...Khao San Thai Kitchen (Calgary)

Overall - 8/10
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Food - 8/10
Service - 8.5/10
Ambiance 9/10

You may have noticed but we've been on a bit of a Thai kick recently. There is something about the fresh and bright flavours, spicy heat and family style dining that we love. Our favourite Thai place to date has to be Juree's, but after hearing all the buzz about Khao San Thai Kitchen which has opened up on 17th AVE we had to give it a try.

We started the evening off with the Pla Meuk Yang or the marinated and grilled squid with a spicy seafood sauce. You know a Thai restaurant is authentic when their sauces are actually spicy as advertised. This spicy seafood dipping sauce was as hot a sauce as I've ever had but had a great depth of flavour probably from the fish sauce in it. Thankfully the grilled squid had a hint of sweetness that balanced off the spicy sauce. Our second appetizer was the papaya salad which again was nice and refreshing side to the spicy squid.

For our mains we shared a chicken Pa-Nang curry which if you've never had one before is sweeter and less spicy then either the green or red curries on offer here. The sauce I felt was on the thin side but was still packed with flavour and there definitely was more then enough to be poured over our sides of coconut rice.

When we saw "Crying Tiger" on the menu we were pretty intrigued. It was a dish of grilled rib eye steak served with a northeastern style dipping sauce. The steak was well cooked and the dipping sauce had a nice tartness from an ingredient we still can't quite put our finger on. It was fairly mild on the spiciness scale but not to worry as we were provided with a huge assortment of hot sauces to use at our own discretion. There was a chilli oil, chilli fish sauce, a chilli garlic sauce and chilli flakes to choose from.

For dessert the taro pearls served with a sweetened coconut milk caught our eye. The 'pearls' were more like tiny and tender little taro dumplings that melted in your mouth. The most interesting part of the dessert were the corn niblets in the coconut milk that surprisingly went really well with the overall flavour of the dish.

At the end of the night we were pretty satisfied with our meal. The spiciness was definitely there as were the expected Thai flavours. The prices may have been a bit higher then Juree's but the originality of the dishes made up for the added expense.

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...Thai Basil Chicken Stirfry

This year in our garden we chose to focus more on herbs and tomatoes as opposed to the beets, carrots and chard that we usually grow. One of our favourite herbs so far this season is the Thai basil. Its similar to regular basil but purple tinged and more fragrant. This recipe makes use of this delicious herb and was inspired by a dish we recently had at Juree's Thai Place. Aside from the basil the other star ingredient has to be the fish sauce which adds a nice fishy savouriness to the dish.

Ingredients:

- 1 bunch of asparagus 

- 1 bell pepper, thinly sliced

- 1 onion, thinly sliced

- 3 stalks of celery, thinly sliced

- 2 chicken breasts (ours were pre cooked/leftovers)

- 1 lime

- 3 green onions, thinly sliced

- 1 bunch of Thai basil, roughly chopped

- 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

- 2 tbsp ginger, finely chopped

- 2 tbsp light soy sauce

- 2 tbsp oyster sauce

- 1 tbsp fish sauce

- 1 tbsp sugar

Method:

1. Heat a large frying pan over high heat and fry the garlic and ginger in canola oil until fragrant. (If you're using fresh chicken add it to the pan now and fry until half way cooked)

2. Add the celery and onion and fry for 2 minutes until slightly soft. Add the asparagus, bell pepper and pre cooked chicken and cook for a further 5 minutes

3. Squeeze over the lime, and add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce and sugar. Cook for a further 2-3 minutes until the sauce reduces

4. Serve over rice

Enjoy!

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…Juree's Thai Place Restaurant (Calgary)

Overall - 9/10
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Food - 8.5/10
Service - 9/10
Ambiance - 9/10

For the longest time we hesitated trying Juree's Thai Place, mostly because we were a bit put off by the old Burger King exterior. After discovering the delicious and authentic food, warm service and beautiful Thai interior decor we realized that we have been missing out on this amazing restaurant for the past three years its been open. Already we have been back twice in the last month to make up for lost time. 

They have a huge selection of appetizers and perhaps the best way to sample many of them is with the sharing platter. It includes spring rolls, satay skewers, stuffed and fried chicken wings and fried calamari. The dish is served with three unique dipping sauces that you can mix and match until you find you own personal favourite combination. The sauces included a chunky peanut sauce, a thicker sweet honey sauce and finally a thinner vinegar based dipping sauce. Our favourite had to be the stuffed chicken wings which were de-boned, stuffed with ground chicken, carrot and mung bean noodle threads. For good measure we also got the Thai dumplings filled with pork. They were soft, tender and bursting with pork flavour. 

The main dishes are meant to be shared amongst the table with rice. We went all in and chose a large order of coconut rice which can easily serve 4 hungry people. The curries we tried included the Matsuman beef curry and a Panang chicken curry. The Matsuman curry was very unique and contained thinly sliced beef, peanuts and potatoes. It was rich, sweet and had a great depth of flavour from the peanuts. The Panang curry was a bit lighter in curry flavour but still very satisfying. For each curry you can request mild, medium or hot to suit your tastes.

Matsuman Beef Curry

Panang Chicken Curry 

There were also a large variety of stir fried dishes and we chose the chicken and basil stir fry, cashew chicken and the Pad Thai. The basil chicken dish was light and permeated with the aroma of Thai basil. The cashew chicken was unique in that the chicken was lightly battered and deep fried then coated with a sweet chilli sauce. Finally the Pad Thai was well done with perfectly cooked noodles, fresh veggies, tofu and shrimp. Each of these dishes went great with the aromatic coconut rice as well.

Finally, no Thai meal is complete without mango-coconut sticky rice. The mango was fresh and sweet while the sticky rice was aromatic and fluffy. The dish was tied together with a slightly salty/savoury coconut sauce that balances the sweetness of the rice and mango.

Don't make the same mistake we did by judging this place on external appearances, give it a try and you'll be just as satisfied as we have been.

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...Panang Curry

Panang curry is a dish that brings me back to my university days in a flash. It was a dish that was made on Sundays and lasted almost the entire week. One would think that a week of curry would grow tiresome but the aromas of ginger, garlic, spices, coconut milk and lemongrass made my tastebuds water every time. The secret to a good Panang curry is to invest in a high quality Panang curry paste to use in your sauce rather than relying on those bland curry powders that add little in the way of authentic curry flavour. 

Ingredients:

- 1 large pork shoulder 

- 2 onions, roughly chopped

- 4 carrots, roughly chopped

- 1.5 cups of chunked pineapple (fresh if possible)

- 3 green onions, finely sliced

- 3 heaped tablespoons of panang curry paste

- 1 can of coconut milk

- 2 cups of chicken broth

-3 tbsp of fish sauce

- Corn starch slurry (2 tbsp cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water)

Method:

1. In a slow cooker, combine the pork, onions, carrots, curry paste, coconut milk, chicken broth and fish sauce and cook on high for 7-8 hours or until the pork is fork tender. (if you don't have a slow cooker you can use a heavy bottomed pot and slowly braise in an over at 325 degrees for 4 hours)

2. Remove the pork and allow to cool 

  3. Chop the pork in to bite sized pieces and add back to the sauce with the pineapples

4. Bring the contents of the crockpot up to a simmer, add the cornstarch slurry and allow to thicken. Season with salt and pepper

5. Serve over steamed rice

Enjoy!

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