I discover a new spirituality, licking sauce splatter off my shirt
Mark Laba
Province
Wisarn, Keaw and Alexpisan Sahawatthanachai serve up dishes such as chicken cashew nut (right), green curry with chicken (front) and Tom Yum prawn soups.
Review
Yuum Yai Thai Restaurant
Where: 1859 Commercial Dr.
Payment/reservations: Major credit cards, 604-215-9969
Drinks: Soft drinks, juices and tea.
Hours: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. lunch, 5-10 p.m. dinner every day
I’m not a man much given to spiritual leanings. When I do rarely have those probing questions about existence, it usually has to do with deciding between maple- or chocolate-glazed doughnuts. But when I’m confronted by a large golden Buddha as I enter a restaurant, I oil the old karmic valves and pistons, polish up the rusty chakra machinery and dig deep into my divine being, which unfortunately seems to resemble old cheese and, in that sense, not much different than my corporeal body.
Nevertheless, with my cheesy karmic aromas swirling and the sludge of my spirituality sloshing about like bong water left over from the ’60s, the Golden Buddha let me pass with nary a pang of guilt or eye askance at this fallen human that passed before his glowing visage. I did wear my best pair of pants.
This establishment seems much like what one would discover on a backpacking trip across Thailand, although I’ve never been there and if I had I probably would’ve passed this joint in my hunt for a KFC. Small, utterly charming in its lack of formality and with the Christmas lights, oodles of brocaded fabric draped about and a homey floor lamp, it felt like I was eating in someone’s living room. A small bookshelf holds a slew of Lonely Planet and such travel books to read while dining, so while consuming some exotic edibles your brain can equally be transported to far-flung destinations. And I like a place with plastic covering the elaborately decorated tablecloths. It suggests an eating adventure wherein the flavours of the dishes inspire such a fervour that food is slung about in a frenzy of gastronomical abandon.
Peaches and I settled in with an order of chicken satay ($7.95) with a wonderful spice-and-herb marinade that struck the perfect balance between sweetness and pungency. And the poultry was as tender as an elephant cradling a peanut in his trunk. On that note, the accompanying peanut sauce was excellent.
For the main feast it was a three-ring circus of tastes. Pad Thai noodles with prawns ($10.95), chicken with cashew nuts, chili jam (or paste) and assorted veggies ($9.95) and a Panang curry with beef ($8.95). First off, let me preface this with a note on all the saucing, no matter the dish. There is a buoyancy to the culinary proceedings, like a midday light pinging off the shimmering body of the golden Buddha, a sense of substance that is there and then it’s not, ethereal as if the ingredients were transcending their earthly bodies. In other words, it’s damned good food. Prawns were a little overdone in the Pad Thai but that’s about my only complaint.
The Panang curry embodied that creamy coconut-milk sauce so soothing to the senses with sweet basil and herbs for accent and the chicken shindig with chili paste was especially enlightening. Veggies were cooked to this side of crispiness giving them a longer sauce life and on a saucy theme the broth had a fiery subtext that didn’t overrun the gentler elements.
For a small place, the menu is big and the gold Buddha beckons for more intriguing dishes whether it be the BBQ tofu with sweet Thai sauce appetizer, the spicy eggplant with chili, basil and your choice of meat or seafood or one of the classic curries. As for me, I discovered a newfound spirituality, fleeting as it may be though licking sauce splatterings off my shirtfront in the wee hours of the morning.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
Sartorial pleasures from humble origins.
RATINGS: Food: B+ Service: B+ Atmosphere: B
© The Vancouver Province 2008