taste

Best Thing I Ate This Week: Isaan Lettuce Wrap at Rongsi Thai Bar and Bistro

On Main Street, find a fermented pork dish that packs a punch—and is perfect for sharing.

By Kristi Alexandra /

The first time I’d tried Isaan region-specific Thai food was when I visited Chef Angus An’s newest restaurant, Sainam, last year. The region’s cuisine, I learned during my meal, seemed to be defined by sharp, unapologetic spice (tastebuds, get with the program or be damned) and fermented flavours. So when the Isaan lettuce wrap ($20) caught my eye at the recently-opened Rongsi Thai on Main Street (taking over the spot of the suddenly shuttered El Gato Gab Gab-turned-Mojo Izakaya Cantina), I had to know how the flavours measured up.

To my (and my fellow editors’) delight, a heaping mound of grilled fermented pork tossed with crispy red curry rice, crunchy rice puffs and roasted peanuts was plated with a pile of cilantro, fresh, thinly-sliced shallots and served with a side of butter lettuce.

While lettuce wraps may not typically be associated with a finger food that goes along with sports, I can confidently say my fellow editors and I went all-hands-in on the delicious dish as we watched the Canada vs. Qatar game on the restaurant’s TV screen. After tucking spoonfuls of the pork and rice pile into single leaves of lettuce, each bite was layered with fresh, herbaciousness, then a surprising hint of fermentation and juicy pork, then delightful crunches of rice puffs and shallots. Move over, chicken wings!

Co-owner and chef Bo Pattanapairoj explained to the table that rongsi roughly translates into rice mill or rice house in the Thai language, so it’s only fitting that one of the spot’s standout dishes is largely rice-based. The team also makes a point to have their high-protein rice (known as riceberry) show up in most dishes as well as in some of the drinks.

The restaurant itself, decorated with motifs of lilypads and fresh rattan, was opened in January by the same owners of Burnaby’s Siam Le Bien Thai. Their foray into Vancouver includes the addition of a well-kept bar and creative bar program, which includes drinks that boast Southeast Asian flavours such as the Thai Milk Tea Flip ($16), made with Thai milk tea, black rum and shaken with foamy egg whites. 2650 Main St., rongsithaimill.com

Kristi Alexandra

Kristi Alexandra

Kristi Alexandra is the managing editor, food and culture, at Canada Wide Media. She loves food, travel, film and wine (but most of all, writing about them for Vancouver Magazine, Western Living and BCBusiness). Send any food and culture-related pitches to her at [email protected].