New Thai bistro gets the balance right

Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce, left, is an appetizer at Vancouver’s Planet Thai. The tamarind sauce on the Pad Thai, center, is reminiscent of how this dish is prepared in Thailand. Coconut Ice Cream is among the restaurant’s dessert offerings. (Zachary Kaufman/The Columbian)

Why: Chef Kitisak "Ody" Ratanaphupha and his wife, Mayuree "Rose," who own Thai Pod in Portland, recently opened Planet Thai, bringing their brand of authentic Thai food with an Asian fusion twist to Vancouver.

There are similarities in the menus of the two restaurants, but Planet Thai has more seafood options and offers more complex dishes such as Floating Market Noodle, a soft noodle dish made with vegetables, minced chicken and lemongrass curry, among other things. Thai Pod, on the other hand, offers a wider selection of simple, stir-fry dishes.

Atmosphere: Planet Thai has a bistro feel with an Asian flair. Comfortable booths provide seating at dark wood tables, complemented by the earth-colored flooring. A soothing water feature greets guests in the front lobby and bamboo-topped room dividers make the space more intimate for diners.

A big hit with one of my dining companions, my 8-year-old son, was Planet Thai's artwork. He loved the elephant picture and the waving mechanical cat figure, which symbolizes good luck. My son returned the cat's wave several times during our meal.

The menu: Appetizers include fresh salad wraps, pot stickers, steamed mussels, Herbs Calamari and seafood pancakes.

Among the soups is Tom Kha, a creamy coconut soup with cabbage, mushrooms and choice of meat. The six salads include a house salad with fresh lettuce, tofu, tomato, cucumber, onion, sprouts, hardboiled egg and peanut sauce.

There are eight rice and stir-fry noodle dishes to choose from, including Simple Thai Fried Rice with egg, onion, tomato, peas and carrots, and Drunken Noodle, which is a basil-based spicy wide noodle dish with onion, tomato, bell pepper, broccoli, garlic and Thai chili. The restaurant also features curry dishes and wok cooking, such as Garlicky, which is sautéed garlic, onion and mushrooms in a cilantro-black pepper sauce over a bed of broccoli.

The chef's personal favorites, listed under the "Adventure Thailand" heading, include a grilled halibut fillet served over sautéed onions, mushrooms, and bell peppers in a black pepper sauce. For those who like their food spicy, there is Spicy Wild Jungle Curry, which is made without coconut milk but with chicken, mixed vegetables and Thai herbs.

Dessert options are Mango with Sticky Rice and Coconut Ice Cream.

Beverages include beer and wine, soft drinks, Thai iced tea and iced coffee and juice.

Aside from the ice cream, "pretty much everything is made from scratch," Ody Ratanaphupha said.

What I tried: Normally I don't order appetizers, but broke with tradition this time out. I was glad I did. The two appetizers we ordered — Crispy Spring Rolls and Satay with Peanut Sauce — were the best part of the meal.

The three spring rolls, made with bean thread noodles, carrots and cabbage stuffed in rice flour, arrived at the table steaming hot. The outside was crispy and not too oily, and the flavors in the filling were well balanced. The sweet plum dipping sauce was flavorful, but did not overpower the simple ingredients in the spring rolls. The presentation was attractive. The rolls were served on a square dish with shredded cabbage and carrots on the side.

Since there was no children's menu, we ordered the satay appetizer for my son. The four skewers of chicken, marinated in Thai spices, had an authentic taste. The peanut sauce on its own tasted good to the adults, but my son instead used the plum sauce and declared that combination delicious.

To turn his appetizer into a meal, we paired it with a side order of sticky rice, which was slightly overcooked but still tasty. He had a great time balling up small portions of rice, up-country Thai style, and using that to scoop up bits of chicken and dunk it in his sauce.

For the main course, we ordered Pad Thai as well as the grilled boneless half chicken, which was one of Ody Ratanaphupha's Adventure Thailand menu items. We also ordered more sticky rice; regular and brown rice are also available.

The chicken arrived atop a bed of onions and on a sizzling hot plate. It was well-cooked and paired nicely with the sticky rice — it's the sort of meal someone might pick up at a night market in Thailand. Logistically, we found it was a bit challenging to cut the two large pieces of chicken from the serving dish and put them on our plates. Be sure to ask for a second knife if you plan to share this dish. An accompanying sweet and spicy dipping sauce added a delicious zing to the meal.

We asked for the Pad Thai at medium heat, and it arrived as we requested. Those who can't handle heat will want to make sure to ask for a mild version.

The noodles, bean sprouts and peanuts were in balance. The tamarind sauce, and accompanying slice of lime, were reminiscent of how this dish is prepared in Thailand, according to one of my dining companions who lived there. For those unfamiliar with the dish, the other ingredients in this dish are egg, pickled relish, red and green onion and chopped peanuts. Ours also had tofu and a decent amount of chicken in it.

For dessert we tried the Coconut Ice Cream and Mango with Sticky Rice. The ice cream was intriguing. At first, it seemed almost crunchy, but got creamier as it melted. The pieces of real coconut mixed throughout was a pleasant surprise. The Mango with Sticky Rice was served in a rather upscale presentation with a sweet sauce drizzled over the food and onto the plate itself. The mango was flavorful and the rice warm and soft.

Other observations: The restaurant's intimate booths and decor have an adult vibe, but we did not feel unwelcome in bringing an 8-year-old.

Cost: Appetizers start at $4 for the Crispy Spring Rolls and top out at $8 for the Seafood Pancakes. Soups cost $5 for vegetable, tofu or chicken options, $7 and $8 for those with shrimp or mixed seafood; noodle soups cost between $7 and $9. Salads fall into the $5 to $8 range. Rice dishes cost $8 for vegetable, tofu or chicken ingredients, $8.50 for pork or beef varieties and $10.50 to $11.50 for those with shrimp or seafood. Stir-fry noodle offerings range from $8.50 to $11.95 depending on vegetable, meat or seafood ingredients. Dishes in the wok and curry sections range between $8.50 and top out at $11.95 if they include seafood. Half of the dishes under the "Adventure Thailand" heading cost $9.95, including the grilled boneless half-chicken sampled for the review. The most expensive dish is the grilled halibut fillet at $14.95. Planet Thai offers lunch specials from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday for $6.95 that include steamed jasmine rice or brown rice. For dessert, the Coconut Ice Cream costs $2, while the Mango with Sticky Rice came in at $6.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 1p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday.

Where: 910 N.E. Tenney Road No. 131, Vancouver.

Contact: 360-828-5335.

Health score: Planet Thai received a score of 31 on June 10. Zero is a perfect score, and Clark County Health closes restaurants that score 100 or higher. For information call 360-397-8428.