Benjarong Thai: Mini portions, all too sweet

Been craving pad thai for a while now, so why not use my Groupon deal?

Restaurant: Benjarong Thai Cuisine (visit their website here)

Location: 2120 West Broadway, Vancouver
Cuisine: Thai
Price range: $25+ per person



Date of visit: September 9, 2015
Atmosphere: 3/5
Staff/service: 3/5
Food variety: 5/5
Food quality: 2/5
Buck worthy? 2/5

The Groupon was $25 for a Three-Course Thai Dinner for Two (one shared appetizer, two entrees, and one shared dessert). Felt like a pretty good deal, and we also ordered a bit more on the side. Our first appie was Crispy Calamari ($6.00). There were four pieces on the plate, the batter was soggy and oily-- and the mayo sauce made it more sickeningly unappetizing. Honestly expected a crispier experience with more pieces.

Our other appie was the New Zealand Mussel with Thai Herb ($6.50). This was less disappointing, but again, tiny portion with 6 mussels in the pot. The broth the mussels were cooked in was overwhelmingly herby to the point the mussels didn't taste like mussels. Neither were the mussels fresh... they were just frozen mussels. The house special spicy seafood dipping sauce was good though, with a hint of mint in it!

Onto the mains, I ordered a Pad Thai with Chicken ($12.00) to curb my cravings. I think they have an abundance of sugar in the kitchen, as this was super sweet. I felt like I was having dessert for a main. Aside from that, the noodles were nice and chewy and the beansprouts added a refreshing texture to the dish. Might I also mention is was very oily?

Our second main was a Choo Chee Prawn and Scallop Curry ($15.00). This had 4 large prawns, 4 scallops, and some veggies. It came with a bowl of rice and again, the curry itself was too sweet. The scallops were cooked well and the shrimp were fresh. Didn't quite care for this curry but it was one of the better things of the meal.

I ordered a Guava Juice ($2.50) to go with my meal and this was definitely from a can and well, nothing special. Adorables had an equally underwhelming Thai Iced Coffee ($3.00).

The Mango Sticky Rice 1P ($5.95) was by far the highest ranked item on the list of things I'd like to send back to the kitchen. Aside it from being tiny, the rice was hard. Yes, it had undercooked bits mixed with overcooked bits. They got the flavor down, but how can you mess up opening up a can of coconut milk to pour over dessert? The mango was sweet and perfectly ripe though, quite the MVP of this meal.

I don't know if portion sizes are different if we're using a Groupon, but if they weren't... Their prices aren't a good reflection of the quality and quantity delivered. Service was mediocre, they were friendly but it did take some effort to flag anyone down for anything. And as much as I love sweets, I won't be back.

Spoon Kitchen: Keep spooning!

Took us a while to finally arrive here, but here we are! Heard lots of good things about Spoon Kitchen from SexyNapkins, so I decided to snag the coupon deal from BigCityPerks and try it out with Adorables.

Restaurant: Spoon Kitchen (visit their website here)

Location: 1909 W. 4th Avenue, Vancouver
Cuisine: Thai, Malaysian
Price range: $15-20





Date of visit: June 17, 2014
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 3.5/5
Food variety: 5/5
Food quality: 3.75/5
Buck worthy? 4.5/5

So the dealio online said 9 courses, but after asking the waiter, he said it was a typo, and it was $25 for 8-course meal for 2 people. I was fine with that, since there was no point arguing anyways xD First to arrive were the appetizers (3 courses).

There was Thai Shrimp Cakes, which were very crispy and fresh. Crispy Fried Calamari was tender and moist inside but I prefer it to be crispier on the outside; the sauces complimented both dishes well. Then there was Roti Canai with coconut curry dipping sauce, both very generic and average. I enjoyed this dish a lot though =)

The Shredded Mango Salad with lime dressing arrived shortly after. It was hard to find the mango, and when I did, they weren't very good. The mango was hard and tart. The whole salad was tart actually. And hard. There were carrots, cucumber, shallots, jicama and mango.

Then came the main dishes (3 courses). Having arrived at the same time, I couldn't decide what to eat first! Everything was getting cold =(

Anyhow, nibbled on the House Green Beans first, they were crunchy and well-done. There was dried shrimp and tomato with some sauce. A little salty for my liking, would've been delicious with some white rice! :)

Moved onto the Gulai Seafood, which was delicious. Could've been spicier but it was plentifully packed with seafood such as squid, shrimp, fish, and mussels. The pineapple, string beans, and peppers complimented the dish well to add some color and tanginess to the sauce. The sauce itself was flavorful with spices and the coconut curry base just shone. I ended up mixing the sauce with the Nasi Goreng, and it was quite interestingly delicious.

Last of the mains was the Nasi Goreng. It was moist and appetizing, great way to finish off my meal before dessert! Tasted even better when I mixed it with the Gulai Seafood hehe =D It was sweet and sour, kinda tomato-y, rice was a bit too soft and broken though.

Finally, dessert! The Pisang Goreng turned out to be deep fried banana with ice cream. It was really good! The banana was lightly battered, crispy, and not overcooked. Ice cream cooled it down just enough in my mouth not to be burned by the freshly deep fried banana! Yum yum!

Oh! Also ordered a Guava Juice ($2.75), tasted like the Sun Tropics stuff you can get from grocery stores haha, but it wasn't too overpriced, so I was fine with it :)

Very satisfied with the meal, took some stuff home as we couldn't finish it, so I would say it's a pretty sweet deal!! Servers were nice albeit a bit hard to flag down (it was nearly empty by the time we got there).

Baan Wasana Thai, Kerrisdale: Pretty awesome curry =)

Decided to hit up the beach today, but as we were enjoying the sunset. . . didn't realize time flew by and many restaurants were closed around Kitsilano. I've been here before, and it was a memorable experience, plus it was still open! =D In we goooo~

Restaurant: Baan Wasana Thai (visit their website here)
Location: 2143 W 41st Avenue, Vancouver
Cuisine: Thai, Vegetarian
Price range: $10-15






Date of visit: August 6, 2013
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 4.5/5
Food variety: 5/5
Food quality: 4.75/5
Buck worthy? 4.5/5

I enjoyed the Pad Thai with Shrimp ($10.95) last time, so I ordered it again this time. I felt the noodles were a bit too watery this time. Taste was still great and texture likewise. The shrimp were fresh and the balance of flavors worked nicely.

Adorables ordered a Green Curry ($10.25) chicken option. It wasn't the thick kind and was quite delicious with the Coconut Rice ($2.50) that he also ordered (since the curry didn't come with rice). Rice was rather broken though, not exactly sure if it's a Thai style of cooking rice or them overcooking it. Either way, curry was aromatic and milky.

Enjoyed my meal, although a bit rushed to finish because they were closing =P

Munchie Adventure: Bua Thai Cuisine, Vancouver

Since our first choice had a long wait, we decided to wander the streets in search of another place to fill our tummies after bowling! Couldn't decide between this or its neighbor, but since it was rated 1% higher on Urbanspoon, it won. Quite small and empty in here, but they could accommodate our party so all good. One person manning the little store... cute, but he wasn't very attentive and seemed engrossed in something behind the counter most of the time. xD

Restaurant: Bua Thai Cuisine (visit their website here)
Location: 1859 Commercial Drive, Vancouver
Cuisine: Thai
Price range: $10-$20 per person




Date of visit: June 5, 2013
Atmosphere: 2/5
Staff/service: 2/5
Food variety: 3/5
Food quality: 2.5/5
Buck worthy? 2/5

So... I couldn't decide on what to order, so I ended up just thinking of a random number and hoped it would be good. Should not do that ever again.

But anyways, look at the cute utensil wrappings! =D It's like they're ready for bed ^-^

Back to food. I ordered their Thai Noodle Soup ($8.95) in hopes that I could finish this and sneak in a dessert (which didn't happen). The soup had a satay base, only very minor (quite watered down), but I liked the taste. There were options as to what to have in it: chicken, pork, beef, or tofu. I got the beef and those pieces were small and tough! Did not like that. Noodles were chewy and good. This lacked a "wow" factor to it.

Others ordered curry and seems like it was a better choice than mine =P The Pad Thai I thought of ordering was a ketchup-y based one (according to YA), which isn't the kind I prefer. And chopsticks. I learned I really need chopsticks for my noodles because forking it was so hard ><" 50/50 on this place, too close to Kishimoto for me to come back haha!

Munchie Adventure: Vietnam Garden Restaurant, Esqimalt (Victoria)

WORST. Experience. Ever. I wonder why it's even rated so highly on Urbanspoon. Or maybe it's just not suitable for my tastes. One could say they're very. . . different than the majority of Vietnamese restaurants-- not in a good way. They have a LOT of room for improvement =)

Restaurant: Vietnam Garden Restaurant
Location: 524 Admirals Road, Esquimalt
Cuisine: Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese, Vegetarian
Price range: $10-15




Date of visit: June 3, 2013
Atmosphere: 2/5
Staff/service: 4/5
Food variety: 3.5/5
Food quality: 1/5
Buck worthy? 1/5

We came here because it was nearby the place we're staying at, and when we walked in, it wasn't very full. People started trickling in afterwards. Saw the lunch specials and decided to try their lunch special A: Red Curry Chicken with Rice, Spring Roll, and Vegetables ($8.95). I was excited about the spring roll... and I guess it's the least disappointing thing we had (I was still quite disappointed). It was not very crispy, made with rice flour wrap instead of the traditional spring roll wrap. Ingredients weren't flavored right either. It was bland and chewy in a bad way. Rice was cooked badly too. The curry wasn't even real red curry. Chicken was a few slices of bland chicken. Utterly horrid.

On the side we could order Wontons ($2.50), and I gotta say they're pretty expensive wontons. . . And not good either. Way too overcooked the wrapping was so soggy and mushy. The meat inside didn't taste fresh either-- actually quite bland once again. There were 3 wontons in the bowl.

Glad we only ordered three things. I didn't want to put anything else in me. This was the Rare Beef Noodles in Soup ($9.50) and let's say, I was sad they didn't have limes. NO LIMES. I was so very sad. As well, the soup wasn't very hot, the bean sprouts were mixed in with the noodles already, onions were undercooked. And noodles weren't very chewy. I'm pretty sure the times I've made it at home were better. No offense.

They even charged us for their tea. $0.65 per person! Not that it's a large amount, but not worth that money because that tea was bad quality. Sheesh. Will not be back for sure.