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Thai food in Vancouver has evolved immeasurably throughout the past 20 years. It wasn’t so very long ago that most Thai restaurants’ menus were filled with concessions to the fragile, spice-averse palates of white clientele (spring rolls; stir-fries and noodle dishes as bland as a Coldplay ballad). But the trailblazing likes of Maenam and, more recently, Song and Baan Lao have seduced the masses without sacrificing authenticity. Thai, we all quickly discovered, is among the most sophisticated, nuanced, yet accessible cuisines in the world, and all we’d ever needed was for someone to take the risk of serving it to us in a welcoming setting and wait for our faces to collapse in revelation and pleasure.
Sala Thai, said to have been the first Thai-owned and -operated restaurant in Vancouver, endured for a remarkable 38 years, most of that time in a sprawling space near the bustling Burrard-Robson intersection. Although it settled into an unwavering groove decades ago, it remained in the good graces of everyday diners as well as critics, who praised its consistency and uncommonly cordial service. When its imminent closure was announced in April of last year, no specific reason was given, but its founders and owners, wife and husband Joy and Sam Kongsilp, shared the cryptic remark that “this is not goodbye,” adding, “We look forward to seeing you all again at some capacity in the future.”
That capacity is now here in the form of @jaynokthai in Olympic Village. All vestiges of the room’s former tenant, The Flying Pig, have been erased, and aside from some decorative motifs that nod to Thai heritage, the space is modern, raucous (a DJ on the night we visited was slaying the crowd with a playlist of ’90s R&B bangers), and meant to attract as many demographics as possible. Joy and Sam’s son, Bobby, has taken over as co-owner alongside executive chef Bumpen “Nok” Khangrang (@chef_nok), who also happens to be his wife.
Khangrang’s dishes, developed with consulting chef @clement.kitchan, deftly walk the tightrope between tradition and an acknowledgment of what the masses want to eat nowadays. Non Khai chicken wings, tossed with cilantro and fried garlic, are sensational, while grilled pork jowl (pictured above) — which we were told tends to divide opinion even among Thai diners — was fork tender and seductively flavourful. So too was a green curry in which the typical protein choices of chicken or beef is ingeniously replaced with oxtail. Three-Flavoured Fish arrived begging to be Instagrammed, deboned but still whole, its tender innards extracted from its interior and tossed with bell pepper, fried basil, and a joltingly acidic (and presumably secret) “Mama Joy sauce.”
You will, without question, order the dessert of tempura-fried banana and coconut ice cream, an all-seasons champion that made us wish we hadn’t gorged ourselves so successfully earlier in the meal. Local and Asian beers (plus, lord knows why, Guinness) and a short international wine selection are offered, but you want to avail yourself of the cocktails, which were designed to complement the food and buttress the Thai motif with plenty of citrus and tropical fruit flavours. That said, we recommend the “Adults Only” Thai iced tea, whose generous rum content is all but undetectable until you realize two of them have ever so sweetly knocked you on your ass.
Jay Nok
127 W. 2nd Ave., Vancouver
604-683-7999
jaynokthai.com / Instagram: @jaynokthai
(Photo: Kley Klemens)
Jewkarta 