Longtail Kitchen

I will not be able to eat here again due to salt. My body is swelling from it even as I key this review in! The food is tasty but if you are on low salt diet either ask for no added salt or do not eat here. Pricy with minute portions. Ok for senior lady like me but husband would leave hungry. Not the greatest attitude from staff.

Ended up at the River Market looking for vegan eats last night. My friend and I wandered into Longtail Kitchen during the dead-​time before any sort of happy hour (between 4pm and 5pm) and we inquired about what might be vegan. The suggestions were the tofu pad thai and eggplant stirfry.
There’s a wall of very limited south east asian groceries, assorted seating in two’s, four’s, and a longer communal table; and a condiment station with self-​serve water.
If you look around, a sign thanks you for bussing your own table, and since everything is disposable plates and cutlery, it’s easy to do so.
Pad Thai with Tofu ($ 10)
–Portion is slightly smallish for $ 10 but passable.
–Taste is pretty good. Nothing too special looking here, BUT you can load up with chili flakes, sriracha sauce, or crushed peanuts at the condiment counter.
Stir Fried Seasonal Veg on Rice ($ 10)
–When we were there, it was eggplant.
–Pretty tasty considering its eggplant.
–Plus the rice included (about a bowlful), this works out to an OK light to medium-​light meal, but the monotony of that much eggplant made it a bit off-​putting.
Extra cardboard «plates» for sharing are available.

In my quest to visit as many of the YGEH restos, I decided to visit Longtail when we visited the Quay. We came in at around 3pm and no one was dining in anymore so I was surprised that most of the tables were still filthy. I’ve been to many market eateries and delis and this was more dirty than charming. The guys behind the counter were nice and friendly and delivered our food to our table. We ordered the Mee Goreng and the Prawn Pad Thai. The dishes were presented beautifully: Mee Goreng came with fresh lettuce leaves, fried onions and lime while the Pad Thai was piled high with crisp bean sprouts and lime on the side. Both dishes were nicely spiced without it becoming too aggresive. Sadly though, that was the only taste I detected in the dishes. They seem to be lacking in salt or fish sauce. The chicken in the Mee Goreng was dry and some of the fried noodles were so hard I had to fish them out of my mouth. The fried onions were not crispy and seem to have been sitting around for awhile. The Pad Thai fared a bit better. It had the complexities of tamarind and palm sugar but it could’ve used a bit more fish sauce. Maybe next time I’ll come back during their busy times and hopefully their flavours will be more on point.

Chicken wings, fried oysters, fish balls, turmeric curry with mussels and fried rice. Those are my favourite things on the menu. Never fails ! Always amazing and good flavours. Chef Justin is on tv a lot but nice to see a humble TV celebrity still always cooking for his customers ! Pick a Sunny day and and sit on the patio. Live music is always around on the weekends.

Their laksa is pretty small but makes up for it in flavour, its so good. Everything is fresh and they change it up pretty regularly! Also love that they have local Steel & Oak beer! I wish they were open later as I don’t want to be that jerk who walks in at 6:30 and prevents them from closing up for the night. I go back whenever I get home from work early enough to make it for dinner.

Their Pad Thai Tofu was delicious, but the spice really builds up the more you eat it and I found it hard to finish after a while. If you aren’t a fan of spicy food, I suggest maybe asking them to turn down the spice when they make it. Other than that, I thought it was really good, since Pad Thai in some places really lack taste.
This is my new go-​to place in the River Market. Can’t wait to try their other stuff!

Decided to give this place one last chance. Ordered pad thai. The guy took my order on their iPad, handled the debit machine and cash, then proceeded to prepare my meal with his bare hands which he did not wash after taking payment (he didn’t even use tongs to grab the sprouts and other food — just took handfuls of stuff with his dirty hands). I’ve witnessed this multiple times now and so have my friends. I’m not ignorant to the fact that this probably happens in other restaurants. But this is an open kitchen and they are so blatant about it. The pad thai tasted like he added too much fish sauce or something. Totally inconsistent quality. I’m so disappointed.

We came for an early dinner on a Sunday. We ordered 3 dishes to eat in the main food court:
1) chicken wings — nice crust with a tasty tamarind sauce
2) pad thai with shrimp — really fresh and authentic. It is a bit spicy so if you can’t handle the spice, as for it mild. Lots of peanuts and bean sprouts.
3) pad se iw with beef and quail egg — this was a wide rice noodles stir fried with a dark soy sauce. It was a bit darker than I had expected but the flavour was great.
The food was great. The price is higher than a standard food court, about the same price as a sit down restaurant. Although the dishes did not look big, the two of us couldn’t finish it all, so ended up taking ¹⁄₃ of it home. Definitely coming back. Will try the mussels next time.

Great fresh authentic Thai. This place should be open late in the summer and convert to a full restaurant. Not sure why it closes early :(

Not a whole lot for variety but food was decent and the variety they did have were quite unique dishes. Prices were average maybe a bit high for New West and the meals were on the oily side but overall was a good plentiful dinner.

A lovely boutique Thai restaurant. My personal favorite is the deep fried oyster. Also this is one of the few places that cooks an authentic pad thai that is not laced with ketchup. Place is generally busy and the wait time may be long.

Wandering around the New West Quay area… and got REALLY REALLY hungry… did a quick search around, and decided to give this place a try… So glad I did!
The wife and I split the orders… we got an order of papaya salad, wings with tamarind sauce, a beef noodle dish and tofu pad thai.
The papaya salad was spicier than any I’d ever had, but I liked it… yummy! The wings were super crispy, but I think I prefer the ones at my local Vietnamese restaurant. The beef dish was a nicely salty noodly plate of goodness, and the pad thai was a slightly sweeter plate of equal goodness.
I have a hard time picking what I thought the star of the show was, because everything was really good. I know I’ll be stopping by here more often when around the New West Quay!
Definitely give this place a try!

While all my colleagues stands in line to wait for a greasy burger drenched in sauce, I prefer the scrumptious Thai dishes at Longtail Kitchen.
So far I’ve had the fried rice, kao soi curry noodle, green curry with fish balls and the hot & sour mushroom coconut soup + noodles. Besides the kao soi curry noodle that I’m not a big fan of everything else is rich, flavorful and delicious. For the fried rice, make sure you get/​ask for their house made chili vinaigrette, the perfect kick and tartness to go with the smokey fried rice.
The pricing seems a bit off, some things are worth it and some not so much. Regardless, this will always be my go to lunch spot when we end up at the Quay.
Bonus, customer’s only patio at the waterfront in the summer. Bonus X 2, Singha beer tower. Do what the (Thai) locals do.

Fish calls are to die for. One of the best we’ve ever had. Crispy exterior with a nice dipping sauce. Just enough sauce so it’s not drowning.
Tamarind wings are interesting, juicy and flavorful. We love wings so this was a slam dunk. Cooked much better than BWW or Wings Stop any day.
The pork belly chinese brocolli dish was just OK.
Free WiFi if you eat inside the dining hall.
Accepts CC and has patio seating reserved for the restaurant facing the tug boats.
Excellent friendly service. Highly recommended.

New West. Quay is probably my main tranquility spots. Thai food is one of my top favourite cuisines. So I can’t really ask for more than this combination at Longtail kitchen.
My friend and I ordered simmering green curry with fish cakes and red curry with chicken. The spices melted in a harmonious mix; I could taste the coconut, curry powder, cream, chilli, and other fragrance surrounding the swimming veggies and fish cakes. We also enjoyed an order of chicken satay and 2 orders of roti canai, one with sweet condensed milk and the second order with savoury peanut sauce, displayed on a small wooden plank. Their roti is different from most restaurants, darker, more crispy and showing off some grill marks. We had pandanus flavoured drinks, a clear sweet drink with pandanus leaf. It tasted tropical and elevating.
Prices on the menu are fair for the quality effort they put into their dishes.

Pad Thai with tofu, pad si u with beef, gai-​lan with crispy pork belly, green papaya salad YUM.
Can’t wait to go back, just wished they were open a bit later.

Longtail Kitchen at the revitalized River Market at New Westminster Quay is a quick counter service open kitchen that brings you authentic Thai cuisine. The eatery seats about 25 people faces the boardwalk patio along Fraser River. The barely 900 sqft Longtail Kitchen focuses on fresh seafood based Thai street food and some staple Thai comfort food like Pad Thai and Curry rice bowls. Prices are reasonable at $ 8 to $ 12 — comparable to a bowl of tasty phở.
Longtail Kitchen is opened by Chef Angus An from Maenam. Maenam is a well loved Thai restaurant in Kits featuring authentic Thai Cuisine with modern twists. Longtail Kitchen features Chang Mai style chicken curry egg noodles, Fresh Turmeric Curry of Ling Cod and Mussels, Chinese influenced Gai-​Lan stir fried and homemade roti. The expressed kitchen is another feature at the River Market where it houses Wild Rice, Re-​Up BBQ, Wally’s Burger, Crêpe Des Amis! We have a feeling, we will be hanging out at the River Market lots this year!
Although Longtail Kitchen is considered an express quick counter service kitchen, there is nothing short about their flavor profiles and complexities. There are subtleties from the spices that permeates through the broth and heat that does not burn the tongue. It does not cover the flavors of the individual ingredients.
½ lb of steamed Salt Spring Island Mussels 10: Clear broth with lemongrass, chilies and bay leaves. Plump fresh mussels. Served with a side of tart spicy sauce for dipping.
Pad Thai with Tofu 10 | Prawns 12: Traditional Pad Thai stir fry with bouncy fresh prawns and crushed peanuts. Everything was delicious. Although I did hope the noodles to be on the drier side.
Have a stroll along the Fraser River on the River Market Boardwalk any enjoy the sunshine!
Perhaps one suggestion I have is for Longtail not to keep dirty dishes collecting out in the open.

Well this place is just awesome.
Angus An has found a goldmine in Longtail.
This place specialized in Thai Street food from small fishing villages. So there is a compact and affordable menu to choose from. They’ve also got a lot of great Thai beverages to choose from (Lemongrass Water, Thai iced tea, a roasted coconut drink) to complement the food.
I’ve now managed to work through everything on the menu and there isn’t a bad dish insight.
My personal favorites are the coconut soup with galangal and seafood, changmai style chicken curry noodle and the fried oyster.
You have to be careful on the weekends though, this place gets busy and a lot of the dishes sell out by the time dinner rolls around.

3^rd time’s a charm with this space.
As Christine points out, this space was previous home to 2 fish & chips joints. Finally we have a winner.
I’ve never liked nor loved Thai food. Though after being to Chef An’s Maenam in Kits, I was inspired. Ask anyone to name a Thai dish and 99.9% will answer with Pad Thai. Hence why I don’t order it, even if people say it’s good. There has to be more than one dish. Canadians don’t eat poutine everyday right?
1^st visit we had the chicken satay and changmai style curry chicken noodles. Satay was moist and sauce was spot on. Curry was tender and the crispy wonton noodles added great texture contrast. But my favourite was their rice flour doughnuts coated in sugar. Perfectly fried, not oily whatsoever, these are made to order. The inside texture is like biting into a cumulus cloud. So simple yet so good.
2^nd visit we tried the crispy chicken wings. Well fried, not oily, moist and sprinkled with fried onion bits, these were delicious. And of course we finished with an order of rice doughnuts.
On a perfect summer day, eating outside enjoying free live music and watching boats buzz by, Longtail is the place to be.

There’s something fishy this place! After fish-​and-​chips joints failed to catch on (get it?) we now have a Thai street food-​style counter in the River Market. Opened by Angus An, renowned for a schmancier place in Kits, the menu is seafood focused, said to be inspired by the dishes favoured by fishermen.
Almost everything on the brief menu is either seafood or chicken and about $ 8 – 10. From the choices of curries, soup, chicken wings, and noodles, we ordered some steamed mussels and pad Thai with prawns to share. It took a little while, but they were cooking everything fresh in the big open kitchen. They’ve created a casual dining area inside the small-​ish shop, with woodsy planks punched up with pink accents and paper lanterns for an Asian vibe. I imagine when the weather gets warmer they’ll open up that big garage door to the outside so it’s even easier to sit out in the sun.
The pad Thai I thought could have come with more than 2 prawns for the $ 10, but otherwise it was very good, with a satisfying peanut flavour and lots of crunchy beansprout texture. The mussels were big and chewy, if a little salty and not picking up a lot of flavour from the chili and lemongrass-​infused broth. However, we did enjoy dipping the mussels into the chili sauce that had come with the pad Thai. Service is casual, and you basically eat with takeout implements like plastic forks and napkins, but I think side plates might make sharing dishes easier — because the beauty of a place like this is the sharing and mixing and matching to make up a full meal.
I am looking forward to trying out a few more things on the menu throughout the summer — it’s almost here! — like the chicken wings. Longtail hasn’t replaced my local Thai place with the crispy noodles in my heart, but the riverside location and subtler Thai flavours are a must-​try if you’re down in New West.