Restaurant Review: Maenam
MAENAM
1938 W 4th Avenue ~ maenam.ca Twitter: @maenam ~ Instagram: @maenamrestaurant Co-Diner: Tim Golem
Oh, how I have been looking forward to this. Coming from Montreal where there was barely any decent Thai food at all... To Maenam in Vancouver - the best Thai food that I’ve tasted outside of Thailand. (We visited Thailand last year in 2016 and the flavours of the food continue to haunt my soul.) While doing the research to compile my Vancouver restaurant to-do list, Maenam consistently came up with accolade after rave review. Here’s a laundry list for you of some of the more recent ones: Maclean's magazine named it as one of The 50 Best Restaurants in Canada 2012, The Georgia Straight awarded them the #1 Best Thai 2017 award, Vancouver Magazine chose them as Restaurant of the Year 2016, Best Thai 2016, and Best Thai 2017, Canada's 100 Best Restaurants have ranked them at #26 in 2015, #64 in 2016, and #32 in 2017. It was even recommended by actor Seth Rogen in a tweet to Chrissy Teigen. So that should be enough to catch your attention. It caught mine. How does Chef Angus An be so good? Among many reasons, the one stood out the most to me is that in “Montreal Angus met his first mentor, Chef Normand Laprise of the famed Restaurant Toqué.” He spent several years at Toqué perfecting his craft. This paints a clear picture to me of the type of standard that he is used to. (See my review of Toqué! HERE.)
We made a reservation (one is typically required) at this Kitsilano restaurant and visited on a Friday evening. The staff is superbly friendly and we were seated by the front window. The room is dimly lit, moody, and quite contemporary in style. Decor is minimal, save for the odd wooden carving or leafy green plant. The wood is glossy and the candle holders are straight outta Thailand. The busy restaurant can be a bit noisy, but that’s to be expected at such a popular place. I also discovered that Maenam means “river” and it’s the name of a beach in Koh Samui, Thailand.
My personal favourite Thai beverage is the Thai Iced Tea, which of course they serve. But as a major fan of kombucha, I couldn’t help but order the White Cardamom Kombucha ($8.00) instead.
Brewed specially for Maenam to match the flavours of our menu.
I absolutely loved this. Served in the bottle, I was provided a wine glass to sip from. This was one of the best kombuchas that I have ever had. The flavour was bold and spicy, yet sweet. I could already tell how excellently this would pair with Thai food and was so impressed by the forethought that had gone into this brew.
Thai food (good Thai food) involves complex layers of flavour and sophisticated balances; Spicy, sour, a little bitter, salty, herby. Colour and texture are important; Crispy, soft, cold, hot. This interplay between elements is what makes Thai food so thrilling and addictive. Maenam also uses local, sustainably harvested, organic ingredients whenever possible. I couldn’t wait to see what they had to offer. The best course of action seemed obvious: Chef’s Tasting Menu ($50.00 per person). The Chef’s selection of six or more savoury dishes served in traditional Thai style. I was beyond ready. We were asked if we had any allergies or aversions, to which we replied a resounding “no.” I wanted all of it!
As with any good tasting menu, we were treated to an amuse-bouche to begin.
Gold leaf? I must be in the right place. This amuse featured salmon; one on a lentil cracker tartare-style and one on cucumber with salmon roe. These were nice, bright, fresh bites to start our food journey with.
Next to arrive was an appetizer round of sorts. It involved a Northern Thai-style hot and sour soup and steamed mussels with lemongrass and Thai basil.
I wondered if the soup was supposed to be a riff on khao soi, only they were missing the crispy noodles on top. Nonetheless, I loved the simple yet spicy-sour flavour and the generous chunks of juicy chicken were delicious. The mussels really impressed us, served with nahm jim sauce. Each plump mussel was cooked to absolute perfection and were so flavourful of herbs and spice. The dipping sauce sent everything to the next level, seasoning each morsel with even more spicy-acidic-sweetness. The portion size was also quite large.
Our main dishes began to arrive with a grilled wild sockeye salmon salad.
Lemongrass, nahm jim dressing, lime leaf, fresh herbs and roasted peanuts.
I appreciated the abundant use of salmon, we are in British Columbia, after all. This salad was fresh, fresh, fresh. Ultimately herbaceous, the mint-like lime leaf really carried much of the flavour on this plate. It was salty from the roe and crunchy from the peanuts. A wonderful vehicle to enjoying some bright greens.
We were also delivered steamed jasmine rice (of course) and a bed of mixed vegetables with squid.
The vegetables were quite beautiful, especially with the tender and perfectly-cooked squid among them. The crispy fried water spinach added an interesting texture element and the dotted stalks of peppercorn truly flavoured the dish with a subtle spice. I liked the baby corn the most of all.
The absolute best thing, however, was the waygu beef massaman curry.
This now haunts my dreams. Massaman is probably our favouite type of curry and this one featured sweet potato among the beef. Crispy strands of sweet potato crowned the top of the dish. Every bite of this curry was perfection. It embodied every element of Thai cuisine and told a flavour story to my taste buds. I could live off of this. I could bathe in this.
And of course there was dessert, passion fruit sorbet and rose ice cream.
Dots of raspberry, meringue and cookie tuile. Not only a light dessert but also a refreshing palate cleanser. Again the expert balance of textures shone through. There isn’t enough to be said about Maenam. What an incredible, positive, and authentic experience. They truly succeed at capturing the complex flavours that create Thai food in every one of their dishes. I was beginning to doubt that I would ever find Thai food of this caliber outside of Thailand. The prices were surprisingly reasonable, given the quality of the food and the pedigree of the chef. I’d like to try ordering à la carte next time and they do take-out as well... Also, can they connect their kombucha directly to my veins?? I cannot wait to return at my earliest convenience!