Baan Lao's chef said their cuisine is targeted at a “sophisticated” customer willing to pay for high quality food and service.
A high-end Richmond restaurant has introduced a new high tea that it claims is a “world's first”.
Baan Lao Fine Thai Cuisine is an award-winning Thai restaurant located on the waterfront in Steveston, specializing in Thai cuisine made from local farms and ingredients flown in from Thailand.
This month, the restaurant announced a new Afternoon Tea Thai Experience, which it claims is the world's first Thai afternoon tea offering, and will be available until September.
“I often go to dim sum and have once enjoyed an English-style afternoon tea where customers order their own food and tea. We came up with the idea of creating a set menu,'' says Natcha Pantoufen, founder and executive chef of Baan Lao.
“There is no one else in Thailand or anywhere else in the world that does what we do, especially when it comes to Thai ingredients and Thai food.”
Fantufen said he spent six months in research and development to create this menu.
It includes four types of tea: Thai, Japanese and Chinese, which can be paired with 12 bite-sized Thai dishes carefully crafted using fresh ingredients, including those sourced directly from Thailand, she said. Told.
“Thai food has a mix of different flavors, such as spicy, salty, sweet and sour. Thailand has a lot of quality food that you can see at this afternoon tea,” said Phan Tufen. Told.
The menu includes well-known Thai dishes such as mango sticky rice, as well as traditional Thai desserts that Canadians may be less familiar with, such as taro balls with fried rice.
Fantufen said he steamed the sticky rice, soaked it in freshly crushed watermelon juice, dehydrated it for 24 hours, and then fried it in oil.
The high afternoon tea experience at Bang Lao doesn't come cheap at $95 per person. Pantouffen said that even in a time of high interest rates and inflation, customers who come to her restaurant are willing to pay for high-quality food and service.
“The guests we bring here to Bang Lao know that we provide excellent service and that the quality of our food is fresh. We make everything locally sourced. We source from farmers. It's a different niche market because it's more of the sophisticated guests who find and understand fine dining,” Fantuven said.
“You have people talking about the economy being affected and things like that, but that's not the same group of people. The group of people that we have, they want this kind of service, they want quality, We want you to eat healthy. We don't want you to eat preserved food. We make everything fresh.”
Reservations are required for Bang Lao's Afternoon Tea Thai Experience.
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