Sainam - Thai Isaan Eatery and Bar

You've probably heard me talk about how many of the restaurants we have in Vancouver (and many other spots around the world) take the "tourist" approach to their menus.  Hence, we see multiple cuisines from different regions of one country all packaged into one restaurant.  We are seeing more often that restaurants are being dedicated to one region as customers are becoming more aware and are also demanding it.   This brings me to one of the newest Northeastern Thai restaurants in town in Sainam.  Opened by Angus An, Sainam joins a growing list of Isaan (or E-Sarn) focused Thai restaurants in Vancouver.  Known for their sweet and sour flavour profiles and Loatian influences, it is definitely different than the usual coconut thick curries and seafood of the South.

Predominant on the front page of the menu, there is a section dedicated to Som Yum (Papaya Salad).  Although it was suggested we try the one with salt cured little crabs, we opted for the Fried Papaya Salad instead.  I've had the one with the crabs before and it was definitely briny and full of umami.  However, this fried papaya salad was all about the textures.  So much crunch in this and bathed in a sweet and tangy dressing that was also plenty spicy.  It was a balanced spiciness though as I could still taste everything else and not kill my tastebuds for the other dishes we ordered.

For our next item, we had something that is not unique to Isaan cuisine, but definitely a Thai favourite as the menu states.  This was of course, the well-known dish of Pad Thai.  I would say this was prepared in a familiar way and it was probably intentional.  For those who are not familiar with Isaan Thai, this (and the other items in the Thai Favourites section), would be accessible.   The noodles were chewy and al dente while doused in enough tamarind for a tangy bite.  There was a touch of brininess and balancing sweetness.  It was pretty mild, but the side of chili powder helped kick things up.

Another dish from the same section of the menu was the Laab Fried Rice.  This had sufficient wok hei for some nuttiness from the rice.  The rice itself was moist, yet not wet, where it was chewy with discernible grains.  It was seasoned well where every bite was full of flavour including the various herbs including the sweet star anise hit from the Thai basil and some spice from the chilies.  Of course we had some brininess as well as plenty of sweetness too.   Some background acidity balanced things out. The big chunks of chicken were rather dry, but not in a bad way.  It had crispy bits on the edges and a firm chew everywhere else.

One of my favourite cuts of meat has to be Pork Neck or aka Pork Collar as it is fatty and tender.  Therefore, we ordered the Nam Tok Pork Neck.  There are 2 versions on the menu and this particular dish found the sliced pork neck tossed with roasted rice powder, herbs and spicy lime dressing.  As per usual, the pork neck was fatty and plenty bouncy in texture.  Very nice mouth feel with tangy spiciness as well as the brightness of the herbs.  There was some nuttiness from the rice powder.

Whenever we are dining on SE Asian cuisine, ordering Fried Chicken Wings is a must.  Something about how they seasoned them and the dipping sauces...  So good!  Well, the one here at Sainam was pretty decent.  The wings themselves were still moist with rendered crispy skin.  We would've liked to see more fish sauce glaze on the outside though.  It was plenty flavourful with caramelized sweetness and briny saltiness.  The dipping sauce on the side was a good combination of saltiness, sweetness, tanginess, herbaceousness and spice.

We ordered one veggie dish in the Stir-Fried Cabbage with fish sauce & dried chili.  This was quite good in terms of flavour as the sweetness of the palm sugar was evident and it was caramelized.  Nice briny saltiness from the fish sauce and there was an earthiness in the background.  There was definitely some spice in the end too.  One thing that we would have liked to see was more wok hei and charring of the cabbage.  Texturally, the cabbage was still crunchy and vibrant.

Onto dessert, we had the Pandan Custard Cake which was in a nice shade of pandan green.  It was soft and mildly sweet with the unmistakable floral and nutty notes.  Definitely tropical tasting and not super heavy.  The sweetened egg topping was texturally pleasing while adding an extra hit of flavour.  Overall, Sainam is a solid choice for Northeastern Thai food.  Yes, I didn't get to dive deep into the true Isaan dishes on the menu, but I wouldn't mind coming back to try them.

The Good:

- Nice flavours

- Attentive service

- Unique dishes on the menu

The Bad:

- Wok hei was sufficient, but we would've liked to see even more smokiness

Sud Soi

I've always wondered why Vancouver's Thai food game has been so weak all these years.  Yes, there have always been some good Thai spots in town, but as a whole, it doesn't hold a candle to cities like Portland, New York and LA.  However, we are seeing an upward trajectory as of late with the opening of spots like Song and smaller joints such as Silom, Sip Song, Zab Bite, Zab Zaab, Soi Ram and Siam Le Bien.  Of those, some specialize in Northern Thai or E-Sarn cuisine.  One of the more recent openings is Sud Soi in the former location of Lombardo's in El Mercato on Commercial Drive.

We had a few small plates to start including the Grilled Pork Jowl and the Grilled Wings.  These were good with some charring and well-marinated meats.  As you can see, the pork jowl was still juicy and fatty while the wings had somewhat rendered skin.  The meat inside was also juicy and tender.  Although both dips seemed to be the same, the one for the pork jowl had more brininess.

One of the more interesting dishes was the Fried Chicken with Midnight Sticky Rice.  The deep fried chicken thigh was really crunchy on the outside.  Inside, the meat was fairly juicy with some drier portions.  There was some chili sauce on the side which added a bit of tangy heat.  As for the sticky rice, it was in a beautiful shade of purple and black.  A nice chewy and sticky accompaniment to the chicken.

We ended up ordering the Khao Soi with soft shell crab.  Unlike many versions of the this dish, the curry broth in this one was much more earthy and rich.  They really went hard with the spices and extracted the maximum amount of flavour from it.  Hence, the noodles really absorbed the flavours.  Soft shell crab was fairly large and crispy on the outside.  Of course, the inside was soft and almost creamy.

As a default of sorts, we got the Pad Thai, but not the regular one.  Instead, we had the Pad Thai Korat which is supposed to be bolder and spicier.  That it was with plenty of tang from the tamarind and a balancing amount of heat.  We also got some caramelized brininess.  Noodles were chewy and veggies were crisp.  Loved the addition of pork cracklings.

Their Pad See Ew with chicken was the beneficiary of proper wok hei, which ensured smokiness and caramelization of flavours.  We got heightened sweetness to go with the saltiness of the soy and really liked the fried shallots on top.  The chicken itself was fairly moist despite being white meat and the gai lan was vibrant and crunchy.  A real solid version of this dish.

We wanted to like the Pad Ka Prow but they really skimped on the amount of meat in this dish.  There was 5 times the amount of rice compared to the meat.  Hence, we ended up with a bunch of rice with nothing to eat it with at the end.  In terms of taste, it was good though, since it was also full of wok hei with strong aroma.  The fried egg was great being fluffy with crispy parts.

After all this food, we needed something sweet to end off the meal.  We got the classic Mango Sticky Rice which came in a decent portion.  The first thing that struck me was how cold the sticky rice was.  It wasn't hard per se, but the temperature did make it more chewy than I would've liked.  Nice sweet coconut cream on top though.  Mango was fresh and as good as it could be considering the time of year.  Overall, we enjoyed our meal at Sud Soi where the wok hei was good and the flavours were impactful.  Possibly a few things could be better, but nothing major that couldn't be rectified.

The Good:

- Impactful flavours

- Good wok hei

- Nice people

The Bad:

- Too much rice, not enough meat for the Pad Ka Prow

- Sticky rice for the dessert was too cold

Zab Zaab Thai

I'm not usually the type to do random eats, but there have been instances where it works out.  Case in point, our recent foray to Zab Zaab Thai in Yaletown.  We were in downtown to watch a show at the Orpheum and we had fortunately snagged one of the free spots near Elsie Roy Elementary School.  We really didn't have a plan for a dinner spot and we wandered Yaletown hoping to gain some inspiration.  We considered some ol' standbys including Rodney's or even Cactus Club.  That is when we stumbled on Zab Zaab Thai that has the "Thai Select" award that guarantees authenticity according to Thailand's Ministry of Commerce.  

The menu is pretty large and it was hard to choose between items.  Ultimately, we began with a pair of soups including the Tom Yum with prawns and the Tom Kah with chicken.  Gotta say that these were pretty good and a nice start to our meal.  I found the fragrant and aromatic components were all discernible and in balance.  Hence, the lemongrass, lime leaves, galangal, fish sauce and spice were all there and came through in layers.  Of course, the Tom Kah added the creaminess and aromatics of coconut milk.

Next up, we had the Crying Tiger Beef or grilled NY striploin.  This was perfectly charred which resulted in a smoky nuttiness.  There was plenty of natural meat flavour from the perfectly medium-rare cook on the steak.  In terms of texture, we found it to be not as tender as expected, but at the same time, it wasn't overly chewy either.  This was served with a tangy, sweet and lightly spicy house dip.  The sauce was the key component to this dish as it was super appetizing and impactful.  We also had a side of sticky rice that was great with the dip as well.

From their special menu, we tried the Crispy Pork Belly Basil with garlic, chili, green beans, bell peppers and holy basil.  We really enjoyed this with some rice as the aroma from this dish was super pleasing.  Due to the proper wok hei, this had caramelized sweetness as well as the garlicky savouriness that helped seasoned the crisp veggies.  The pork belly itself was meat with just enough fattiness to keep things moist and buttery.  Although stir-fried, the crackling remained crunchy.

As per usual, we got some veggies into our meal with the Stir-Fried Vegetables.  This consisted of seasoned vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, broccoli, button mushrooms and green beans.  Since it was cooked in a high heat wok, the veggies cooked through while retaining a crunch.  Things were flavourful with the use of mushroom oyster sauce where we had the rich saltiness that had plenty of umami.  As you can see in the picture, there was very little residual moisture and oil.

One of my favourite dishes of the night was the Pad See Ew.  The most important part of this dish is the actual wok fry.  There needs to be wok hei resulting in caramelization and that smokiness from the searing of the components.  Well, this version definitely achieved that with intense sweetness that was balanced off by the saltiness.  The noodles were al dente, not clumpy and not oversauced.  We chose chicken to go with this (rather than our usual tofu) and it was fairly moist.  The gai lan was vibrant and had a nice crunch.  Good amount of fried egg too.

For our curry option, we chose the Tofu Red Curry.  Normally, we would probably go for beef, but since we didn't have tofu in the pad see ew, we wanted to try it.  As you can see, the cubes of tofu were on the larger side, but worked okay with this dish.  The pieces were more robust and stood up to the creamy and sweet curry.  There was medium spice with a background brininess and aromatics from the lemongrass and galangal.

We went default with our dessert in the Mango Sticky Rice, where it arrived in one of the biggest portion sizes I've ever seen.  It consisted of a sliced whole mango and a considerable amount of sticky rice.  The texture of the rice was good being moist while still nicely chewy.  It was topped with sweet coconut cream.  The mango was ripe being sweet with a tang.  All-in-all, the food at Zab Zaab is solid and prepared with care.  Prices aren't cheap, but reasonable given its location.

The Good:

- Nice wok hei (Intense wok heat)

- Impactful flavours

- Attentive service

The Bad:

- Seating is a bit odd in the restaurant where it makes each table tight

Rama Thai

For those who are unaware, Portland's Thai food game is pretty unreal.  My experiences with Thai cuisine in the PDX area has been meals to remember.  Coming from Vancouver, B.C., it was a total surprise at first, but now it is just par for the course.  In fact, the Thai food is so good that the original superstar Thai restaurant, Pok Pok, doesn't even exist anymore!  The options are just so many and they are generally good.  So it was fitting to visit Rama Thai in Beaverton as our first meal during our trip.

To start, we had something I've never had before in the Som Tum Thai.  We chose the salted crab version and it was mixed into the papaya salad.  It provided a salty brininess to the crunchy papaya.  The ample amount of dried shrimp combined with the usual sweetened fish sauce dressing provided pops of fermented brininess, sweetness, tanginess and aromatics.  This was quite the seafoody-tasting salad and I loved it.  Only thing I didn't like was the crab getting in the way as we couldn't eat the shells. Provided good saltiness though!

Going with another classic Thai starter, we had the Larb Chicken with lime juice, shallots and mint.  This was an ample portion of chicken that was slightly dry.  I've made this dish before and the meat is cooked without oil in a pot, so it dries out a bit (it is normal).  Mixed in with the fish sauce and lime juice, the meat became rehydrated a bit and took on the tanginess and saltiness.  It was had the aromatics from the shallots and herbecousness of the mint. 

From here, we moved onto a couple of meat dishes in the Crying Tiger and the Moo Ping Kati.  Consisting of a 9oz char-grilled ribeye, the crying tiger was flavorful even without the side of sweet chili sauce.  Although it was still moist being prepared medium, the meat was a bit tough.  However, the pork skewers were considerably more tender with a good caramelization.  I loved the sweetness with some smokiness.  I would go for the pork skewers any day!

Moving onto the soup course, we opted for the Tom Yum Goong.  This was a large portion of soup that was kept warm with a heated hot pot.  I found this super fragrant and impactful (a flavor bomb!).  They weren't shy with the fish sauce, galangal, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves because I could taste every one of these clearly.  Beyond that, the ample amount of shrimp were plump and barely cooked-through having a buttery snap.

Another dish I've never had before was the Ka Prow Kai Yeow Ma.  This consisted of stir-fried ground pork and preserved eggs.  Honestly, they had me at preserved eggs.  Yes, those black things on the plate are the eggs.  They are gelatin-like and taste a bit nutty and pungent.  As for the pork, it was tender with plenty of sweetness and a faint touch of spiciness.  This was also aromatic due to the garlic as well as the fried basil on top.

One dish I had a love hate relationship with was the Crispy Fish featuring deep fried tilapia slices with sweet & sour and Thai lime sauces.   Okay for the love part of the dish, each piece of fish was indeed crispy and nicely salted.  Dipping sauces were bright and delicious, especially the lime.  However, I'm not a big fan of tilapia, but that wasn't the problem here.  The hate part was that the fish was rather dry.  The sauces helped though.

We had to get some noodle dishes, so we had the Pad See Ew with an extra fried egg on top.  This tasted quite good with a good balance of sweetness and savoriness.  There was enough wok hei to ensure caramelization of flavors and slight smokiness.  The noodles were mostly intact but there was also a number of pieces that were broken and clumped-up together.  That didn't affect the eating experience much, but still needed to mention it.

We had to also get the classic Pad Thai, in this case, we had it with prawns.  This was a good version of the dish with loose, al dente and non-clumpy noodles.  The dish was a bit sweet with ample palm sugar, but at the same time, there was balancing tanginess from the tamarind.  There was also a medium spicy kick (as we requested) that brought the dish together.  Would've liked more pickled radish as I didn't notice it much.

One of my favorite dishes of the meal was the Snow Crab Fried Rice.  Beyond the good amount of fluffy crab and eggs, the rice itself was expertly prepared.  Sure, it was on the greasier side, yet that only meant it was legit.  The wok hei (wok's breath) was strong and helped create caramelization and smokiness.  Each grain of rice was discernible, chewy and nutty.  There was brininess and aromatics abound.  Excellent dish.

Beyond the rice, we ended off on an even higher note with the Crispy Duck Curry.  This featured a substantial amount of bone-in roasted duck sitting in a beautiful red curry with pineapple, peppers and basil.   The duck was moist and tender with rendered crispy skin.  The curry was sweet with a spicy finish.  The intense pops of sweetness from the pineapple really helped keep things light.

We also had a couple of drinks to go with our meal in the Butterfly Pea Flower Lemonade and the Cranberry Slushie.  The lemonade was refreshing and lightly sweet, perfect for cooling down the spice.  As for the seasonal slushie, it was tart and sweet with ginger cinnamon vibes.  It could be had as mocktail or cocktail.  Ending off this meal, we had the Thai Tea Toast with coconut ice cream.  This was not as sweet as it sounded as the Thai tea jam was used conservatively.  The toast itself was crispy and light, so this didn't eat heavy at all.  Overall, the meal at Rama Thai was good with some real highlights.  A great start to our Portland food adventures!

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

The Good:

- Food full of impact

- Good wok hei, hence caramelized and nutty flavors

- Generous portion sizes

The Bad:

- Parking lot is insufficient

- Fish was a little dry

Zab Bite - Thai E-Sarn Cuisine

When I was dining at Bravo, I noticed Zab Bite across the street.  Honestly, I had some idea what the place was, but wasn't all that familiar.  I got to try the place out for brunch (that they no longer offer) where we tried a selection of their existing menu items as well as a few new ones.  Zab Bite focuses on E-Sarn cuisine which is native to the Northeastern part of Thailand, where most of the people are Laotian.  They are well known for their spicy and sour flavour profiles.

We had a bunch of items arrive at our table at the same time, but I'll talk about the Assorted Appetizers first.  The Veggie Spring Rolls were crunchy and the cabbage inside still had a bite.  Equally crunchy, the Shrimp Wrap featured a meaty and briny shrimp inside.  In the middle of the platter, we found Pork Jerky that was plenty pungent with the saltines of fish sauce.  They were chewy and meaty.  On the side, the Crispy Pork Toast featured not-overly-greasy toast.  On the top, there were slices of pork jerky that I found a bit chewy.  Nice aromatics from the sesame though.

Onto two more small plates, we had the E-Sarn Pork Roll. Similar to Vietnamese Chả Lụa, this was sliced and deep-fried.  The result was a crispy exterior giving way to a chewy and meaty interior.  This was served with a side of sriracha hot sauce.  One of my favourite items of the meal was the Jaew Chicken featuring a marinated and grilled boneless chicken thighs topped with toasted rice flour.  This chicken was so juicy and flavourful with a nice char on the outside.  The side of dipping sauce added spice, sweetness and acidity.

One of their newest dishes is the Thai Chicken Rice which is also known as Khao Man Gai (a variation of Hainanese Chicken).  The poached chicken thigh was fairly juicy and tender.  It was mildly fragrant and was accompanied by a spicy soy bean sauce.  Think along the lines of Nong's Khao Man Gai in Portland.  This sauce here was less gingery and sweet, but definitely more spicy.  It was good in its own way.  The rice firm and chewy (in a good way) while nicely seasoned.

We also had a soup that was a bit different than the usual Tom Yum and Tom Kha (which they do have on the menu too).  It was the Tom Zab that was a spicy-sour clear soup with mushroom, rice powder and dried-chili.  The flavour profile in this is representative of Northeastern Thai.  It was clean-tasting with notable tang and spice.  There was fragrance in the form of lemongrass, galangal and cilantro.  We added pork to the soup where it gave it more body.

Another popular Northern Thai and Laotian dish is Khao Soi.  We went for this with chicken in this case and it sat in a Thai coconut curry with egg noodles topped with crispy fried noodle, fresh shallots and lime wedge.  This was a pretty good version with aromatics and fragrance emanating from the coconutty and slightly spicy broth.  The noodles were al dente while the chicken drumsticks were tender and took on the flavour of the curry.  

My favourite dish of the meal was the Pad See Ew with stewed beef.  This was somewhat reminiscent of the one at Sen Pad Thai with its mung bean glass noodles.  There was good wok hei (a very hot wok with lots of BTUs) that added smokiness and caramelization to the dish.  The noodles were appealingly chewy and completely seasoned by the soy and the braising liquid for the tender nuggets of beef.   The gai lan were cooked enough but still crunchy.

To go with our meal, we had a few classic bevvies including the Fresh Young Coconut and Thai Milk Tea.  Beyond drinking the sweet coconut water, the coconut flesh was at its tender delicious best.  As for the milk tea, it was creamy and flavourful without being excessively sweet.  Onto dessert, we had the Mango Sticky Rice with a pandan-infused sticky rice.  It was topped off with a kanom dok jok or Thai lotus flower cookie.  This was a pretty solid version of the dessert with sticky rice that was aromatic topped with fresh sweet mango and coconut milk.  Overall, the food at Zab Bite was pretty good.  I particularly enjoyed the Tom Zab, Pad See Ew and Khao Soi.  They aren't open for brunch anymore, but you can still get these dishes for dinner!

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

The Good:
- Generally solid eats
- Fairly reasonable-pricing
- Some Northern dishes that are different

The Bad:
- When the weather is warm, the A/C isn't sufficient