Thai House Restaurant

4940 No. 3 Road (though it faces Alderbridge)

604-278-7373

Cash and cards accepted

Vegetarian options available

 

By Lindsay Anderson

Special to The Post

 

My dad doesn’t like coconut, so I was sadly deprived of the stuff as a child.

I do remember one time when he relented on our house’s unofficial coconut ban; he came home with a whole coconut from the grocery store, and we gathered in the backyard as he chopped it in half with an axe. It was all very exciting, but I can still remember being terribly disappointed by the liquid inside – I was expecting creamy, white coconut milk, and what was with this watery juice?! I do enjoy a bottle of coconut water now, but my 7 year-old self was unconcerned with its hydrational benefits. Also, we have since determined that it is the texture, not flavour, of dried coconut that my dad dislikes, so all hope is not lost.

Gloriously, many Asian cuisines feature coconut in both sweet and savoury dishes, and it’s particularly essential to Thai and Malaysian cooking. 

Thai House is located at No. 3 Road and Alderbridge – it is part of a group throughout Metro Vancouver. They offer takeout and delivery, and the restaurant itself is nice to dine in.We ordered Lettuce Wraps with lean ground naturally raised free-range Ostrich ($14,); Tom Kha Gai Soup with chicken, mushrooms, lemongrass, coconut milk, and Thai spice (single serving = $5), traditional Pad Thai ($12); coconut rice; and Boneless Roasted Duck in red curry paste with coconut milk, served in a Fresh Whole Young Coconut ($16).

The lettuce wraps were excellent. The ostrich was some of the most tender ground meat I’ve ever had, and it was tossed with cubes of fried tofu, vegetables, and fresh basil in a sweet, spicy sauce – full of flavour and a lovely mix of textures. So everybody, now we know that naturally-raised free-range ground Ostrich = awesome!

Tom Kha Gai is easily one of my favourite Thai dishes; its silky, round flavour is everything I love about coconut milk, and the faint sourness of the broth is perfect with sweet coconut rice. The single serving is small, but still good to share; the bowl was packed with chicken, mushrooms, and firm stalks of chopped lemongrass. I would certainly order this again.

The Pad Thai was tasty – the noodles and prawns were cooked well – but the sauce was just a little too sweet for me. I suppose that’s just a matter of preference, though.

Finally, there was the roasted duck in red curry sauce, a dish we could call ‘the fluffy white icing on top of this coconut cake of a meal.’ Visually, it’s a crowd-pleaser, and it tasted good too.

The thick curry sauce held some impossibly tender duck, pineapple, chopped fresh tomatoes, bamboo shoots, and slices of fresh coconut flesh. It was rich and warm with spice.

The coconut rice was nicely cooked, but not nearly coconuty enough for me. I’m forever on the search for the perfect bowl.

Our bill came to about $60 for three people. Not cheap by Richmond standards, but reasonable considering we took leftovers home and were plenty stuffed.

 

Lindsay Anderson is dining out at 365 Richmond eateries in 365 days for Tourism Richmond. The Asian Pacific Post is featuring excerpts from her blog each week. See www.365daysofdining.com for Anderson’s blog.