Lauraine Jacobs eats at Ponsonby Road’s new temple of spice, Saan
In this expansive move two goals were achieved: the first was to give their talented chef, Lek Trirattanavatin the opportunity to step out from van Dorsten’s Vietnamese kitchen to flex his muscles while showcasing the food of his northern Thai homeland, while the second was to put the fabulous Krishna Botica firmly back in her familiar territory of Ponsonby Road where she had fronted Prego for so long. (She shed tears of joy on opening day.) So we all win, as the result is terrific.
The north of Thailand, is known for two merging styles of cuisine - Lanna and Isaan cooking are at the heart of the region. These are both a more gentle style of cuisine than travellers find in the south. Dishes are filled with aromatics, herbs and pretty flavours, but the region is also part of the golden triangle of opium cultivation. The Thai Government through the Royal Project has been engaged in some splendid work to get farmers off that dodgy income stream and back to more traditional vegetable and rice growing. And this reflects in the food you will find if you’re lucky enough to go to Chiang Mai and out into the country.
Saan’s menu, with many recipes taken straight from the chef’s mother’s home kitchen is a gentle one and bears faint resemblance to the Thai food we have been used to in Auckland. Gone are all those deep fried starters and in their place the Khang Tang section kick starts a meal with authentic street food snacks. There was a gorgeous little deep fried rice cracker - no resemblance to those ‘plastic puffy’ ones - topped with some incredibly aromatic pulled pork that totally melted in the mouth. It was a ‘special’ but no doubt it will be there to stay.
We loved our ab pla, fish wrapped in banana leaf and the Isaan sausages, which were strung up over the kitchen like a curtain waiting to fall. They arrived, about eight of these tiny little taste bombs, sitting on a cabbage leaf and accompanied by a tangle of pickled ginger, garlic, peanuts and chilli. “Best sausages ever,” declared my husband who is hard to entice away from fish.
There are other great treats but we moved on to two other sections of the menu. Jarm Rerm are small plates designed for sharing, while the Jarn Lak section offers more substantial dishes that again can be shared. A magnificent whole fish was slashed, marinated and deep fried so that all the edges were crisp and crunchy, and, hallelujah, the fish of the day was kahawai. I love to see the choice of such interesting fish (the starter we’d had was trevally) being chosen by the chef.
Our soft shell crab disappeared in a flash as it was light, tasty and delicious, and our dish of sticky beef neck can be thoroughly recommended. Tender pieces of slow-stewed beef sat in
a pool of spicy coconut broth with both soft and crisp rice noodles. Saan serves, to accompany the food, the very sticky rice that is a hallmark of northern Thai food.
Other brilliant things about Saan: The décor is fresh and modern and I suspect the hand of Nate Cheshire in that. It’s airy and light and two, not one, kitchens are in full sight of diners. So the service staff have to be on the ball and they were magnificent. Not a beat was missed. The wine was also brilliant and very different from most. Wines here are definitely chosen to match Saan’s food - aromatic styles and interesting varietals like gruner veltliner, albarino and some classy imports make up the bulk of the list. I chose Thai beer, however, on a hot summer night. Finally, it is not overpriced in any way. Dinner for two with two beers and one glass of wine was a mere $115. Love it! Open: Wednesday-Sunday from 12 noon till late, Monday, Tuesday for dinner only. Bookings for groups and lunch only.
(LAURAINE JACOBS) www.laurainejacobs.co.nz
SAAN, 160 Ponsonby Road, T: 09 320 4582, www.saan.co.nz