Throughout the years I've always passed by Maenam and heard great things about their Thai food. However, for whatever reason, I never made the conscious effort to really give it a try.
This year during Dine Out Vancouver, I finally got to try it and I'm SOOO glad I did.
Their menu is $28 and is truly a tasting menu for people who love variety. It's a little complicated because for every pair, you choose one starter, one salad, one curry, and one stir fry
to share. For dessert, each person gets their own. This process made it difficult for our table of 7 to order so the hostess recommended that we just trust the chef to give us a variety of dishes fit for 7 people. We were apprehensive about our decision at first, but it was actually the best decision EVER.
Green Papaya Salad had a bit of a spicy kick but overall quite refreshing.
This one was probably the least favourite dish of the bunch. The
Hot and Sour soup of Halibut and Thai Basil was too sour for our palate but the abundance of mushrooms and fish made up for it.
OH OH OH. I can drink a gallon of this stuff. If you go to Maenam, make sure you get the
Creamy Hot and Sour Soup of Chicken Thighs. The creamy, slightly spicy broth is incredibly flavourful and boosts the right amount of coconut, chicken, and mushroom.
The
Lemongrass and Thai Basil Mussels were also a hit with the crowd. Plump, fresh, juicy. Yum.
I forgot the name of the drink but it's essentially a
Passionfruit Ginger Beer concoction. The left one is alcoholic and the right is non-alcoholic. I really enjoyed the non-alcoholic version way more and definitely recommend it.
Thai Iced Tea with Rum was also surprisingly good. Who can already see a great night with a couple of these eh? ;)
3 Flavour Pork Ribs is a vague name so I don't know exactly what it is. But I think these pork ribs are flash fried, coated in an indulgent sticky coating, and tossed with thai basil, fresh baby corn (I've only ever had the canned ones so this was a treat!), parsley, and deep fried onion.
A few of my friends thought this
Aromatic Curry of Braised Duck Leg was the best dish of the night. I don't like it when curries are just 'sauce'. I like it hearty, meaty, and bountiful. This curry was exactly that so it was a big thumbs up for me.
The
Southern Style Tumeric Curry of Seafood had black cod, clams, and mussels. Highly recommended.
I also loved the
Grilled Tuna Salad with Green Mango. This was so refreshing to eat in between bites of curry and the mint/tuna combo was just fab.
Unlimited rice!
Oh that
Caramelized Pork Belly doe. Think of the most indulgent thing you can think of, and times it by two. This will beat that in one bite. It took the sweet and savoury combo to a whole nother level.
This is essentially a
Deconstructed Passion Fruit Tart. With some torched meringue on the side, fresh raspberries, passionfruit sorbet, and tart shell crumbles on the bottom, this was an amazing finish to the dinner. Nothing was too sour, too sweet, or too cold. Everything was where it needed to be.
Rice Doughnut with Pandan Custard was freshly fried and delightfully light despite it being a fried item.
Maenam completely surprised and impressed us from beginning to end. From the aromatic curries to the well balanced broths, everything was spot on and I can't wait to come back again. What we thought would be an underwhelming DOV experience ended up being one of the best DOV experiences we've ever had!
Service Rating:
4/5
Food Rating:
4.5/5
Price:
$$$
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
Happy Eating!
my reaction when I accidentally eat a hot pepper X.X
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