Thai Rim Food Baht

Location: Robson @ Hamilton Street

Whilst anyone and everyone raves on and on about the new Vij's food cart, (Vij is a revered iconic restaurateur here in Vancouver), I decided to pay a visit to one of the other new overlooked carts. I'm not a fan of Vij's anyway, (shock, horror..) having had two decidedly disappointing meals in his restaurant and was far more excited to eat at the only Thai food cart in Vancouver, (again..shock, horror etc..). I've been pretty vocal about what I consider the breezy amble along the wrong path of many of these carts, so it was a relief to see a cart centred around Thai street food actually manned by two young Thai.

The first thing my heart leaped at was the lack of bread. The owners here have obviously chosen not to participate in the current trend, choosing not to wrap up their curries and stir fries in a flat bread or something similar and anyway, why should they?  In Thailand street food is eaten with rice from a bowl, even a noodle soup purchased from a vendor at Bangkok's floating market comes with it's own ceramic dish which you obviously don't have to give back as the cook floats away looking for new custom, bread is not obligatory. 

 

Bhoput market, Koh Samui. Street food, not a loaf in sight

The menu had quite a few choices, including appetisers, soups, entrees, desserts and drinks, meaning that a full three course meal would be perfectly possible. I resisted ordering the Miang Kham, something I discovered at a restaurant in Seattle, a sort of DIY starter of various bits and pieces to wrap up in leaves, in lieu of wanting to be hungry enough to enjoy my main. 

 

First: the good. My green chicken curry was outstanding. Full of large pieces of simmered chicken breast, contrasted with pieces of eggplant in beautiful shades of lilac and purple, with whole lime leaves and Thai basil, it was sweet, spicy, sour and salty all at once, just like any good Thai curry. The jasmine rice underneath acted as a sponge, soaking up all the soupy liquid so that no spoon was necessary. I was impressed, even without the tiny dab of chili I added, it was spicy enough to make your sinuses ring. For $6.50, it felt this cart was finally getting it right - good food, great sized portion, authentic and reasonably priced.

The not so good: Neil ordered Nam Ngew, ground pork and rib served with rice noodles. As soon as it was presented to him, I began to see holes in the 'served in a dish' idea. It was full, dripping over the sides and meant we had to sit on a wall rather than risk Neil walking with the precarious dish in his hands. Of course, this also meant that it was a fairly generous portion, although it didn't exactly meet expectations. It was fairly tasteless, unfortunately, Neil describing it as 'watery with a little spice' and the ribs had been chopped up in such a way that meant many splintered bones remained scattered throughout. Perhaps these carts are missing a key element; somewhere to sit if dishes like these are offered, (in all fairness, we could have had them to go - complete with sealable cartons). 

Overall, I'm very happy to see this cart begin to wander down the correct path and offer choices that are very different from the others. (I believe Vij's is also offering curries with rice - another step in the right direction). They could, however, re think their Nam Ngew, as I can't imagine long line ups of people who need to rush back to the office ordering this.

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