and hence are rendered mushy.  Not these ones as they were still crunchy and vibrant while encased in a crunchy wheat wrapper.  They were just a touch greasy this time though.

A dish I've never had before was the Tam-Bour Wings featuring a glaze consisting of fish sauce, palm sugar, tamarind and a secret spice mix.  This was essentially a fish sauce caramel with the beautiful tang of tamarind.  This was impactful with a briny sweetness accented by some spice.  The wings themselves were crispy with rendered fat.  Inside, the meat was juicy, but not too wet, hence it didn't dilute the flavours.

Another new dish for me was the Waterfall Beef.  This is strongly related to crying tiger beef but made better.  Tender, but with natural meat texture, the slices of beef were completed flavoured by the roasted rice, fresh herbs, citrus, and spice.  Since this was technically a salad, the veggies completely benefitted from the aforementioned flavours as well as the texture of the beef.

At one point in time, Sen Pad Thai had the best Pad See Ew in town.  Currently, the award goes to Soi Ram.  The wok hei was so evident from just the smell as the dish hit the table.  You could taste the smokiness as well as the intense caramelization of the gai lan and glass noodles.  Those noodles were chewy and full of elasticity.  There was a bit of brininess to compliment the sweetness.

One other dish I've had here before was the Pad Kra Pow.  The portion size was super generous as you can see in the picture.  Easily 3 or 4 times the amount of pork as the one found at Sud Soi.  Furthermore, the wok hei on this one was also on point.  Strong flavours and the classic smokiness ensured the accompanying rice had something to play with.  

Served as a rather large portion, the Chicken Green Curry was delicious.  Yes, I've had this before too and the chicken was perfectly prepared.  It was moist and tender (not dry like most other places).  Creamy and aromatic, the green curry had some brininess, spice, herbeaceousness from the basil and sweetness.  Eggplant was tender, but not mushy, while the peppers were still vibrant.

Finally, we had The Alley made with homemade taro, sweet corn, tapioca and fresh coconut slices in a sweet coconut soup. This was topped with homemade coconut ice-cream and crispy rice.  This was super-refreshing and surprisingly measured in sweetness.  Loved the aromatics of the coconut and the pops of sweetness of the corn.  So there you have it, another delicious meal at Soi Ram.  Excellent Thai food located in quaint Ladner Village.  Love the food, the people and also the reasonable prices.  This is a place worth travelling to for a meal.

The Good:

- Delicious eats with wok hei

- Reasonable pricing

- Nice people

The Bad:

- Not the most accessible location for people in the GVRD, especially during rush hour (but I would suffer through that!)

- Fairly limited menu, but has all the essentials

Burger Bender @ Match Eatery and Public House (Delta)

So here we are at Match Eatery and Public House to check out their annual Burger Bender.  Running until February 22nd, they are featuring 5 unique creations to compliment their fantastic burgers on their regular menu.  I've always enjoyed their burgers and sides, to the point that I've been here many times on my own coin.  Really love their wings and pizza as well.  So this time around, we stopped by for an early dinner so that we could take our time enjoying their burger lineup for Burger Bender 2026.

The first one we tackled was probably our favourite in the Bacon BBQ Ranch Hand.  You can clearly see what made this burger - the copious amount of bacon!  With a plethora of thick strips of glazed crispy bacon, the burger had this salty, sweet and smoky thing going on.  Texturally, the bacon added a crispy meatiness.  The 6oz smashed patty had crispy edges and was well-seared.  Providing even more crunch were some crispy onions while some pulled pork and BBQ sauce gave the burger some smokiness.  We paired this one with the regular fries and they were crispy with lots of potato goodness inside.

A fan favourite of year's past has been the French Onion Big Dipper.  This consisted of the same smashed burger patty topped with a crunchy breaded onion ring and 2 slices of melted Swiss cheese.  Along with caramelized onions, there was already a tonne of flavour, but the whole point of this burger was to dip it into the side of French onion soup.   About that soup, it was impactful and sweet without being overly salty.  It really complimented the cheese and onion where it felt like we were eating, not drinking, a French Onion Soup.  Beyond the burger, the side of curly fries were uniformly crunchy.

I found the Aloha Huli Huli Chicken a surprise as I'm usually not a chicken burger person.  This was quite enjoyable due to the aggressive char on the chicken breast.  It made things smoky with more depth (than what you might usually expect from a chicken breast).  Despite this char, the meat was still tender and almost juicy.  I would've liked more marinade on the chicken itself, but with teriyaki pulled pork and grilled fresh pineapple, there was no shortage of tangy, sweet and savoury elements.  We had the breaded onion rings with this burger and they were super crunchy.

The Mighty Mushroom could be seen as one of the underrated burgers on this menu.  I mean, mushroom burgers aren't necessarily anything out-of-the-ordinary.  However, with a generous amount of Boursin cheese spread, things got cheesy with herbaceous notes.  Add in the sautéed crimini mushrooms, and we had a wealth of woodsiness and butteriness.  Make no mistake, the burger ate heavy as a result, but the addition of Dijonnaise provided a bit of bright tanginess.  The side of chili fries was fantastic with the same crispy fries (that stayed crispy) topped with a meaty chili and lots of cheese.

Finally, the most "regular" burger was the Super Smash Burger featuring 3 smash patties with all the produce, burger sauce, caramelized onions and American cheese.  This hit the spot with thinner patties sporting crispier edges.  Combined with the cheese and sauce, we had some classic burger vibes going on.  We ended up with a Caesar Salad for the side and it was loaded with croutons, roasted garlic and bacon.   There are 2 featured Root Beer Floats on the Burger Bender menu with one classic and the other being boozy.  The combination of hard vanilla ice cream with a bubbly root beer brought back childhood memories.  In fact, the burgers offered this time around were reminiscent of past Burger Benders with creations you want to eat with sides that are just as good.  

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Loaded and tasty burgers

- Equally great sides

- We ordered and paid for some wings because they are that good

The Bad:

- Wished they had a non-beef offering as well (like in the past), but they do have it on the regular menu though