Why: Wild Tiger is a well established Thai restaurant serving lunch and dinner seven days a week. My first visit to Wild Tiger was years ago so I decided to revisit to see if it is still as good as I remember.
The menu includes popular noodle, rice and stir fry dishes as well as curries and house specials. Wild Tiger’s bar offers the 21 and over crowd draft beer, wine and cocktails.
Atmosphere: Although the space is in a strip mall it does not suffer the symmetrical standard. The dining room is curved and large windows along the perimeter give a somewhat atrium vibe to the restaurant. The black painted ceiling is exposed. Walls and upholstery display a rich color palette above a slate colored tile floor. Decorative Italian glass shaded droplights add a subdued effect during the evening. Seating in large booths or table and chairs provide ample room for larger groups. Large screen TVs provide entertainment in the bar and an attractive assortment of live plants have been tastefully used in the decor.
What I tried: From the appetizers, my dining companions and I tried the crispy egg rolls filled with silver noodles, taro, cabbage and carrot with plum sauce for dipping, as well as the golden triangle, which is a flour tortilla filled with ground chicken and shrimp and deep fried. These are served with a sweet chili sauce for dipping. We also tried the shrimp wonton soup, the stir-fried garlic with chicken, the Wild Tiger noodle dish with beef and the massaman curry, which is a mild slow-cooked curry made with a blend of spices including nutmeg, cumin and cloves in coconut milk with peanuts and bite sized chunks of onion, carrot and potato.
Dining out review: Wild Tiger Thai
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday. Noon to 10 p.m. Saturday. Noon to 9 p.m. Sunday. Happy hour is 3 to 6 p.m.
Where: 1825 S.E. 164th Ave., Suite 101, Vancouver. wildtigerwa.net
Telephone: 360-882-8887.
Health score: The restaurant changed ownership in early 2017 and has only received a pre-opening/educational visit. Wild Tiger is due for a routine inspection.
Every dish that we ordered was tasty and the ingredients were fresh. My favorite was the shrimp wonton soup. There were a few whole shrimp in the broth along with bean sprouts, but most were wrapped in wontons. Chopped green onions and cilantro topped the bowl of soup. Overall, the soup was hot, delicious comfort in a bowl.
Menu highlights beyond what I tried: Appetizers include crab puffs, satay chicken and steamed mussels. Tom Yum and Tom Kha soups are on the menu. There is a papaya salad and glass noodle salad, as well as larb. Stir-fries, noodles, curries and fried rice are all available with a choice of chicken, tofu, vegetables, beef, pork, shrimp or seafood included. Among the specials is crispy duck curry and pumpkin curry. I thought the “three flavors” salmon special sounded appetizing. This dish starts with a pan-fried sockeye salmon which is then topped with three-flavor dressing, green beans, onion and bell pepper before finishing it with crisp basil. Coconut ice cream, lava cake, a chocolate mousse cake, and the seasonal mango sticky rice are available for dessert.
Other observations: The wait staff was attentive and friendly. Our selections arrived at the table without a lengthy wait. The atmosphere is comfortable and clean. Dishes may be ordered as mild, medium, hot or very hot levels of spice. Take out is available. I found Wild Tiger just a good as I remember.
Cost: Appetizers are $4.50 to $10. Soup costs $8 to $14. Salads are $7 to $12.95. Stir-fried and noodle dishes range from $11 to $16. Curries are also $11 to $16 as are fried rice dishes. Specials cost $13 to $21. Sides are $1.50 to $5. Desserts cost $4 to $8.
