Sen Pad Thai at Granville Island

So after visiting Maenam last month, I was in the mood for Thai again and went to Sen Pad Thai in in Granville Island with Sherman. Don't worry, there is more than just Pad Thai here. 

So I'm sorry for the fact that you can't read the menu, but if you zoom in, you can see all the goodness they offer. Or just keep reading and you can see what we decided to order. To get your food, you order at the counter and get a buzzer that alerts you when the food is ready. This gives you a few minutes to wander the shops at Net Loft. 

And on the counter, they have sauces for you to enhance everything they serve. The Dried Chilli is great to pump up the spice. The Chilli with Lime Juice and Fish Sauce is a perfect combination of spice, citrus and savory. And if you get the Pad Siew, they have a Chilli Vinegar for that!  

Since it's a pad thai joint, we got one, specifically the Pad Thai Goong ($15), a pad thai with shrimp. Despite the rather bland colour, it had huge flavour! My biggest worry was that a "food court" place couldn't have huge wok flavour (鑊氣) but I was so wrong. The noodles weren't drenched in a gooey sweet and sour sauce (whew!) and the addition of the green onions and bean sprouts gave the dish a fresh kick. Add dried chilli flakes for some extra heat. 

Our other noodle dish was the Pad Siew with Pork ($12). The rice noodles were perfectly cooked with a slight chew but tender and moist at the same time. Normally, restaurants tend to load you up with carbs (which are cheaper) and skimp on the meats. This was the exact opposite. We both loved the noodles and ended up with a boxful of leftover pork. However, this dish had the same heat as the pad thai, smoky and fragrant. It was my favourite out of our three carb dishes. 

Our last carb dish was the Khao Pad ($10). Oh my, out of the three dishes, I was most surprised by this one. I've had fried rice before, but this was lighter than any I've had before. The sausage is tangy and the hot chewy rice had a strong flavour of fish sauce, strong but not overpowering. Each grain was coated with flavour, light and fluffy.

This fresh Papaya Salad ($8) is a great way to start your meal. But, what we did was to eat the hot stuff first. So when we got to this, we felt it was a bit bland but likely due to the amount of spice we had added to the previous dishes. Don't get me wrong, the elements are all there, crunchy papaya and carrot. However, it seemed a bit simplistic compared to the previous dishes. 

And because we had the wings at Longtail Kitchen, we had to reorder and do a comparison. Alas, these were the most disappointing of all the items. The wings were crispy as expected but the pale colour is indicative of their flavour. However, it did come with a sauce which gave these wings a new life. I guess they didn't want to sauce the wings to avoid getting the wings soggy but it could have used a sprinkling and additional sauce served on the side.  

So here are all the dishes we had and the total was $53 + taxes. It's a bit pricey considering it was a "serve yourself" place, but the food was good, I'd definitely have the Pad Siew and Khao Pad again. Truth be told, if this was a standalone restaurant and the food was plated properly, I'd say it was worth it. 

Two items that I will likely go back and give a try are their Oyster Pancake and Roti & Curry. Heck, I could make a lunch just out of that!