New face, familiar food

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/04/2008 (6389 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was the kind of wonton soup that might spoil you for many others — a big bowlful of richly flavourful chicken broth with slightly sweet undertones, seasoned with the lightest of soy sauces and sparked by wee bits of roasted onion. And floating in it, a little armada of light, delicate dumplings that were stuffed with chicken and slightly aromatic with ginger. The soup may have had its origins in China but these flavours were subtly, unmistakably, gloriously Thai.

It wasn’t the first time I’d had that particular soup at this address, but it was the first time I’d had it when made by new owner Siriya Sritharang, and those who had been getting their fix of Thai food from the former tenant (Lao Thai, which has moved to 79 St. Anne’s Rd.) can take comfort in the fact that they won’t have to travel far for some of the dishes they’ve enjoyed here. They can still be found in this wee nook of a place — still without a single frill, still seating approximately 20, and still delicious.

Moreover, the prices remain among the city’s best bargains, with not a single dish priced above $8.50. Mind you, you may not find everything you want — compared to other Thai menus, this one is relatively limited, running to a mere 23 items, and not everything that is listed is available at any given time. Kao peak sen soup, for instance, a clear chicken broth with a choice of round or flat rice noodles, was unavailable on my last visit.

However, we did have a bracing bowl of tangy-sweet tom yum soup with shrimp, redolent of galanga, lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves.

There are some delicious appetizers as well — chicken satay, for one. The four skewers of sliced, marinated chicken were tender and tasty, and, like the wonton soup, ideal for timid first timers, since there are no dangerous spices involved, and the crushed peanut dipping sauce, as well as the garnishes of cucumber and red peppers, are cool and soothing.

Some of the other appetizers, however, are for bolder, heat-seaking palates only. A peanut-sprinkled salad of crisp, shredded green papaya, for instance, packs a powerful wallop of chili — the amount of chilis will be reduced on request, but it’s at its best when blazing. Larb (spelled alternately, on other menus, as laab or lap) is another classic Thai salad that, for some reason, isn’t on this menu, but will be made for you if you ask (also true, I suspect, of many other Laotian/Thai dishes you might want to try). I asked, and was rewarded with thin slices of beef laced with lime juice, fish sauce, mint and cilantro, kicked up with a blast of hot chili peppers.

Medium is about my usual speed when it comes to Thai spicing, although I find the same degree of heat less searing in the sauced entr ©es than in the salads. The one I liked best was the panang curry of plump, juicy shrimp, stir-fried in a red curry sauce enriched with coconut milk.

The sauce for a green curry with chicken, cauliflower, broccoli and bamboo shoots was a tad too soupy, but the flavours — coconut milk, with hints of lemongrass, basil, galangal and lime juice — couldn’t be faulted. Pad ginger benjamet, however — a stir fry of beef, mushrooms and onions — was pleasant enough but tame, without much flavour of Asia, or of ginger either, for that matter.

Pad thai is one of those dishes that has usually left me cold, and possibly the reason I wasn’t disappointed by Bua Dang’s version is because it was like none I’ve ever tasted before, most of which have used flat rice noodles that end up gummy and heavy. These noodles, although rice-based, were thin, with a lighter texture, and tasted more like an Asian spaghetti, garnished with chicken, bean sprouts and crushed peanuts. I liked it.

I also liked the fried rice, a remarkably tasty version fleshed out with slices of fresh-cooked chicken, green peas, bits of green and white onions, and refreshing cubes of pineapple. It’s not something I usually order, but this one did the trick as coolant in between bites of the chili-zapped salads.

Other unsampled possibilities include such appetizers as chicken wings stuffed with ground pork; egg rolls stuffed with vegetables and chicken or banana; salad rolls with the same choice of fillings; and tum ta lae, a salad of mixed seafood with vermicelli and greens. Among the entrees, red curry, stir-fried vegetables, deep-fried chow mein egg noodles and thick rice noodles, all topped with the usual choice of suspects (i.e. beef, chicken, pork or shrimp).

The welcome is warm and the service efficient — the latter something of a miracle considering the fact that the owner seems to be doing all the work herself (with the help of an only occasional friend).

marion.warhaft@freepress.mb.ca

Bua Dang

763 Selkirk Avenue / 582-4832

Unlicensed

No wheelchair access

4 out of five