Sala Thai, Vancouver > Reviews (1)

INTRODUCTION

Myself and Ms Larsbaby were in holiday in Vancouver and found ourselves in a decent downtown hotel. We explored the area and found many fine Asian restaurants. Having sampled Japanese and Chinese, we were looking for something else to add to our list. A Thai restaurant from across the road of our hotel caught our eye and maintained a spot on our "to do" list. Towards the end of our stay, we finally cracked and went to eat there.

THE RESTAURANT

Sala Thai has two locations, one on Burrard Street, the other on Cambie Street. Cambie street is someway south of downtown. We went to the one on Burrard, at the heart of downtown, which looks pretty big from the outside. When we went, the restaurant was pretty full and we had to wait a short while for our table for two. A good sign then, that the place was so popular.

In the middle of the restaurant was a rickshaw up against one of the pillars which was quite striking. To the right of the entrance was a waiting area, where 4 red fabric

backed easy chairs were arranged around a small coffee table. Against the wall was a large wooden carving on an elephant head. Some Thai ornaments were arranged around this area. The floor was a shiny wooden laminate, all around the restaurant, and the restaurant was indeed pretty big inside. There was even what appeared to be a VIP area at the back, complete with Thai décor, some hanging lanterns and a picture of the Thai king and queen.

The restaurant had low wooden partitions, so you could see all around you whilst being slightly enclosed. The wooden tables and chairs complimented the wooden panelled walls, complete with hanging picture frames.

THE MENU

The menu is split into several sections. Appetisers include deep fried vegetarian spring rolls, pork & shrimp wanton, tofu with vegetables, deep fried fish cake and golden shrimp cake.

Soups and salads have old favourites like Tom Yum (hot and spicy soup), Thai salad and a house salad.

Currys include red and green currys, Panang curry (thick red curry) and my personal favourite, Massamun curry (massamun curry paste in coconut milk with meat and potatoes).

The large list of lunch specials, available from 11:30am - 3pm, include Thai red and green curry, chicken with cashew nuts, eggplant delight (aubergine with garlic, pepper, sauce and choice of meat), drunken seafood (mixes seafood with Thai chilli, onion, peppers and sweet basil leaves) and pad thai (noodles with shrimps, beansprouts and egg).

Meat dishes include garlic beef/pork/chicken, sweet and sour meat,, beef in oyster sauce, BBQ chicken and chicken with cashew nuts.

Seafood dishes include garlic prawns, squid, pan fried salmon with red curry, steamed fish and deep fried whole fish. Rice noodle dishes include Pad Thai, Lard Na (stir fry noodles in Thai gravy), spice drunken noodles and fried rice with shrimp.

Vegetables include sautéed bean sprouts with tofu, stir fried spinach, and assorted sautéed vegetables with house curry sauce and coconut milk. Rice is either jasmine or coconut.

"Sala Thai creations" house specials include Golden Angel Wings (chicken wings stuffed with shrimp, meat, vermicelli and vegetables), Tiger Beef (rilled beff in lime sauce with tice and vegetables) and Pad Thai Chao Wang (stir fried rich noodles with tiger prawns, tofu, vegetables and tamarind sauce).

Finally, desserts include ice cream and tapioca.

So quite an extensive menu there!

THE FOOD

I plumped for the Chicken Massamun Curry as my main. It was delicious; although containing only 1 piece of potato, there was more than enough chicken. Some fresh basil leaves sat atop the dish. Mixed in to the thick sauce was plenty of onion chunks and some peanuts. The sauce was deliciously piquant; a fair kick to it from the massamun curry paste tempered by the coconut milk. The onion was slightly crunchy, the potato soft and beautifully infused with the sauce. I'm a big fan of potatoes and curry! Having a combo of chicken, potato and rice all mixed together, well - I feel hungry just thinking about it! The bite of rice against the mushy potato, offset with the marinated chicken texture; it was magic!

Ms Larsbaby went for "Swimming Rama" which was sautéed spinach with chicken, garlic and black pepper. The spinach was slightly wilted and so still firm and crunchy, which Ms Larsbaby is a big fan of. To the side of the leaves was the chicken, which was totally covered in the brown, fairly sweet sauce. Some carrot pieces shaped as crinkles topped off the decoration.

The jasmine rice that we both had was fragrant as you'd expect and nicely cooked so that it was firm and fairly sticky. I always find that the trick with rice is for it to get progressively less sticky as sauce is poured onto it, so that the grains separate a little, and it isn't just one giant chunk.

For dessert, I went for home made coconut ice cream, which had apparently been made not so long before. 3 chunks of ice cream were topped off with some mango decoration. It was super stuff. It had the genuine, strong taste of coconut, much more flavoursome than the usual stuff you get.

Ms Larsbaby went for tapioca pudding, which was tasty with some banana and very sweet, but not too heavy.

After the meal we were both pleasantly full but not stuffed, which is always the best way to be after a meal.

SERVICE

The service requires a section for itself such was its excellence. When we arrived and got our table after a short wait, they were very apologetic for this. They were also apologetic when our main courses had arrived as they seemed to think we'd waited for a long time, although we hadn't at all. Once eating, the service was always attentive and prompt; our water glasses were being continually topped up. Having said that, it wasn't over attentive; they got the balance just right. It was also very friendly and always with a smile. When we left all the staff smiled us on our way, giving a great feeling of wellbeing after being fed and attended to in a first class manner.

CONCLUSION

An excellent example of the high culinary standards and value for money that we came to expect in Vancouver. Highly recommended for the tasty food, excellent service and convivial ambience. There is certainly a fair variety to the menu too, which should cater for most Asian tastes. The price of just under $35 (about £18) was quite frankly a bargain given the quantity and quality.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Sala Thai (Burrard),
102-888 Burrard
Vancouver,
British Columbia.
V6Z 1X9.
Canada.

Tel: (604) 683-7999
Fax: (604) 683-7996

Email: info@salathai.ca

Website: http://www.salathai.ca/