Thai New West: Drunken Noodles

Located in the heart of the Sapperton district of New Westminster, Thai New West is an appropriately named Thai restaurant that we’ve visited in the past. I’m not sure what it is, but I seem to have been doing a lot of repeat Thai visits to the New West area over the last little while.

On my first revisit to this restaurant, I decided to stick with something from their lunch special menu and ordered the Gaeng Garden ($13) which is a red coconut curry with mixed vegetables and served with a side of rice, salad, and spring roll. I paired it with a Thai Iced Tea ($4.50) which was refreshing and creamy.

The spring roll was crunchy and the salad had a citrusy dressing on it. There were quite a bit of veggies in this dish including bamboo, crinkle-cut carrots, peppers, cabbage, green beans and fragrant basil. You can customize the heat level on most of their dishes (their default spice level is 2-out-of-5). While I asked for a medium spice level (3-out-of-5), I found that it wasn’t very spicy and it could have used some more heat.

On my second revisit the following week, I attempted to order the Jungle Curry because that sounded like an interesting dish. What arrived at my table, however, was actually the Pad Kee Mao or Drunken Noodles ($15). “Jungle Curry”… “Drunken Noodles”… I guess they could sound similar. As it turned out, this spicy rice noodle dish was a happy mistake. Sautéed with chicken, eggs, bell peppers, onions, tomato, chili, mushrooms, and basil, it was very similar to the more familiar pad thai dish.

Unlike my last dish, there was a good amount of heat with the toothsome noodles here. It’s no wonder why this is one of their popular items.

Undeterred from my failed attempt at ordering the Jungle Curry on my last visit, I came back the following week and ordered the Gaeng Pa – aka Jungle Curry ($17). This is a non-coconut milk curry with green beans, eggplant, carrots, bamboo shoots, and basil. It doesn’t come with rice so I asked for a bowl of Jasmine Rice ($3).

This dish is very saucy but not like the thick, creamy curry that you would get with regular coconut milk curries. There was quite a bit of veggies in this dish but I found that I was missing the thicker sauce that I’ve become accustomed to over the years.

Not wanting my memory of this place to be based solely on the jungle curry, I made a point of revisiting for a fourth time to try their Green Curry Chicken ($16) as this is usually the standard dish that I order at all Thai restaurants. I couldn’t remember why I hadn’t ordered this on my last three visits but then realized that it’s not on their lunch specials and you have to order from their regular menu. As such, it doesn’t come with rice (which is a necessity if you order curry) so I wound up ordering a side of Jasmine Rice ($3).

The Gaeng Kiew Wan was prepared with green curry paste and coconut milk with eggplant, peas, bamboo shoots, and bell peppers. The level 3 spice was fairly spicy and the curry turned out fairly well.

Overall, there are some good options here such as the drunken noodles and service seemed friendly. It can get a bit busy here during the prime lunch hour due to the nearby hospital and local businesses.

424 East Columbia Street
New Westminster, BC

www.thainewwest.com