Do a search below using the city or postal code search box if your city is not listed above.
Get dining news including restaurant closures and qualify for giveaways.
Maenam brings a world-class Thai dining experience to Vancouver . Chef Angus An (formerly of Gastropod) creates the perfect balance of flavours using recipes and techniques authentic to Royal Thai traditions and inspired by Chef David Thompson of the world-renowned Nahm in London. Maenam also features expertly crafted wine, cocktail and dessert selections, created specifically to pair with Thai cuisine – all served in a modern, casual and comfortable setting.
The food I don't have particular gripes with. In fact, the crispy fried oysters were quite well done. also acceptable were the duck and beef curries. portions tend to be on the small side and thus value suffers. what was clearly unacceptable were the following: server asking you "are you ready for your check" in a militant fashion without mentioning dessert as well as a second person who couldn't remember what to pack for take-out and haphazardly directs the server to include other people's food as well. from other tables presumably.
nightmare for $80 and two people. go elsewhere.
I went to Maenam on a busy Friday night with a few friends and had a fantastic time!! The service was choppy and slow, but warm & friendly. The restaurant gives off a casual vibe; a good cozy ambiance. I'd recommend making reservations, cuz this place was super packed the night that we went. The food was really delicious and unique - it's definitely not your typical Thai Restaurant. Very flavorful dishes, but presentation was poor. While I thought the metal round bowls the curries came in were cool, it could have looked way better. I thought each entree was reasonably priced and we went home full. Of course for 4 people we ordered much more than we would if it was just myself & my husband. The only thing that was a bit overpriced was the Jasmine Rice. Otherwise it was a good value for what we got. The Thai Sausage was salty on its own, but topping it with the housemade sweet chili sauce made it fantastic. The green papaya salad was kind of boring, didn't really taste spicy nor spectacular. The green curry halibut was insanely spicy but good. Definitely a nice kicker. My favorites were the Aromatic duck curry - the flavours of the meat were accentuated by the cucumber relish, the yummy pork cheeks w/ longan and the Panaeng Beef - very meaty and tasty. For dessert, we tried both the Dark Chocolate pot de creme and housemade rice donuts. Mmm, soo good! Overall, a very enjoyable first visit to Maenam! =)
Stopped in for lunch on a Saturday, we were seated immediately, and given menus.
Between four of us we ordered, the roti, chicken satay, deep fried oysters, oxtail soup, pad thai, penang curried beef and the green papaya salad.
All was quite good, but the penang curry was the stand out.
Our server was excellent (pleasant, friendly and attentive).
The room is bright and understated, with bamboo accents.
I loved the Gastropod restaurant that was the predecessor of Maenam (and run by the same chef Angus An). Eager to try Maenam for awhile now, we went there last nite.
What a disappointment!
We ordered 1) hot & sour chicken soup w/ chanterelle 2) fraser valley duck red curry and 3) mussaman beef curry and 4) rice. Before even finishing our order, my server rudely interrupted me and said "we highly recommend you to order rice with the curry". I'm asian, why would a white girl want to remind me that simple fact that we should order rice with curry??
It took 1/2 hour for the soup to come. My guy was famished by then, it was already 8:30pm and we have no food on our table. The soup turned out to be very, very sour - and I normally like sourness. It also lacks the coconut milk-based texture of a common tom ka gai soup, this is a broth. The sourness took away all other taste in the soup and started to tapdance and kill my empty stomach.
Another 45 mins passed by before our entrees came. I tried to get my server's attention, but none of them pay attention to the diners, they just like to talk to one another.
The curries came. The fraser valley duck curry was flavorful but there were few pieces of duck in there. The mussaman beef curry has a very, very sweet taste - again, overpowering all other flavors of the dish. What's pathetic though is the beef pieces were not marinaded at all, it's completely bland...so you bite into a piece of bland beef chuck that is smothered in overly sweet curry. It was quite disgusting.
2 hours and $65 bill later, I honestly wished I'd gone next door to Refuel instead!
Will never go back!
Food: We were a large group of 10 and it was difficult to decide. The server suggested the Chef's menu and it turned out to be a great idea and made sure to ask if there were any preferences or allergies. We had heard good things but no idea what to expect and each dish was a pleasant surprise. It was a great way to sample a wide variety of dishes. Flavours and textures were complex and ingredients were fresh and of good quality. Something basic as pad thai so good with delicate tamarind flavour - finally, thankfully - someone has got it right! Not the usual and terrible sweet sour ketchupy tomatoey mass of rice noodle. There were too many dishes to name but all delicious and creative...creamy chicken soup, green papaya salad, steamed mussels, caramelized pork belly, curried pork shoulder, scallops, eggplant, lingcod.
Service: The restaurant is not big and we were a relatively large group. Even though we were the ones who were unorganized and called for a very last minute reservation they not only graciously accommodated us within the hour and they were apologetic about squeezing us into a tight corner! They also assured us that as soon as another large group vacates, they would move us into a more comfortable tables and true to their word, they came by to relocate us later on but we were having such a good time in our corner that there was no need to move. Service throughout the meal was attentive - water and wine refilled regularly. Food took a little while to arrive at first, which is understandable with size of our group, but the dishes arrived steadily once the kitchen got going. Servers gave us a brief description of each dish as they arrived.
Value: Excellent considering the quality and service and portions are just right for sharing. Highly recommend the Chef's menu.
Ambiance: The decor is modern and minimalist but very warm with the dark bamboo paneling and soft lighting. It is busy and has a great vibe.
This was the first of three restaurants I ate at for Dine Out Vancouver 2011. We had a reservation and were seated promptly. The restaurant isn't that big, and it was full, so it seemed a bit crowded but not intrusive. The decor is casual, but upscale without seeming pretentious.
We ordered a bottle of wine to start and then the Dine Out menu was explained to us. The way it worked was that you were able to choose one soup to start, one salad, one stir fry, and one curry to be shared between two people. Each person could pick their own dessert. It sounded like a lot of food. We were very excited.
We weren't let down. Our soup arrived quickly and it was a good sized portion. There was just the right amount of spice, saltiness, and sweetness that blended perfectly. Next were our mains, and they all were served at the same time. We had so much food on the table that we couldn't fit it all on our plates at once. Our favourites were the hanger steak salad and the 8 spice fish. The tastes and textures were amazing. The only disappointment was the Sloping Hills pork belly curry, but I think that it was just a more familiar taste for us and we weren't wowed. Dessert was excellent though and we finished it off even though we were stuffed.
Service was great throughout our meal with each course explained to us. We were glad to have such a great start to Dine Out.
Great food, depends what you order of course. We had the tenderloin, and the fried basil fish with 4 spices (this one would have been just enough for a 2 year old toddler), hence the 3 main dishes pls. But the flavor was exquisite, the best Thai so far outside of Bangkok. Snobbish, yes; but hey Vancouver + 4th Ave = aforementioned.
So yeah, check it out, but you may need fries with that (plus ketchup with the Pad Thai?) .
I visited Maenam for the first time during DIne Out Vancouver. The restaurant was full and very busy, but our table was ready when we arrived. Our server was adept at guiding us through the menu selections. The food was fantastic! Authentic thai flavours and dishes I have not seen elsewhere in Vancouver. The ambiance was elegant and relaxed, and the cocktails and wine brought us to new heights of enjoyment.
Myself and two girlfriends ate at Maenam last night for 'Dine Out Vancouver 2011.' We had a reservation for 8:15. The restaurant was busy so our reservation was delayed, we were seated at about 8:25, not a big deal. We were given the dine out menu and drink menu right away. We decided on what drinks we wanted but when our waiter finally came to take our drink order he dived right into taking our dinner order first. The menu stated $28/per person and had 4 courses to choose from. One starter, salad, curry, and stirfry, and to finish off a dessert. Each of the courses had a meat, seafood, or vegetarian option (as do most dine out menus). I informed the waiter that I'm a vegetarian but I still eat seafood and then started to place my order starting with the mussels as the starter. He interrupted me and told me if I was going to choose the vegetarian option, then each course would have to remain as the vegetarian option. He could tell I looked puzzled and said he could double check with the kitchen if they could make an exception. He came back to say that unfortunately, they could not do it. I was left with one option, to choose all of the seafood courses. At this point I wasn't too impressed with the service or the kitchen staff.
As for the food, the mussels were a delight! They were cooked to perfection in a broth that included lime leaves, lemon grass, and chillies. Next came the salmon salad which was probably one of the worst salads I've ever had. Something about the consistency and texture was off, and the flavours did not go well together. They had mint and cilantro leaves mixed with dry salmon. I then had the 8 spice fish and the ling cod which were both delicious. The desserts were okay.
All together, I felt that the service and kitchen lacked to accomodate their customer's diatery needs. The ambience was really warm and modern and the food was very up and down. Perhaps if I had tried some of the vegetarian options on the menu, I would have some more positive feedback on the food? On a positive note, I did order a pad thai to go for my boyfriend and it was delicious. Perhaps their regular menu is better than the dine out menu, but Maenam didn't leave a lasting impression when it came to service and as a result I probably won't return.
I've been to Thailand a few times and going to Maenam always brings me back. The flavors are authentic. My favorites are the pad thai, hanger steak salad, and halibut cheeks. The decor is warm and inviting. I especially like the bamboo by the windows. I think theres good value there. Everytime I go with friends, we end up averaging 30 dollars a person, with left overs to bring home. The service is always friendly, I don't feel like they are rushing me out like most other busy restaurants.
I’ve been to a lot of Thai places around town, and even when the food wasn’t the best, it was still enjoyable. Maenam is a really beautiful, slick room, no doubt about that. It’s not very large, it has about 16 small tables. There were a lot of servers for such a small room, and the service was still just okay. Maybe their timing was just off…some of them could be friendly and accommodating, but for such a small restaurant, we had trouble flagging anyone down when we needed something.
The food was okay. I was really looking forward to the hot and sour soup, because I love the subtle layers of flavors in this soup, and I have it at every Thai restaurant I go to. It’s kind of my standard bearer. I thought it was too spicy, that it overpowered the taste of the soup to the point where I couldn’t figure out what the actual flavors were at all, besides spicy. And then we had some of the main dishes, which I expected to be very spicy, but were actually incredibly mild to the point that it didn’t seem hot at all. I wasn’t wow-ed by anything…maybe because I expected coconut milk in the duck curry, and it was a different kind of curry, so I found it disappointing. The pad thai was way too sweet, and the chicken satays were pieces of grilled chicken with peanut sauce. The peanut sauce was good, but I’ve had more exceptional peanut sauce with a lot more complexity and depth at about half the price, so I definitely had bigger expectations.
It’s a good restaurant, but for all the raves it’s been getting around town, I expected to just love everything and be amazed. I think I would go back for drinks and some small snacks, rather than a full (and fairly price-y) meal.
We have been to Maenam twice now, and had similar experiences each time. This place looks great with a very modern, warm decor, and the service is fantastic, and the cocktails are delicious. The same owners who owned Gastropod own Maenam, and many of their influences can be seen in the menu, which offers many inventive uses of traditional Thai ingredients, and "twists" on the classic thai dishes, often using locally-sourced ingredients. This can be excellent, as I had tonight in the duck salad, which was piquant and savory and provided that excellent balance of flavors that one expects to see in high-end Thai. This can unfortunately also be very poor, as I have had several times with the chef's insistence on trying to cram tamarind in places it does not belong (ice cream, a tequila drink). Overall, the dishes write a check that the taste doesn't always cash. I would go back, but stick to the soups and salads and cocktails (which are more consistent), and be careful about ordering the mains.
Food: Delicious, if inauthentic. Poor balance overall of /thai/ flavours but nevertheless the execution of the meats was great - fish was moist, flakey, perfectly cooked, etc.
Service: A bit snobbish. I'm used to getting a sort of sigh when I order water instead of alcohol (because they figure one won't tip), but here the service ultimately seemed a bit disorganized and a bit aloof - or perhaps distracted? It wasn't bad.
Value: Way overpriced. Inauthentic curry in a bargain-basement sauce, a serving that would be hard pressed to fill an egg cup - for almost $20? The piece of fish, for the same, was the size of a Mcchicken patty - I have no issue with paying for quality but there are limits here. While the fish was perfectly cooked, it was not the best I'd ever had, and I'd had better for much less. Nothing on the menu is at a reasonable price-point - even the roti canai (?!) is almost five dollars - almost 100% pricier than at any Malaysian restaurant.
Ambiance: Trendy. Nice if you're a yuppy I suppose, and tastefully lit, but rather predictable in the main.
Very excited to see Chef Angus on the front of the georgia straight. No doubt, he deserves to be there, but I have some issues. Does media can create a hype ,can media make a chef popular.
Started with steamed mussels which was really flavourful but too hot to can handle (As an east Indian we always like hot food). At that point I wanted to have another beer but the waiter who is really a nice guy went missing. I know most of service mistake happens when it is a slow night, meanam is no exceptional.
For bigger we had shrimp with salad which was full of tough mint leaves and made me think of Mexican flavours. May be chef thought as Mexican food getting more popular in Vancouver we should have this on the menu.
Lastly, the most disappointing sable fish jungle curry. Now here is the point , there are things which make Vancouver proud one of is buttery sable fish .How can you deep fry this fish? All the juices were gone and I was getting an infused flavours of frying oil. So I went on a quest ….ways of cooking sable fish. End result what I got ,you basically waste sable fish when you deep fry it (I hope chef is right and I am wrong) .
Service and ambience very good ,very classy but can these two strong points and support of media can make a place busy? ……we will wait and see.
After my experience with a few other Thai restaurants around Vancouver, I was a little hesitant to visit Maenam, despite raving reviews. To me, the Thai I've tried was almost identical to middle of the road Chinese food. I do not mean this as an offense to Chinese food, but as China and Thailand are two different countries, I would assume at least a few differences in cuisine.
Maenam changed my perception entirely.
Ordered the 8 Spice Fish (cod), prawn and chilli jam salad, and roti.
The cod was wonderfully sweet and spicy. The burn stayed on the mouth, yet the sweet kept you eating it. The roti was great with the remaining sweet sauce.
At the majority of restaurants I've been to, the only saving grace of salads were the copious amount of other various items they decided to mix with the vegs. And they'd be nothing short of average, and something I could recreate at home. Not in the case of this salad. Flavourful and consisting of kaffir lime leaves (something that I have not previously experienced), this was something special. But there was one downside. We started off with the salad, and it tasted perfect. We then had a few bites of the cod with the sweet/spicy sauce. When we went back to the salad, it felt far too salty. But I don't put the food at fault for that. Just a warning if you are to order the two dishes. : )
The roti was a tad disappointing. I am used to a fluffier on the inside, crispier on the outside roti. This roti was flat, chewy, devoid of layers, and quite boring. It's only saving grace was that it was a blank slate to layer the more amazing flavours of the other dishes onto.
Service was impersonal and a bit slow. But it was a full night, so I don't put it against them.
Value is poor if you're looking for quantity. But if you're looking for quality and true flavour, value is great. (With the exception of the $3 rice.. But for a lot of the mains here, rice is mandatory to truly enjoy the main)
I'm not a fan of the bar..ish atmosphere, but to each their own.
Recommended. And will be going back to try the other dishes.
My husband & I recently tried this Thai restaurant which was getting glowing reviews in the local press. Needless to say, we were overwhelmingly disappointed. For a previous "gourmet" restaurant which was supposedly downscaling due to the economy, I found It to be very pretentious. The food was mediocre at best & grossly overpriced for the portion size. The critics have been falling over themselves complimenting Maenem, but our experience, aside from the great service, was completely dismal. Needless to say, I had to go home & have a large snack to compensate for my grumbling stomach...We would have dined at the Noodle Box down the road for half the price, where the food is delicious & reasonably priced for the quantity & quality.
My fiance and I took a friend out for her bday dinner. She was craving thai food and after reading the reviews on Maenam we decided to try it out.
Roti.. not as greasy as some mentioned but were somewhat tasteless.
Tom yum gung... very good. Generous portion of prawns and was very delicious. The balance of spicey and sour was perfect.
Pad Thai was overrated. The noodles were a bit too gluey but the dish itself was well balanced. It was missing some chopped peanuts for texture contrast.
Hanger Steak Salad.. This is definately something new and interesting. The crunchy toasted rice made the dish. I think it had too many herbs and wasn't really a salad. Red onions, cilantro, mint, steak... where were the other veggies? Cucumbers would been nice addition.
Green Curry Halibut.. not for those who cant take the heat. I was sweating bullets and if it wasn't for the beer i wouldn't of made it.
The highlight of the night was walking down the block to SCOOP! Had a frozen yogurt to sooth the heat.
This is a very hip little spot - emphasis on little, as the dining room is tiny. It gets quite loud and hot as the place fills up. You have to watch it if you sit in the middle of the restaurant; the staff walks up and down the aisles, and you can get clipped if you move around too much. Or, hit in the head by a guy putting on his jacket at the bar, which is inches away. The food was solid, and staff knowledgeable about their dishes. The crispy fermented pork appetizer was tasty, but it was like eating jerky. A total conversation killer, it took a few minutes to chew each bite. The mussels were flavourful. We tried the pad Thai - yum, didn't find it too sweet as mentioned before. The crispy coriander beef (which if you don't like super rare meat, don't order it) had some spice in the coriander crust. Unexpected, but in a good way. We had the fried banana and sesame dessert, which was tiny, but we were stuffed after two appetizers, two mains and a small rice to share. The best part for me was the cocktail - a Pink Orchid. The combination of flavours was excellent, and it was refreshing, especially as the room got hotter. Maenam is worth a try. You must make a reservation to avoid disappointment, there were only a few spots for one at the bar that walk-ins could take. Enjoy!
After my experience with a few other Thai restaurants around Vancouver, I was a little hesitant to visit Maenam, despite raving reviews. To me, the Thai I've tried was almost identical to middle of the road Chinese food. I do not mean this as an offense to Chinese food, but as China and Thailand are two different countries, I would assume at least a few differences in cuisine.
Maenam changed my perception entirely.
Ordered the 8 Spice Fish (cod), prawn and chilli jam salad, and roti.
The cod was wonderfully sweet and spicy. The burn stayed on the mouth, yet the sweet kept you eating it. The roti was great with the remaining sweet sauce.
At the majority of restaurants I've been to, the only saving grace of salads were the copious amount of other various items they decided to mix with the vegs. And they'd be nothing short of average, and something I could recreate at home. Not in the case of this salad. Flavourful and consisting of kaffir lime leaves (something that I have not previously experienced), this was something special. There was only downside. We started off with the salad, and it tasted perfect. We then had a few bites of the cod with the sweet/spicy sauce. When we went back to the salad, it felt far too salty. But I don't put the food at fault for that. Just a warning if you are to order the two dishes. : )
The roti was a tad disappointing. I am used to a fluffier on the inside, crispier on the outside roti. This roti was flat, chewy, devoid of layers, and quite boring. It's only saving grace was that it was a blank slate to layer the more amazing flavours of the other dishes onto.
Service was impersonal and a bit slow. But it was a full night, so I don't put it against them.
Value is poor if you're looking for quantity. But if you're looking for quality and true flavour, value is great. (With the exception of the $3 rice.. But for a lot of the mains here, rice is mandatory to truly enjoy the main)
I'm not a fan of the bar..ish atmosphere, but to each their own.
Recommended. And will be going back to try the other dishes.
Not likely to return here. Perhaps it was due to the late hour we visited, I don't know. What I do know is that the service was atrocious, the food was very mediocre, and the ambiance was nice. When you stand at the doorway in full view and are completely ignored in a half empty restaurant, servers chatting it up at the bar, there is something wrong. When servers make mistakes and forget you, and then don't apologize, there is something wrong. When food that is supposed to be hot off the grill bears grill marks but is still steaming from the microwave, and cold in the centre there is something wrong. Again, not likely to return.
| 1. | Blue Star Japanese Bistro (10 m) | |
| 2. | Dae Bak Bon Ga (11 m) |  |
| 3. | Fable (13 m) |  |
| 4. | Indian Fusion (24 m) | |
| 5. | Sejuiced (28 m) | |
| 6. | Bistrot Bistro (32 m) |  |
| 7. | Win's Chinese Restaurant (41 m) |  |
| 8. | Jitters Caffe (46 m) | |
| 9. | Las Margaritas (93 m) | |
| 10. | Romer's Burger Bar (104 m) | |
