Best Thing I Ate: Isaan Sausage at Sainam

What the latest season of Mike White’s White Lotus set in Thailand has done for the general masses’ re-invigorated love of Thai food and Thai culture, Vancouver chef Angus An has been doing for more than a decade.

Anyone who’s taken any kind of interest in Asian food in Vancouver knows well our 2025 Chef of the Year’s main Thai spot—Maenam—as well as his street-food inspired cantina in New Westminster, Longtail Kitchen. Okay, and his wildly popular Chinatown noodle joint Fat Mao and Granville Island’s Sen Pad Thai.

Latest to come from the An is Sainam, an Isaan region-inspired eatery with an emphasis on group dinners and shared plates—and that’s certainly where the spot shines.

While they wait for their liquor license, the new West End spot serves up non-alcoholic drinks (think refreshing lychee rhubarb lemonade: lychee, lime juice, rhubarb syrup and a fresh lychee garnish)  and “bar snacks,” which is a perfect place to start if you’re insistent on getting a good yap in before you dive into the som tum bar (which has seven—yes, seven—different varieties of papaya salad).

Though I’m not normally a devotee of pork products (bacon? No thanks. A Pork chop? Even worse. Prosciutto? Okay, sometimes.), I understand sometimes you must forgo your dietary preferences in pursuit of cultural education—and now you can call me a believer in Isaan sausage.

The house-made pork sausage was melt-in-your-mouth, all the while airy, moist and with a hint of tang. Served up with slices of ginger and softened cabbage, the aptly named bar snack can be swept up quite quickly with a table for four-to-five and, honestly, I could have just had it to myself.

The rub is, one must know that something so seemingly simple (and audaciously easy to consume) actually takes quite a lot of work to prepare, and the Isaan sausage in particular takes the better half of a week. Fermented for four days, the sausage—cut into thirds—is characterized by its acidic and peppery profile.

“Dishes from Isaan have very specific flavour profiles – it’s humble, rustic, and honest,” An writes. And of Isaan sausage, this definitely rings true, as it’s unlike any pork sausage I’ve ever had before. 

In fact, I think I might go back for another. Paired with a sweet and refreshing lychee lemonade, obviously. 

1235 Davie Street, sainam.ca