Insadong Korean Restaurant (website, map, photos, 403 North Road, Coquitlam, BC, Canada, phone: 604-936-3778) is one of my new favorite places to go for Korean food in the Greater Vancouver area. It’s located just on the Coquitlam side of North Road, near Lougheed Mall in Burnaby. It’s within walking distance of the Lougheed skytrain station.
Love to be there. I have been in this restaurant a few time and every time I was there it was a pleasure for a spicy Korean style. The taste of the food was so impressive with a big portion of Kim chi and beef. Shabu hot pot beef was my favorite food there and big.. even it was a small size. The taste was rich with a healthy vegetable and tasty Kim Chi ingredients. The service was fast and excellent as well. Keep maintain the quality and services like this, I will be back again.
Prices for a full meal range between $10 and $20 per person depending on which dishes you order.
The spicy soft tofu soup (with seafood, pictured below) is $8.99 and comes with a side of rice and all the usual Korean accompaniment dishes like the kim-chee (traditional spicy cabbage), the candied cooked potatoes (my favorite), sprouts, and more. The soup and side dishes are a meal in themselves.
We also ordered some fancy salads such as the Smoked Salmon Salad ($7.99) and the Seafood Salad ($9.99) which were amazing “fusion” style dishes with great Korean influences but also making use of West Coast ingredients.
Little Thailand Restaurant (map, visitor reviews, 1-2335 St Johns Street, Port Moody, BC, Canada, phone: 604-939-9962) is an authentic Thai restaurant on the ground floor of a quaint house-turned eatery overlooking St. John’s street.
My friend A.C. lives in the Port Moody area, and I asked him to give me a before-dinner tour of this quiet suburb of Vancouver. We walked down by the railroad tracks north of the restaurant into Moody Centre, an eclectic and historic shopping district. Many small independent shops and several art galleries can be found, living up to Port Moody’s reputation as a city of arts and culture.
The city is also situated in a beautiful natural environment, perfect for outdoor activities. Visitor information about the city of Port Moody can be found on the official web site, which says:
Port Moody has something for every member of the family. With over 27 kilometres of waterfront, water sports such as boating, sailing and kayaking are popular. We also have trails from easy boardwalk strolls to strenuous mountain hikes.
Little Thailand Restaurant has been getting excellent reviews on the website Dinehere.ca, including mapia who writes (click here to read review):
We started with the fresh lemonade and loved the cool and sweet/tart taste. We ordered spring rolls, a small tom kah gai, and (the main event) chicken and prawn pad thai. Hubby (a pad thai virgin) enjoyed every bite. The soup was spicy and delicious. The spring rolls were crisp and not too greasy. The portions were plentiful enough to feed us both to the brim.
We also ordered the Pad Thai (pictured below, $12.95). It was a generous portion and had a great combination of flavors: sweet (as some sugar is added), spicy (chili pepper), salty (fish sauce), and slightly tart (lime juice). The large prawn placed on top was an appealing way to present the dish.
Another dish we ordered was an Indian-influenced Thai curry with chicken and potatoes ($12.95, pictured below) which went well with a bowl of rice ($2.00). For a refreshing drink, we tried the mango juice ($2.50) – a bit watery, but good nevertheless.
If you are lucky to live in the Port Moody area, I’d definitely recommend checking out Little Thailand Restaurant. But visitors to Greater Vancouver without a vehicle may find it difficult to get out to the area from downtown (it’s about a 30-45 minute drive). It is possible to take transit (via the skytrain to Lougheed Mall station and then the 97 B-Line bus up North Road).
Hopefully our local and provincial governments will make the Evergreen Line a reality. It’s the proposed Skytrain transit line which will link Vancouver and Burnaby with Port Moody and Coquitlam. According to the Provincial Government’s web site:
Construction of the Evergreen Line is anticipated to begin in late 2010 and be completed in 4 years.
The proposed Port Moody station on the Evergreen Line is very close to Little Thailand Restaurant.
Happy travels, and keep enjoying Greater Vancouver’s restaurants!
I made another visit to Sushi Town (map, visitor reviews, 5935 East Hastings, Burnaby, BC, Canada, phone 604-294-6155) and enjoyed a big feast. Highly recommended.
