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