Maenam

Rather unsurprisingly, having a newborn has had a significant impact on our ability to go out for dinner. Luckily, however, grandmothers, when they are around, love to look after babies, and a recent visit gave us a welcome night out. After some discussion, we decided to use our limited freedom to try out a new restaurant in our neighborhood - Maenam (http://www.maenam.ca/).

Maenam is in the space previously occupied by Gastropod, and is run by the same people. I must say that we were both much happier with their new venture than their old. (I am not a big fan of molecular gastronomy as it is often practiced in North America. In Spain…now that’s another matter entirely.) The space is not much changed. Yes, the actual décor is different, but the layout is the same (at least to my eyes). And it still has the same feeling - formal enough to make you feel like you’re in for something special, but yet casual enough to be inviting.

Importantly, Maenam lives up to the impression; the food and service were both excellent, and the prices are remarkably low given the high caliber of both. We both actually remarked more than once at the degree of dissonance we felt between the ambiance (including the very professional service) and the prices.

The quality of ingredients and care of preparation are clear in every dish. We ordered roti, house made fermented thai sausages, pad thai, David Thompson’s 3 flavour fish, smoked duck red curry, and rice. The roti, sausage, and pad thai arrived first. The sausage was very tasty. We were both somewhat apprehensive about what exactly a fermented sausage would be like, but be assured, there was nothing funky about it, just great complex flavor. The server warned us about the chili inside, suggesting that we remove it prior to eating the sausage. I was very glad I heeded her warning, but I was also glad that the chili had been in the preparation, as it added a wonderful heat to the sausage. (If you eat whole habaneros, you could probably leave the chilis in, but otherwise, I agree that they are best removed before eating.) I have read reviews gushing about the pad thai, and while we both thought it was tasty, it was not the highlight of the meal for us. It was, what pad thai should be. (I suppose maybe we’ve been lucky in our previous pad thai experiences - I can’t relate to the stories of gloppy thick or dry flavorless noodles that seem to accompany rhapsodies about Maenam’s pad thai.) The roti, by contrast, was undercooked, rather like a sticky gluey paste that had been warmed. The flavour was pleasant enough, but the texture was not. While we were eating the pad thai and roti, the fish, duck, and rice arrived at our table. The fish was my choice and I was very very happy with my selection. The ling cod was perfectly cooked, still moist, but with ultra crispy skin. And the salty, sweet, and sour flavours are perfectly balanced, all present, none stealing the spotlight from the others. I was less taken by the smoked duck curry, but that is more about my tastes than the quality of the dish, which was quite apparent; the duck was quite tasty, and the sauce was very complex and well crafted, with great depth of flavour without being overbearing.

We were both very happy with our experience, and definitely plan to return, something not true of our visit to Gastropod. If it were as expensive as Gastropod was, we would not be so enthusiastic, but as it is, it is great value for money. We highly recommend it.

4 happy thumbs.