Langbaan

Coming from Vancouver (B.C.), I've had the pleasure of dining at Baan Lao in Richmond.  Unlike most Thai restaurants, Baan Lao is upscale with white glove service.  If Tourism Richmond had partnered with Michelin, Baan Lao would no doubt have at least one Michelin Star.  Their cuisine and plating are top-notch and sets a different standard for Thai food in North America.  Since Portland has an thriving Thai food scene, we were definitely going to hit up some Thai restaurants.  The most exciting is Langbaan, which is a tasting menu only dinner spot located within Phuket Cafe.  They might not be as fancy as Baan Lao, but from all online accounts, the experience is still top notch.

The tasting menu began with some small bites including the Miang Som.  I've had many version of this before and for this one, it consisted of shrimp, Valencia orange, peanut and coconut on a betel leaf.  Pretty saucy, but ultimately a flavor bomb, there was intense sweetness from the palm sugar and brininess from the shrimp.  The umami that was present was further aided by the sweetness of the orange.  Add in the crunch and nuttiness from the peanuts and the aromatics of the coconut, it was certainly an everything bite.

If we thought that the Miang Som was a great start to waken our palates, the Kanom Krok not only brought balance, it was our favorite thing of the tasting menu.  It was a crispy cup with Hokkaido scallops sitting in a coconut cream.  That contrast in textures of the cup and the buttery soft scallops was just right.  Add in the aromatic sweetness of the coconut cream along with the Thai herbs and we had richness with brightness at the same time.  

Served in sriracha casing, the Hoy Tod was a nod to the Thai omelette.  We found some steamed mussels inside atop some egg with crispy sriracha seaweed.  The combination yielded seafoodiness from the tender mussels while the sriracha was only there enough to provide some impact without being too spicy.  It let the mussel be the star while the egg added some texture while representing the omelette.

Next, we had the Guay Tiew Rua with the broth served tableside.  This was in honor of Thai boat noodles with a rich broth that exhibited the usual tang and sweetness.  It was served steaming hot atop a small amount of rice noodles, beef meatball and flank steak.  We found the noodles having an appealing chewiness while the meatball was bouncy and sweet.  Wow, the 2 slices of rare flank steak were buttery soft and meaty tasting.  Some cilantro and green onion completed the dish.

To bring things down like a palate-cleanser, we had the Phla Pla featuring bigeye tuna wrapped in seaweed.  We found raspberry, pineapple, snap peas, shallots (2 ways) and Japanese pepper leaves on top.  Buttery and soft, the tuna had quite a bit of umami going.   Nice balance of sweetness, aromatics and crunch.  The fruitiness really helped the transition to the next dish.

Now when you think of Pad Thai, you would immediately think of rice noodles coated with a sweet and tangy tamarind sauce.  Well, this version featured ribbons of squid that resembled rice noodles while coated in tomato sauce.  It sat atop leeks, cabbage and sea grapes.  Very creative and ultimately, very tasty as well.  Nice aromatics and sweetness combined with tanginess from the ingredients.  It didn't really taste like a Pad Thai, but that didn't matter as it was great in its own right.  I especially loved the tender chew of the squid noodles.

We moved onto the shared entree portion of the tasting menu including the Gang Taepo or poached halibut atop red curry.  At first, I was a little dismayed that the halibut was just merely poached, but after I combined it with the curry, it made total sense.  No need to have competing flavors nor having too much salt as the curry was full-of-depth, spice and sweetness.  Beautifully prepared, the halibut was flaky and moist and accepted the curry as a textural canvas.

Also at the same time, we had the Pad Preaw or Octopus with a chutney of tomato, Chinese celery and peanuts.  I found this dish competent where the octopus was cooked perfectly where it was tender with just enough chew.  The chutney was flavourful with tang and sweetness, but the dish as a whole was not as impactful as the rest.  However, the condiment on the side did help things plenty.

The condiment was the Nam Prik Long Rua or pork & shrimp relish with salted egg and greens.  This was a lot of things including briny, meaty, salty and umami.   Combined with the crunchy veggies wrapped in lettuce, this made everything much more flavorful and also a bit spicy.  Texture was provided in the form of pork crackling mixed into the relish.  You could put this on anything and it would taste good!  

Dessert consisted of 2 items including the Mango Sticky Rice presented as a layered cake with a mango mochi cake base, mango mousse in the middle and butter lime cream on the top.  This was quite pleasant and mildly sweet with the flavors of mango sticky rice.  I liked how this was super light and gently brought us down from the flavor bomb of the relish from the previous course.

Our last item was the Khao Lahm which was a pandan canelé.  Texturally, since it was made with rice, the interior was more custardy and wet than a regular canelé.  The outside was slightly crispy but could've been more so.  However, it still ate quite well and we enjoyed it.  Overall, we loved our meal at Langbaan.  The tasting menu progressed beautifully and we felt the flavors popped.  Would absolutely do this again when we are in PDX next.

The Good:

- Impactful flavors

- Well-prepared proteins

- Excellent service

The Bad:

- Pandan canelé was a bit weird texturally

Food by Fanta

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

Ginger & Scallion

You might be wondering why a restaurant that specializes in Khao Soi goes by the name "Ginger & Scallion".  Well, it is run by the same people when it was Ginger & Scallion but they decided to pivot from doing Chicken Rice (hence the ginger and scallion name, which is a condiment associated with the dish) to Khao Soi.  They just wanted to do something different even though their Chicken Rice was wildly popular and the place was packed.  Jackie and I have tried their Chicken Rice before and although we are sad to see it go, we were super excited to try their Khao Soi.

Before we got to that, we tried their house made Thai Sausage.  This was really good as the texture was so natural and meaty.  As much as it was moist and juicy, it was not overly fatty.  Hence, the chew was consistent in terms of being tender with some firmness.  Flavor was good with hits of tanginess and rich fermented notes.   This was served with the typical raw cabbage, ginger, cilantro and chilis.

Onto the Khao Soi, we went for a few beef offerings including the Beef Tenderloin.  As you can see, the beef was prepared to a perfect rare.  I thought it was tender enough, but in comparison to the other 2 beef options we ordered, it wasn't fatty.  In addition to the rich and flavorful broth, we found green onions, cilantro, red onion, crispy shallots, pickled vegetables and crispy noodles (also chewy wide egg noodles hidden within).

On that note, the other beef options we had were the Miyazaki A5 Picanha and American Wagyu.  Although I found the Picanha to be the most buttery, it could've used just a touch more cooking so that the fats would be activated.  With more rendering, it would've been even more tender.  It was still delicious though with rich meatiness to go with the rich broth that was thick and aromatic.  Even though Khao Soi isn't supposed to be spicy, I would've liked just a touch more heat.  Mind you, there was some chili crunch on the side, so we could customize our broth anyways!

My favorite beef for the Khoi Soi was the American Wagyu Steak as it was less fatty than the Miyazaki A5.  Since it was medium-rare to rare, less fat meant that it didn't need to render as much.  Hence, it was super soft and succulent.  Nice meatiness from the fat and it was less heavy.  Since the broth was already so rich, the meat went better than the A5.

Our last 2 bowls consisted of Seared Duck and Oxtail.  Personally, I would've liked to see more rendered skin for the duck (or a breed that has less fat).  However, the duck was still beautifully cooked and tender.  As for the oxtail, we had 2 large pieces that had fall-off-the-bone meat that was gelatinous and buttery soft.  Once again, there was wealth of natural beef flavour.

To go with our Khao Soi, we had a Thai Iced Tea which was creamy and aromatic while being just sweet enough.  For dessert, we sampled a Passionfruit Pie from San Bartolo Bake Shop.  Tangy, sweet and refreshing, this helped level off all the yummy richness.  Overall, a solid experience and definitely filling despite not looking like a huge portion.  Plenty of meat and al dente noodles within that flavorful and aromatic broth.

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

The Good:

- Rich aromatic broth

- Excellent meat choices

- Filling, despite not looking like it

The Bad:

- Duck fat could've been rendered a bit more

Thai Lucine

It seems like I am doing a lot of Thai food wherever I go.  It is especially true when I'm south of the border as the Thai food game in Seattle and especially in Portland are on point.  One of the newest in the Emerald City is Thai Lucine, which is a quick-service concept that offers traditional Thai favorites for dine-in and take-out.  Prices are reasonable and portions are generous.  Jackie and I checked it out on a Sunny, but cold January afternoon. 

Being a quick-service restaurant, the food is prepared fast and served in to-go packaging.  The place is certainly nice enough to dine-in, but for those who need to be on the go, Thai Lucine fits that bill.  We started things off with the Laab Stix.  Crispy with a tender meat filling, these fulfilled the promise of laab flavours with tanginess and some spice.  We found some jimjew sauce on the side.

One of their best deals is their Dinner Set for $19.99 that includes Thai Clear Soup, Chicken Pad See Ew and Lime Chili Wings.  We watched our noodles being wok fried and were not surprised at caramelized and smoky flavors from the wok hei.  Those wings were large and plenty juicy.  Batter was crunchy and we did get some tang from the lime.  Soup was clean and really nice for a cold day.

We tried one of their salads in the Thai Chili-Lime Dressing Salad with shrimp.  Consisting of a mixture of spring mix and other veggies, the salad was topped with quinoa and plenty of shrimp.  This was a refreshing salad as the dressing was tangy and sweet with just a touch of spice.  Loved the shrimp as they were buttery with a crunch.  Served in a to-go cup, the Tom Yum Soup was packed with big slices of chicken.  The broth itself was classic hot and sour with plenty of aromatics from lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and galangal.  Really great for on the go, instead of a coffee.

Continuing with shrimp, we had the Pad Kee Mao with that particular protein.  This was full of wok hei as you can see clearly in the picture.  Good sear on the ingredients with caramelized flavors and smokiness.  The noodles had a pleasant chewiness while the seasoning was on point with a decent spice level.  This was tempered by the sweetness of palm sugar.

Equally delicious, the Thai Fried Rice with Beef was also full of smokiness from the fiery wok fry.  Each grain of rice was discernible and not clumpy.  There was a good chewiness to the rice and aromatic nuttiness.  Once again, the seasoning was there providing enough flavor without being salty.  There was plenty of tender slices of beef as well.

Going for one of their wraps as well, we had the Keow Waan Wrap with Beef.  Sporting a wealth of tender beef, the wrap also contained veggies, almonds, pumpkin seeds and of course, Thai green curry dressing.  Loved the spice level as well as the generous amount of tender beef.  The greens really complimented the whole thing by keeping things from being heavy. 

We also had some drinks to compliment our food in the Thai Iced Tea, Thai Pink Milk and Cold Brew Coffee.  With balanced sweetness, the Thai Iced Tea was creamy and full-bodied.  The creamy Thai Pink Milk was rather sweet, but helped cool down some of the spices.  Cold Brew was strong and great for people who like black coffee.  Overall, a solid experience at Thai Lucine.  Great quick service spot with generous portions at reasonable prices.  They carry 5 homemade sauces that were great with our food.  I particularly enjoyed the Massaman sauce, so aromatic and flavorful.  Pro tip, get their membership and enjoy a BOGO (buy one, get one of any soup, salad, wrap or entree.  Also every $15 spent, you get 1 stamp.  Collect 5 stamps for 1 free appie and 10 stamps for free wrap or salad.  Until April 30th, 2026, you can get 10% off if you use the code "sherman10" at checkout!

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

The Good:

- Good wok hei and caramelization of flavors

- Reasonable pricing

- Generous portions

The Bad:

- Since it is mainly a takeout operation, you won't have proper plates or bowls when dining in

- Parking is a bit difficult in the area