Latest Reviews
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I went here with my partner after looking up Canada's top 100 best restaurants. It was incredible. The food was absolutely outstanding and the service…
Shawna Dale
Maenam
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Quite mixed. My wife and I started with the betal leaf dungeness crab, which was a fantastic little appetizer, very well balanced and novel. For mains…
Oblique | Debordage
Maenam
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We came here with friends for dinner. We ordered the followings:grilled thai sausage and crispy rice saladhot and sour cloudy prawn soupthai style cri…
Chicas
Maenam
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Maenam is open for Casual Dining. Maenam serves Thai and Asian dishes. Incorrect or missing information? Make a report, or claim the restaurant if you own it!Details
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7 Reviews on “Maenam”
I went here with my partner after looking up Canada’s top 100 best restaurants. It was incredible. The food was absolutely outstanding and the service was extremely friendly. We even made friends with the people sitting next to us. I crave it so much now!
Quite mixed. My wife and I started with the betal leaf dungeness crab, which was a fantastic little appetizer, very well balanced and novel. For mains, my wife had the 8 spice ling cod, which was a disgusting and overpriced chunk of cod coated in so much sugar it tasted like a spicy candy apple. I, on the other hand, had the 3 flavor baby back pork ribs, which was absolutely delightful: wonderfully flavored and came on a nice bed of satisfying vegetables. So, difficult to give an overall assessment. Also, note that pretty much everything was spicy.
We came here with friends for dinner. We ordered the followings:grilled thai sausage and crispy rice saladhot and sour cloudy prawn soupthai style crispy chicken wings hand made roti8 spice ling codgang kau, tumeric curry of grilled striplion beefthai long green eggplant & pork stir fryOverall I like the food, the quality and the flavour are above average. The soup is ok but on sour for my husband but I like sour flavour so I’m OK with the soup. The chicken wings are extremely puny in size so we all thought they’re frog legs but the taste is not bad. I like the crispy salad, ling cod and tumeric curry. The tumeric curry is by far the best dish and spicy just the way I like it. I don’t like the roti as much as the one at Salathai or Banana Leaf. The eggplant dish is ok but nothing great about it. All the dishes are quite small in serving portion so I do find all the dishes are overpriced compared to other Thai restaurants. They’re are more fusion Thai restaurant than authentic Thai restaurant. Customer service is also very friendly and attentive here. Overall I do enjoy my experience here.
AMAZING! Best Thai food weve ever had in Vancouver. Im Indonesian…I should know. 🙂 The cocktails are good. The crispy rice salad with sausage is to die for. The chicken wings are amazing. The creamy chicken soup is perfection. Last but not least, the pad thai is on point. Service was great as well. Would definitely come back again and again!
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 Ive 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. Heres 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 Toqu. He spent several years at Toqu perfecting his craft. This paints a clear picture to me of the type of standard that he is used to.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 thats to be expected at such a popular place. I also discovered that Maenam means river and its 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 couldnt help but order the White Cardamom Kombucha (Brewed specially for Maenam to match the flavours of our menu – $8.00) instead. 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 couldnt wait to see what they had to offer. The best course of action seemed obvious: Chefs Tasting Menu ($50.00 per person). The Chefs 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 isnt 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. Id like to try ordering 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! erikaeatseverything.com
Food was good however the service was very disappointing. We had to keep requesting our wine glasses to be filled. Food took ages to come. The staff was arrogant and rude when we mentioned how poor the the service was.
Maenam was really close to our lodging when we were visiting the city. One of the best Thai dining experiences of my life! Their soups and curries although not traditional were extremely delicious and the spices were to die for. Don’t miss out on the roti or their dessert options.