Ma Now Thai Kitchen: Thai food in Port Coquitlam
Ma Now Thai Kitchen is a casual Thai restaurant located in Port Coquitlam. They offer traditional Thai curry, rice and noodle dishes.
This review is based on an in-dining experience.
Interior
The interior of Ma Now Thai Kitchen is actually quite nice. There are a lot of wood elements that make it classy and cozy at the same time. Seats are not the softest because they are wooden, but I was comfortable during my time at my meal. Tables were placed far apart because they did not have plexiglass barriers. All staff were wearing masks.
Lots of free parking available in the complex.
Food
We order a selection of different dishes to share. We also order a Thai milk tea ($5) – the glass is large but I found the drink to be a tad bit too sweet.
O-taro ($9)
I was very curious about this appetizer so we ordered it. This appetizer dish has shredded pieces of taro, lightly battered and deep fried with yam, corn, onions, seasoning and a sweet chili sauce with peanuts.
I am a lover of anything deep-fried and this was no exception. I liked the crunchy texture and the taste of taro with the sweet chili sauce. Portion size was larger than I expected. A very unique dish!
Thai fried rice ($15-17)
This is a simple wok-fried rice with egg, vegetables and pineapples. You can choose between chicken ($15) or prawns ($16.50) and you can also substitute it with brown rice for $1. We chose mild for the fried rice.
The fried rice is decent and they give you a lot of it. It doesn’t have a lot of supporting ingredients, but it didn’t taste bland.
Hung-Lay Beef Curry ($16)
This is a Northern Thai dish and the menu describes it as a specialty stew with aromatic spiced sauce, peanuts and green onions, served with rice. I only had a little bit of this dish because our friend ordered it to be spicy and it was too spicy for me. The beef was quite tender, but I found it had a very strong beef smell.
Pa-nang Curry ($16-17)
We really liked the panang curry we tried at Maenam so we decided to order it at Ma Now Thai Kitchen to compare. The curry is made with coconut milk, bell papers, green beans, carrots, Thai basil and Kefir lime leaves. You can select between chicken ($16) or beef ($17). We chose beef and medium spicy. The curry is served with rice but you can substitute it for brown rice or coconut rice for $1.50.
The curry tastes fine and smells aromatic, but it wasn’t as flavourful as the one we had at Maenam. The beef was also a bit on the dry side.
Kaow Soi ($16-17)
Kao soi was one of my favourite dishes in Thailand because it wasn’t spicy! It is a curry noodle dish with coconut milk, egg noodles, crispy egg noodles as a garnish and usually, a giant chicken leg. Therefore, we choose chicken ($16), but you can choose beef as well ($17).
Similar to the beef, I found the chicken to be dry but the curry noodles were yummy. Giant bowl too! Presentation for this dish was the best out of the ones we ordered.
Final thoughts
Loewe’s rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Overall, I think Ma Now Thai Kitchen is quite an average Thai place. Their flavours are not too far off, but the dryness of the meats are disappointing. Portion sizes made up for my disappointment. Prices are slightly above average for other casual Thai places, but the interior is quite nice.
My favourite dish out of everything is probably the o-taro appetizer dish, followed by the khao soi.
Sincerely, Loewe