Salathai on Burrard

My friend was feeling southeast Asian and suggested we go to Salathai. For Thai, I've only ever been to Thai House (gross) and Green Basil (good) so wasn't sure what to expect. We came here on a Saturday evening and as to be expected, it was busy but we had a reservation. One of my friend's boyfriend also happen to know the owner very well so obviously, expectations are a bit higher than usual. I think that's why we went here in the end.



This is the view facing the entrance although it totally doesn't even look like a restaurant (ok, the other side was filled with tables and the bar), but really, I think the decor is more to appease the people from out of town or who have never been to Thailand. Nonetheless, clean, tidy, no problems.


A free drink on the house courtesy of the owner. I believe it was some kind of Thai iced coffee but it was quite good and very refreshing. We ordered a variety of items to share and the first thing I noticed was that there were no items over $20. I thought to myself "wow, is this place one of those cheap, hidden gems that taste awesome that I'd never known about?" I was about to be unpleasantly surprised...

Salathai Satay ~ $8.25 - We had chicken but they also had beef and pork. With 4 skewers, a little over $2 for a piece of meat the size of your index figure. It was good (Personally, I think it's pretty hard to screw up skewers) but for the price, I didn't think it was worth it and was disappointed.

Tom Yum Soup with prawns ~ $9. Honestly, I was biased against this dish from the get-go cause I don't like hot and sour soup so I wasn't looking for seconds. Even though the bowl looks small, we were able to scoop out 6 standard rice bowls with a prawn for each person. Of course, I only took about half cause I didn't want to waste it.

Golden Angel Wings ~$9 - boneless chicken wings stuffed with meat, shrimp, veggies and vermicelli.. Apparently, this is one of their signature dishes and for what it's worth. It was pretty good. If I were to go back, I'd get this dish.

Pad Thai ~ $11 - Can you really go to a Thai restaurant and not order pad thai? It was alright but for the price you pay and the portion you receive, it is totally not worth it.

Gaeng Dang ~ $11 - chicken, bell peppers, bamboo shoots in red curry with coconut milk. Like most other places, you have to pay for rice separately (I forgot how much), there was enough to share for everyone but I found the curry to be too liquid for my liking.


Dessert platter on the house - we have coconut gelatinous cubes, vanilla ice cream with red bean paste and deep fried banana. Cubes = not very flavorful (then again, I think that's normal), ice cream = good, red bean = I don't like red bean and banana = good. I can't really say anything about its worth cause we received it for free.

While it was great that our buddy had a hookup with the owners and gave us free drinks and dessert, I was overall disappointed with the experience. I understand that it gets busy but the service was very lacking. It took a long time to get water or we'd have to re-request it. Also, I found it rude how when our waitress, in the middle of taking our orders, suddenly said she would be right back, left us to do whatever, and then came back 5 minutes later. I didn't think that was very professional but tips are included.

I also now realize that by making the menu items seem less expensive, it makes you feel like you can order more! Unfortunately, portion-wise, it's not worth it. For what it's worth, I did leave feeling full, but not satisfied. Most of the dishes are also designed for sharing so you can't really get your own things. There's a Salathai on Cambie but don't think I'll be coming back here or the other one anytime soon.

Due to popular (one anonymous person ^^ ), I will start rating places once again with a comment.

rating: 5/10 - Even though the golden angel wings were good, I'd come back only with that guy to get the free hook-ups but I wouldn't come myself. I'd also avoid busy times cause the service leaves much to be desired.


Salathai on Burrard
102-888 Burrard Street
Vancouver BC V6 1X9
Tel: 604-683-7999
www.Salathai.ca

Section 3

Ever since the construction of the Canada line near my workplace, I've found myself starting to explore venues in Yaletown that I would never have gone to normally, mainly because of the parking there). Decided to check this place out on a whim since they advertised $10 lunches online. It's conveniently located about a block away from the skytrain but if you plan to drive, then yes, parking may be challenging.

Given that it was around 2pm, the place was pretty deserted and we could sit wherever. Once you step in, you'd notice the lighted nerd sign lighting the bar and once you got seated, you'd probably notice the poster of the topless woman behind the entrance. Their drink menus are always decorated with vintage b&w pictures of topless women. Not too sure what their goal is here.
The inside decor is pretty funky and eclectic. Note the iron Christmas tree looking object in the nerd picture. It's hard to tell with the lighting but I think most of the furniture in here is pink. Apparently, they have two sets of washrooms here. You've got a pair near the back of the restaurant and then there is another past the back doors which looks more like a public washroom for the complex. It's pretty obvious which one they keep more clean.

It's on their website but for the lazy people, I've posted a link of their menu, of which all items are $10. Most of their food is standard and nothing really sticks out. They have daily specials but you're paying $9 instead of $10. However, who am I to complain about a 10% drop in price. I asked the guy what he recommended and he kept saying how the turkey sandwich was "sooooo gooooood!". I decided to get something else =p

Bacon cheeseburger with wild sauteed mushrooms and fries. It's your standard fare with a healthy bit of beef and mushrooms so no complaints. The fries came with a spicy mayo which was good too.

Shepherd's pie with giant garlic toast. My friend had this since it was their daily special. To be honest, I don't really even know what Shepherd's pie is but then I learned it's like mashing your potatoes and meat together. It was alright. My friend said it was ok and garlic toast is... well, just garlic toast so nothing special.

Smoked salmon fettuccine with spinach and capers. It was... ok. Perhaps I expected more but then again, I was comparing it to Favorito ("yo, check it out in the December month).

The other pasta of the day was the smoked chicken penne with mushrooms, green peas and sundried tomatoes. I liked this one more than the smoked salmon cause it had more flavor. When I asked both girls, they said they'd probably pick a different item next time.

Thin crust pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms and bell peppers. We had this to share and it was very good. It wasn't too greasy and they were generous with toppings. This was our favorite dish of the day and had we known, we probably would've just gotten a bunch of pizzas.

The service overall was good but then there were only like 3 tables inside. I remember coming here once around 1am and it was packed. They also had a DJ playing in the corner. We ordered yam fries but I thought they were overdone and too salty. And as can be expected, service is pretty slow and forgetful so that was my last impression before coming here for a second go-around. It's not my first choice for dinner or a late night hangout, but I wouldn't mind coming back for lunch given their $10 menus.



Section 3
1039 Mainland Street
Vancouver BC V6B 5P9
Tel; 604-684-2777
http://www.sectionthree.com/

Vita Bella

Came here on a Sunday night for a nice dinner with Cheerios. The restaurant is located near the intersection of Hastings and Willingdon so lots of parking along the streets. The restaurant is actually kind of hard to miss cause the outside is pretty hard and the iron-bar appearance from the outside doen't help.

The decor inside is really simple yet elegant. They have paintings decorated throughout and the pale green color is easy on the eyes. The lighting set the mood perfectly - not too biright nor too dark. We had a cozy table beside the wall.

Ahi tuna with blueberry fennel slaw and peppers ~ $30. The fennel and the tuna complimented each other very well and the tuna was excellent. Needless to say, Cheerios liked her dish a lot.

Linguine fumate: house-smoked duck breast, sun-dried tomatoes with assorted mushrooms in Grand Marnier demiglaze cream sauce, drizzled with truffle oil ~ $18. The duck had a crispy outside with a soft inside and was full of flavor. It may be because I like my pasta to be extremely saucy but I thought the noodles could have used a bit more sauce.

Chef Leonardo's chocolate pave ~ $7. The presentation was really nice but we were a little disappointed by the dessert after so much hype from our waiter. It's basically like eating a mousse cake or a ganache. Nonetheless, it still tasted great but didn't seem up to par with the entrees.

The only negative part of the night was that our entrees seemed to take much longer than the other patrons like 40 mins we ordered. You get bread with olive oil but it only lasts for so long. I recall one couple sitting near us who arrived about the same time but they were gone moments after we received our entree. And then a group of 4 came, ordered, and got to eating within 10 minutes so I was a little peeved about that.

However, to end on a positive note, during our dinner, a old, short, bespectacled man came to our table and asked how our meal was and if everything was okay. I thought he was a random customer who just happened to be interested in what we were eating but Cheerios later pointed out that he was likely the head chef and owner since he was wearing an apron and was going around to other tables. I thought this was a really nice touch by the owner and he was also very humble and grateful for our presence. I'm pretty much ready to patronage to chef Leo again.


Vita Bella Ristorante
4544 Hastings Street
Burnaby, BC V5C2K4

Tel: (604) 298-4464
Fax: (604) 298-4485
http://www.vitabellaristorante.ca