Tom Yum Thai Restaurant
Truthfully this is the second time in recent memory that I’ve had Thai food so I was kinda looking forward to seeing if Tom Yum Thai Restaurant matched a Thai restaurant I ate at on my recent trip out of town.
Tom Yum Thai Restaurant
The Tom Yum Thai Restaurant is a small restaurant in the Burnaby Heights area that claims to offer authentic Thai dishes and on this Monday night was completely empty at dinner time. Normally this would make me a bit worried however I’ve seen this place packed with people on other nights and it is a Monday night after all.
It also this isn’t the cleanest restaurant I’ve been in recently as I was greeted to a sticky table when I sat down and sticky floors as I walked up to the cash register.
Service wise I was greeted almost immediately and was given enough time to look over the menu and chose what I wanted to before they asked if I was ready. The meal came quick which is no surprise as I was the only one in the restaurant. After being served the waitress went into the back where it appeared they were preparing food and never checked in to see how the meal was.
The menu had a good selection of food and usually offered a choice of chicken, tofu or shrimp. I ordered two dishes, one appetizer and one noodle dish.
Pad Thai with a purple flower dumpling
The appetizer ($7.99) was five purple colored chicken dumplings shaped into a flower. Overall they weren’t too bad, they had a decent texture however I was hoping for more flavor. Since they were pretty bland I have my doubts they were hand made which is a shame since the restaurant seems to prides itself on an authentic experience.
For the main meal I had Chicken Pad Thai ($7.99). The serving was just a bit more than I could normally eat which is perfect. The peanut sauce was a nice thickness and covered the noodles well. The chicken was perfectly cooked although sparse and to my surprise tofu was thrown in the mix. The noodles seemed to be a bit under cooked maybe this is by design but I haven’t come across this before. Served on the side of the Pad Thai was ground up peanuts and semi spicy ground chili and lime.
So will I be going back? Probably not, which is a shame since it’s about a block away from where I live. Maybe my first recent experience of Thai food set the bar too high for this restaurant but I just didn’t find anything special or unique about it. Also I played it safe which is unusual so next time I try Thai food I’ll probably go for something more exotic and not a safe bet that Pad Thai is.
The Good:
Quick service
Reasonably price
The Bad:
Little amount of chicken
Bland flavoring in the dumplings
The Ugly:
Not the cleanest restaurant
Tom Yum Thai Restaurant
4010 East Hastings Street. Burnaby BC
http://www.tomyumthairestaurant.com
Telephone: 604-677-1489
