Maenam, Vancouver’s award-winning Thai restaurant, was opened in 2009 by Executive Chef Angus An. He is known for serving up authentic Thai dishes with fresh local ingredients. We recently tried out the multi-course Chef’s dinner menu, and were blown away!
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Best Thai Cuisine for Foodies: Maenam Vancouver
Location
Maenam is located in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood, right on 4th Avenue.
It is in the heart of what I like to call “Foodie Heaven”, as 4th Avenue is lined for blocks with amazing restaurants.
Maenam Vancouver Address: 1938 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver, BC
Maenam Parking: There is metered street parking available on 4th Avenue or you can also try the nearby side streets. We had no problem finding parking on Maple Street just a block away.
Menu
As of April 2023, Maenam decided to exclusively focus on their multi-course Chef’s menu for dinner service. The menu is constantly changing with the seasons, so there is always something new and delicious to try!
A la carte dining is available for dinner service walk-ins only in the bar and lounge area.
Additionally, a take-out menu is available for lunch and dinner.
Chef’s Menu
We visited Maenam on a December date night so we got to sample the Chef’s Winter Menu. There were six courses on the menu and we were given choices for most of them. Dishes are served family-style, meaning everyone has to agree on the choices for each course as you all share each one.
Drinks
We started off the meal with our drink orders. The chef had carefully curated special drink pairings to go with the chef’s menu, but unfortunately we don’t drink alcohol.
Instead, we went with our favourite: classic Thai Iced Tea.
Snacks
Dinner began with four snack options. Luckily we did not have to choose just one – we were given all of them!
- Khanom Buang (toasted mung bean wafer, young coconut, Nova Scotia lobster)
- Latiang (crispy egg net, pork terrine, RM Caviar, pickled chili)
- Ma Hor (caramelized chicken, pineapple, roasted peanuts, fried shallots)
- Scallop Hor Mok (steamed curry custard, grilled scallop, salmon ikura)
Everything was presented beautifully. Each snack was just a small bite but packed a LOT of flavour.
My personal favourite was the Khanom Buang.
Relish
Next up was the relish: Heritage Pork Nahm Prik Ong. Made with Giesbrecht farms heritage pork relish with roasted garlic and chillies, served with assorted crudite. I enjoyed it on top of the crispy pork rinds.
Soup
Now it was time for soup, and we had to choose between three different options:
- Roasted Chicken and BC Chanterelle Mushroom Soup (roasted free-run chicken, garlic chilli oil, light coconut broth, thai basil)
- Hot and Sour Clam Soup (clear hot and sour broth, local clams, shimeji mushroom, holy basil)
- Tom Kha Winter Squash Soup (roasted delicata squash, spaghetti squash, coconut milk broth, bird’s eye chili)
Ryan and I agreed on the Tom Kha Winter Squash Soup and were completely happy with our choice. It was absolutely delicious with just the perfect amount of spice. Actually, it may have been my favourite dish of the whole meal!
Salad
After soup, we had another choice to make: one of three salads:
- Grilled Wagyu Beef Salad (grilled Brant LAke wagyu, fried taro, taosted chili nahm jim dressing)
- BC Albacore Tuna Laab Salad (garlic oil confit tuna, fried shallots, toasted rice powder, prickly ash)
- Crispy Banana Blossom Salad (roasted yam, longan, fried garlic and shallots, tamarind dressing)
I love a good Thai beef salad so I requested the Grilled Wagyu Beef Salad. It was a solid choice, but by now, I was getting a bit full. Uh-oh, we still had our mains coming!
Curry
There were three options to choose from:
- Geng Gari of Duck (pan seared Brome Lake duck breast, sieglinde potato, fried shallot)
- Geng Gati of Sturgeon (betel leaf, turmeric curry, grachai)
- Panang Curry of Maitake Mushroom (crispy maitake mushroom, roasted shallots, roasted sunchoke, thai basil)
We love duck but don’t often get to eat it so the Geng Gari of Duck was the clear choice for us.
Stir-Fry
Our three choices to choose from were:
- Moo Krob Pad Gapi (crispy roasted pork belly, long bean, bird’s eye chili, shrimp paste)
- Pu Nim Pad Pong Gari (fried soft shell crab, aromatic spiced curry and egg sauce)
- Golden Tofu Nuggets & Chanterelle Mushroom (local chanterelle mushrooms, sweet pepper, fried baby thai garlic, Thai-Chinese style gravy)
Craving something spicy, we went with the Moo Krob Pad Gapi as the bird’s eye chili caught our eye, and of course pork belly sounded delicious, too. We were not disappointed.
Dessert
I was fully expecting to have to choose between three desserts, but to my utter delight, we were told we’d be getting all three! Dessert is usually my favourite course of any meal, so I couldn’t wait to try these Thai treats.
- Khanom Tuay (pumpkin and salted coconut rice flour custard cup)
- Khanom Mor Gaeng (hazelnut custard cake, toasted hazelnut praline)
- Bua Loy (pandan and sweet potato pearls, young coconut, sweetened coconut milk)
By now, my stomach was painfully stuffed and for once my “dessert stomach” failed me. I always save room for dessert, but it was a struggle to find the room, to be honest. Nevertheless, I thankfully still managed to sample all three delicious desserts.
The Bua Loy was my favourite! It had familiar southeast Asian flavours but was unlike anything I’d had before. I totally loved it.
Service
Nowadays, it’s really hard to find good service. Restaurants always seem to be short-staffed and servers are stressed. However, here at Maenam, this was not the case at all.
We were so impressed with the service! Our waiter was so professional, calm, knowledgeable and attentive. He made us feel so welcome and at ease. Everyone we interacted with at the restaurant was excellent.
The five-star service we experienced here was something we have not experienced elsewhere in a while.
Dress Code
There is no dress code for Maenam. However, everyone we saw dining during our visit was dressed smart casual.
Prices
We found the prices to be quite reasonable for the high quality and excellent service.
Chef’s Dinner Menu: $88 per person
Lunch: $24-$28
Dinner Mains: $28-$44
American Express Platinum Dining Credit
If you hold an American Express Platinum card, you have a $200 dining credit available to use each year. This dining credit can only be used at restaurants on American Express’ curated list of Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants. Since Maenam is on this list, you can use your $200 dining credit here!
We absolutely love our Platinum Amex card and getting to try new restaurants using the dining credits. If you do not yet have this card in your wallet, we highly recommend it! Check out our referral link to learn more and apply!
Maenam Vancouver Reservations
As Maenam is a fairly small restaurant with limited seating, it’s best to make a dinner reservation in advance.
Reservations can be made online through Resy. A credit card is required at the time of booking to confirm your reservation, although you will not be charged.
Cancellations are free of charge up until 12:00pm two days prior to your reservation. After that, cancellations are subject to a $40/person charge.
Hours
Lunch: Wednesday to Saturday 12:00pm to 2:00pm
Dinner: Monday to Thursday, Sunday 5:00pm to 10:00pm, Friday and Saturday 5:00pm to 10:30pm
Final Thoughts on Maenam Vancouver
For an elevated Thai dining experience, Maenam is an excellent choice in Vancouver. The dishes are authentic, flavourful, fresh, and presented beautifully, while service is warm and welcoming. If you’re looking for the perfect date night spot, Maenam’s Chef’s Menu makes a great choice!
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