Tangthai
Tangthai is on the west side of Robson and is open for lunch until 4 pm every day. I was here for a late lunch and started off with satay chicken ($6.95) as an appetizer. The chicken was surprisingly soft, but I thought the meat was a bit mushy in texture. I liked the peanut sauce though.
I am quite unadventurous when it comes to Thai food. That's because usually most of the items on a Thai menu are spicy, so my choices are rather limited. I ordered pad thai ($12.95) as always, but it didn't seem very authentic. Now don't get me wrong, it was tangy and flavourful but it seemed more Chinese than Thai. The noodles tasted like they had been stir fried in soy sauce without the delicate sweetness of tamarind. The dish was savoury instead of the traditional sweet and sour.
Mom tried the kuay teow tom yam kai ($7.95) which was supposed to be spicy, but turned out to be rather mild. She also thought that her dish was not very authentic because of all the undercooked veggies thrown in with the noodles. The carrot slices were still raw and hard, and tasted as though they belonged in a salad. But the soup base was tasty with a sharp piquant flavour, and was very appetizing since it was slightly sour and spicy.
The pad thai fried rice ($7.95) Dad had was not bad either. There were lots of ingredients such as ham, raisins, carrots and peas. But just like in the kuay teow, the carrot slices were so hard that they had to be picked out. The rice tasted good though, and I especially liked the raisins.
Overall it was a decent meal, but I didn't find it particularly impressive. Tangthai claims to serve authentic Thai food, and the owner and waitress are indeed both Thai. But Mom mentioned that she heard the chef speaking Cantonese when she went to the washroom, which makes me wonder how authentic it really is. At least that explains why my pad thai tasted like Chinese stir fried noodles.
I am quite unadventurous when it comes to Thai food. That's because usually most of the items on a Thai menu are spicy, so my choices are rather limited. I ordered pad thai ($12.95) as always, but it didn't seem very authentic. Now don't get me wrong, it was tangy and flavourful but it seemed more Chinese than Thai. The noodles tasted like they had been stir fried in soy sauce without the delicate sweetness of tamarind. The dish was savoury instead of the traditional sweet and sour.
Mom tried the kuay teow tom yam kai ($7.95) which was supposed to be spicy, but turned out to be rather mild. She also thought that her dish was not very authentic because of all the undercooked veggies thrown in with the noodles. The carrot slices were still raw and hard, and tasted as though they belonged in a salad. But the soup base was tasty with a sharp piquant flavour, and was very appetizing since it was slightly sour and spicy.
The pad thai fried rice ($7.95) Dad had was not bad either. There were lots of ingredients such as ham, raisins, carrots and peas. But just like in the kuay teow, the carrot slices were so hard that they had to be picked out. The rice tasted good though, and I especially liked the raisins.
Overall it was a decent meal, but I didn't find it particularly impressive. Tangthai claims to serve authentic Thai food, and the owner and waitress are indeed both Thai. But Mom mentioned that she heard the chef speaking Cantonese when she went to the washroom, which makes me wonder how authentic it really is. At least that explains why my pad thai tasted like Chinese stir fried noodles.
Just to let you know, all the kitchen workers in Tangthai, cooks and helpers are 100% Thai. Only some of the servers are of other nationalities. Also the cook who made those dishes already returned to Thailand.
ReplyDeleteboth vegetarian dishes tasted the same,bland salt.One dish was swimming in watery soy sauce...yuck.Tea had more flavour!Veggies were crisp though...some raw
ReplyDelete@lulu: Sounds a bit similar to my experience. Raw veggies and dishes made with lots of soy sauce.
ReplyDelete