Today we were at the highly anticipated media night of Jay Nok, a new modern Thai restaurant moved in to the Olympic Village area, taking the place of Flying Pig.
The restuarant did well to announce its cuisine through its decor. Gilded art, bountiful floral arrangements, and shelves of bulk cans and bottles serving as a practical display.
As guests entered we were welcomed to help ourselves to coupes of sparkling wine, pre-poured at the bar.
The bar staffed put on a show, mixing cocktails we were able to take photos of, but not try. Select drinks would be brought out later during our seated dinner.
We did get to enjoy their house made Thai iced tea at the bar. Pre-batched into glasses, the milk gets poured to order and you stir to enjoy. A lighter tea with the noticeable difference of cane sugar to sweeten. They also have a boozy version of this on their cocktail menu, which we did not get to try.
Their cocktail list was created to match the food menu with complimentary big and bold flavours of sweet, salty, and savoury. Drinks that are as fun to look at and playful as their approach to food.
The name “Thai-Tanic” was lost on me, I didn’t get the connection with the historic iceberg-ed ship. Whereas this was a spicy tropical margarita with tequila, mango, lemongrass syrup, and spicy chili. If you want some extra heat you can chomp down on the chilli garnish.
The Dragon Spritz was a light fizzy mix of aperol, prosecco, dragonfruit, and soda. Slightly sweet and very refreshing, it was complimentary to the food tie come.
The evening started with reception style snacks being passed around by the chef herself. The Cho Ladda were rosy pink steamed flower dumplings stuffed with minced chicken, palm sugar, and dried garlic. Beautiful to look at and as sweet to eat. I liked the texture, but would prefer the filling savoury or at least a chilli dip to balance out all the dessert-like quailities of meat in this.
The Ghiaw Grob crispy shrimp wontons were baby shrimp and cilantro wrapped in wonton sheets,and served with house sweet chilii for dipping into. I found these a wonderful deep fried snack for its whole mouth crunch.
The Krathong Tong are Golden Baskets of crispy waffle shells stuffed with minced chicken, corn, and onions. Canape size, this was a little tart you pop in to your mouth whole. I would use the sauce above to inject a little more needed pop of flavour into things.
The room’s favourite was the Peek Gai Tod Nong Khai Chicken Wing with red onion, cilantro, and fried garlic. They were incredibly tasty and crispy, everything you would want from a meaty wing here. I would return just for this.
The rest of our meal was served seated and shared family style as the menu served. For appetizers our table’s favourite was the vegetarian Mee Grob Salad with deep-fried vermicelli noodles, brussel sprout, and cashew; all in a balsamic dressing. Another fragrant, fresh, and crispy plate that had us going back for the crumbs.
The Grilled Pork Jowl meat was incredibly tender with just the right amount of fat. Seasoned with Thai herbs and spices, accompanied by nam jim jaew. Fairly flavourful as is, a dunk in the sauces was overkill.
We figured the Pomelo Salad would be a breath of fresh air, but we found it drowning in sour and tangy notes. Pomelo, toasted shredded coconut, cashew, and chili oil dressing. There was nothing to help temper this. I would have liked a shrimp or rice cracker scoop, to serve as a base for something so punchy. We ended up just having the larger grapefruit pieces as is.
The Three-Flavours Fish had the most impressive presentation. A fried seasonal fish, bell pepper, and fried basil dressed in their signature “Mama Joy sauce”. Served whole, but cut into easy serving strips. Tender, flakey, white fish with a sweet and sour sauce. I would have liked this with rice.
The Oxtail Green Curry was another favourite and it did come with rice for all that curry sauce. Slow braised oxtail, coconut milk, baby carrot. baby corn, bamboo shoot, Thai basil, and eggplant. This was such an incredibly rich curry, there was no hiding the distinct flavour of oxtail amongst the crunch of the bamboo and baby corn.
The Bone Marrow Northern Curry Noodle was a flashy plate with the show of scraping marrow from bone and mixing it into the noodles. However it wasn’t necessary as the noodles were well dressed as is, and the added gristle provided no added flavour, just an oil slick in the mouth. Spare rib, coconut yellow curry, egg noodle, cilantro, lime, shallot, and mustard green.
The Pad Thai from the Palace was also given some pagentry. Topped with two jumbo prawns that crowned the egg wrap covered rice noodle. On the side was the tofu, bean sprout, peanut, and tamarind. It was classically done, but deconstructed so you had to stir up to mix together. The crispy prawns were the highlight and standout here.
For dessert there was freshly fried, battered, sweet ripe banana and coconut ice oream. The two textures in contrast made for an enjoyable bite.
The Mango Sticky Rice was my favourite of the two. Fragrant coconut cream in the rice and sweet mango as the star.
Be sure to stop by the washrooms for a few choice photo moments.
Overall, there was not a bad bite in sight. We enjoyed our time and the food. I can see this being a great addition to the neighbourhood, quickly becoming a great spot for the only Thai cuisine in the area.
Jay Nok Modern Thai
127 W 2nd Ave, Vancouver, BC V5Y 1B8
(604) 683-7999
jaynokthai.com
