Sawasdee Thai Restaurant - My Favourite Thai Restaurant in Vancouver

I feel like I'm getting to a point in my life where birthdays are just birthdays, and sharing a nice meal or experience with a close group of friends is all I need to feel celebrated. :) Anyone else feel the same? Anyway, that's exactly what I did to celebrate my birthday. My friends and I went to Sawasdee Thai, a restaurant I've been dying to go to for years but never had a chance to.

I've read about this Cho Muang ($9.95) on other blogs and totally got influenced to get it. I mean.. look at that detail on these little flower dumplings! To our delight, the meat filling inside these beautiful dumplings were actually really delicious and incredibly flavourful.


The Pad See Ew ($12.95) very much reminds me of the Cantonese dish, "Gone Chao Ow Hao" which also consists of stir fried flat rice noodles, egg and beef. However, there was something different about this which made it distinguish-ably 'Thai'. I don't know what that flavour is, but it made the dish mighty delicious.


These kinds of stir fried noodle dishes are easy victims of being overly oily, but this definitely was not the case. Two thumbs up.


We needed one more meat dish so I chose the Pad Ped Gai ($12.95) with bell pepper, bamboo shoot, and basil leaves in a chili sauce. The dish wasn't actually very spicy which was great for me and my sensitive palate. :P I'm a huge fan of bamboo shoots too so I was excited to see huge pieces in there along with the peppers.


Meta Knight mega raved about the Pad Thai with Tamarind Sauce ($11.95) last time he came so I just absolutely had to try it. Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from it because I've NEVER once in my life, had good Pad Thai, so I almost thought I just didn't like the dish in general. Nope. This was dang good. The noodles were perfectly chewy, it wasn't too dry nor wet, and the prawns were large and plump. Needless to say, I've been converted. But I'm definitely only getting Pad Thai here from now on.


Something that's not pictured here is the Coconut Rice ($2.95). We ordered a bowl of that and it went beautifully with this Roasted Duck Curry ($13.95). This was a red coconut milk curry with fresh pineapple, bell pepper, tomato, basil leaves, and bamboo shoots. This is a MUST ORDER CURRY!! So friggin good.


Last but not least is the Pad Spinach ($8.95) which looks to be only sauteed spinach in a garlic sauce. Bleh right? Nope. This was amazing too... And we inhaled this as fast as any of the other meat dishes.

I rarely give restaurants a full 5/5 rating because it has to mean everything was PERFECT. Sawasdee Thai definitely deserve a 5/5 in my book because my experience WAS actually perfect. From the attentive service and the constant filling of water, to the bang-on dishes that made our entire table laugh and smile with joy, this is the place to be if you want excellent yet affordable Thai food in Vancouver.

Service Rating: 5/5
Food Rating: 5/5
Price: $$

Overall Rating: 5/5

Happy Eating!


                  When a restaurant is THAT good :D

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Taste of Aberdeen - Media Tasting Event at Aberdeen Food Court

I'm so happy to be writing this post because I was recently invited to a ChineseBites media event at one of my favourite places to eat! The Aberdeen food court! It may seem strange to most people but in my opinion, Aberdeen food court serves up some of the most delicious and authentic Asian fusion cuisine you can get in the lower mainland.

The event was great and brought together roughly 60 foodies and tons of delicious noms (and I mean.. TONS) and great conversation. I brought Meta Knight with me as my +1 and he had a great time meeting other bloggers and eating ALL DA FOOD.

Out of the 22 food items and 6 drinks between the six of us (I KNOW!! Crazy!), I've compiled my Top 5 favourite items so it's easier to read and decipher between the good, the meh, and the excellent. :)

1) The Drunken Chicken Hot Pot from the Tofu Hotpot stall was honestly my favorite dish of the night. If you know the 'drunken chicken' appetizer from Shanghainese restaurants, it's kind of like that, except in hot pot form with lots of wood ear mushroom, napa cabbage, crystal Korean noodles, and scrumptious broth. I've never tasted something like this before so it was truly a feast for the palate!

2) Before Pepper Lunch, there was Teppan Kitchen with it's sizzling hot plates! This is the 'A' Grade Ribeye Teppan with Corn and Egg and it has always been one of my favourite items to get at this food court. :) Feel free to check out my previous post here.

 Once everything is all mixed and the sizzling pan crisps up the bottom of the rice, it's time to DIG IN!

3) Bubble Waffle and Curry Fish Balls from the Bubble Waffle Stall make a really great snack. The fish balls give a slight spicy kick without making you reach for the milk. Here is my previous post on this place.

A good sign of a perfectly done bubble waffle is a crisp exterior and a light buoyant eggy interior. This one checks all the boxes and is my favourite bubble waffle in Richmond. :)

4)  Wu Fung Dessert's Deep Fried Chicken Wings are also a must get item when you visit the Aberdeen food court! This was a 50/50 dish between the chicken wings and fried squid tentacles and both were super solid. Here is my previous post on Wu Fung!

5) Saboten is one of the largest tonkatsu (Japanese style deep fried pork) chains in Japan. The first one in North America is right here in Aberdeen and this place is legit. This Saboten Set consists of deep fried shrimp tempura, tenderloin, and loin. My favourite part of their tonkatsu is the ground up black sesame powder. To see my previous post on Saboten, click here.

Honorable Mentions:

Sakura Roll from Aji Hana

(left to right): House Special from 8 Juice (really delicious and fruity btw), Iced Lemon Ribena from Bubble Waffle, Iced Honey Matcha Tea from Teppan Kitchen

(left to right): Iced Genmaicha from Saboten, Matcha Soy Bean Milk from Strike, Milk Tea from Estea Express

Pan Fried Chinese Chives with Pork Dumplings from Chef of Dumplings. This was actually very delicious as well. Didn't make it in the top 5 but was super close.

For those that like the authentic Szechuan taste, you have to try the Hot Sour Noodles from Szechuan House. This was Sherman's favourite and even though it numbed my tongue, it didn't for him and he loved it.

I love my wontons so these Prawn Wontons from Lung Kee were great. Also just barely missed top 5.

Skip the Clubhouse Sandwich from Strike.

Soy Sauce Chicken and Long Gong Chicken from Leung Kee. Both types were actually super flavorful.

Chicken Bulgogi and Pork Belly from Kitchen Korea.

Baked Pork Chop on Rice from Mambo Cafe.

Taiwanese style Popcorn Chicken from Yougo Chicken.

Sticky Rice from Leung Kee.

Tuna and Corn Egg Roll from Strike.

For some odd reason, I actually ended up really enjoying this dish. It is clearly maid with canned ingredients like the corn and tuna. However, mixed with mayo, egg, and LOTS of black pepper, this actually ended up being addicting!

Hainanese Chicken from Cafe D'Lite Express.

Banana Chocolate Crepe (sample size) from Cafe Mazazu

Mini Cream Puffs and Chesecake Sticks from Beard Papa's. Always solid no matter which location.

A Dream in Eden Shaved Ice from Frappe Bliss.

Matcha Delight from Frappe Bliss.

Happy Eating!


                the food kept on coming so we ate like...

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Memphis Fire Barbeque - Glorious Fatty Southern Food

When I was in Toronto for work, my friends brought me all the way to Hamilton for some delicious Southern Food.

Memphis Fire Barbeque was featured on "You Gotta Eat Here!" and is located far away from really anything, so if you do happen to eat here, it's because you knew about it and purposely made the trek out here.

Their side dishes looked freakin amazing. If I could I would've chosen three to four sides with my meal.

For the meat, you can choose to have it in a sandwich or platter. The prices are reasonable, especially when the entrees come with a choice of two sides.

 My friends said their milkshakes were out of this world and is a must have when eating at Memphis. It was a hard choice between all their flavours but I had to go with their Black Forest Cake Shake.

It's made with chocolate ice-cream, sour cherries, hot fudge, and brownie crumbles. Boy was this delicious. So creamy and tastes like cherry chocolate ice-cream. Two thumbs up!

Rack of Ribs with a side of fries and mac n'cheese.

Being the gluttonous human beings that we are, we also got two side orders of meat. One was pulled pork and one was beef brisket. They were only about 3 bucks each!

Baby Back Ribs with a side of mac n' cheese and chili. The mac 'n cheese was so creamy and wonderful, while the chili packed a huge punch of flavour.

 Baby Back Ribs with baked beans (which had brisket bits in it) and collard greens. It was my first time trying collard greens and I must say, they were very good. I'm glad it wasn't cooked to a pulp where it just became a big mush. Instead, the leafy greens held its shape and was a nice 'clean' side against all the other carby and fatty sides.

Look at that meaty goodness.

 John Catucci was right. You DO have to eat here! If you're into Southern food at all and like big hearty portions for dinner, this is the place to be. It's well worth the drive, and the Southern hospitality will make you feel at home in no time.

Service Rating: 4/5
Food Rating: 4.5/5
Price: $$$

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Happy Eating!


                              Eating barbeque meat like

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