Wild Thyme: Lebanese food in New Westminster
Wild Thyme is a local Lebanese restaurant in New Westminster. They serve traditional Mediterranean/Middle Eastern cuisine and are available for takeout and delivery + catering.
This review will be based on my second in-dining experience. My first dining experience at Wild Thyme was with my co-workers for a birthday lunch. The food was lovely but service was incredibly slow – it took us almost 20 minutes just to get our bills and boxes for our leftovers. We had to ask this multiple times from the same server who just somehow could not remember what we asked for. I joked about how this restaurant should be renamed as “Slow time” (I think I’m funny ok).
Anyways, the food was still good so I decided to give them another try during their dinner service when I’m no longer in a time crunch.
Interior
Generally speaking, it’s a small restaurant but cozy. The overall feel of the interior is dark due to the wall colours, but it kind of feels like you are at your friend’s house for a dinner party.
They don’t have too many large tables so if you are in a group of 4+, it’s best to make reservations.
Food
Their drinks menu has a nice selection of wine, but if you want to order beer, be prepared to pay $7-8 for a canned beer (why don’t I just go to a liquor store…).
Kafta with rice ($33 full/$23 half)
Kafta are meat patties – usually beef, chicken, lamb, or pork – mixed with spices or onions. This entree has these meat patties served with rice and tomatoes, topped with a tahini sauce. The entire dish is baked in a stone oven.
We order a half bowl because I saw the full bowl and the portions are too big for 2 people.
The kafta and rice have a very ethnic taste to it and this is due to the special spices they use. It is very different from Chinese rice and this brings some new flavours into my palette. However, I find the meat patties a little dry.
All of Wild Thyme’s entrees come with a Fattoush salad, homemade pita and 4 dips.
Fattoush salad
Fattoush is a Levantine salad made from toasted or fried pieces of khubz combined with mixed greens and other vegetables, such as radishes and tomatoes.
The salad is not a big portion, but definitely shareable between 2 people. It tastes refreshing and light.
Homemade pita + 4 dips
The homemade pita and 4 dips was a real eye-catcher. First of all, the homemade pita is huge! It arrives at our table puffed up and in a giant basket. By the time I take the photo, it deflates.
The 4 dips are fun to taste and mix. They have a yogurt dip, a garlic dip, and I forget the other 2 but they are all tasty.
Baked cauliflower wrap ($13)
On top of our entree, we order the baked cauliflower wrap. The wrap is stuffed with cauliflower, tahini sauce, tomatoes, cucumber, pickles, and parsley.
The cauliflower wrap is big lol. It is as big as our giant pita from earlier and very similar to the size of a flatbread or a small pizza.
Now I looove cauliflower and my first time at Wild Thyme, I fell in love with their cauliflower wrap. This time, I find there was too much tahini sauce and it made the entire wrap a bit too soggy and overwhelming. The cauliflower was a little mushy but still super yummy.
Final thoughts
Wild Thyme is a local favourite but I don’t particularly see a lot of young folks in their dining room (older couples and families). Their Lebanese food is healthy with a very homemade and authentic feel. Also there are a lot of choices for vegetarians.
I love the salad and pita that comes with the entrees. Portion size is big at this restaurant! We had lots of leftover rice and kafta to take home and we simply added a bit of chorizo sausage and made a bomb fried rice. I definitely think we could’ve gone without the cauliflower wrap because it ended up being too much food.
Service was much faster my second time here. They probably hired more servers which is really all they needed. I’m happy to see their team expanding.
Sincerely, Loewe