Nantha's Kitchen @ La centrale culinaire

My buddy Nantha is having pop-ups on top of pop-ups on top of pop-ups. And they awesome pop-ups. He's making people discover his cuisine through freaking delicious meals. And it's fun to be the one reaping the benefits. Yass. Nantha invited me to his pop-up at La centrale culinaire last Friday for a Malaysian/Thai/South Indian food feast. I loves me a good feast!

La centrale culinaire is located in the Mile-End in a random building that boasts a bunch of companies and spaces that are either empty for shows and such or equipped for food making and such. The centrale is supes cute, with hanging lights and a friendly atmosphere. On top of it, Nantha is just always happy and smiling and it's oh-so contagious.

It was a 5 service dinner (ya, we're totes fancy) for 50 bucks. Well, I mean, I didn't pay, but you know.

Tom Yum soup. I really do have a soft side for this soup: the flavor combo is a winner in my book. You know, the book of Marie! Everything about this was good. It had the perf mix of hot and sour. It was perfectly hot (I despise it when my soup is cold. DESPISE) and just the perfect amount of spicy.

Pad Thai. Who dson't love a good pad Thai? It was hot, it was spicy, it was garlicky! I enjoy le garlic, but Margo has somewhat of an intolerance to it and the waiter had told her that there wasn't 'much' garlic. Yikes. As soon as he put the plate down, I got a whiff of it. With just a bit of a lime squeeze, it was perf. With the lovely Thai basil (possibly my fave herb alongside coriander) in there, and the shrimp, it made for a great pad thai. YUM!

Rojak salad: pineapple, cucumber and jicama, in a soy, lime, and sriracha sauce with some roasted sesame seeds. This was refreshing, and, hello, a fruit salad made savoury? YES! It was tangy and sweet at the same time with a hint of spice!

The thali! I loves me a good thali! The dahl was ubs taste and one could say it was almost smoky. The blue rice. Yes, you read correctly, mam! Found in Malay cooking, butterfly pea flower is a superfood on top of being a natural food colorant. It was quite weird, yet, cool, to eat freaking blue rice! It was a tad overcooked, but the flava still came through and it was goood, Then, there was turmeric rice, which just hit my mouth with a punch of flavour. Ya, that's a thang. After that, there was the chap chai which means ten veggies: soy sticks, black fungus, mung bean noodles, and pak choi. The soy sticks had absorbed all the wonderful flavour of the sauce (toasted sesame oil and oyster sauce) and it practically tasted, AND had the texture of meat. Quwhat! Everything else just went so well together. I believe what I wrote in my notes was 'wow'. I think that sums it up. The chicken was really tender in something that tasted stew-like.

Le dessert. We actually asked to share dessert. because I thought I might just burst. Seriously. You know the feeling when you eat WAY too much and you can't breathe no more? THAT. I'm chucking it up to the carbs I'm not used to eating. Filled me right up. Black sesame and red bean ice cream. Yes AND yes. I could have this every day. They were both crisp tasting. You know? Like, not watered down. Argh, you know? Point is it was delicious. 

Service was aight. I mean, the guy was supes nice and answered all our questions AND brought us water and a bucket for us to put our wine in. But our plates did stay too long on the table and service got somewhat slow. In his defense he might've been alone, which, man, I feel you dude. Been there done that. I, by that, I mean I suck at waitressing and even if there were only two tables, I'd start to panic. And therefore, I salute you, sir!

And now, the scores!

Food: 8.5
Service: 7

I'm definitely going back to another one of Nantha's nights!

Pum Pui

Another Asian persuasion resto, another lunch date with Jer bear! Interestingly enough, Pum Pui is owned by the whitest of Canadians (no offense to your skin tone, dude). He DID live about 5 years in Thailand and learned the tricks o' the trade. And we should all feel lucky that he did. Why? Oh, you'll see. YOU'LL SEE. I feel like I should put in a 'mouahahahaha' in there.

Pum Pui is located in the heart of... Little Italy! Perfect place for Thai food! I compared it to La Capital tacos in Chinatown. I mean, it's the only Asian there, so, kaching! It's a small resto, with a market portion, probs why it's called Épicerie Pum Pui. I am SO smart. I loved what was on the walls: very authentic pics and calendars and what not. Also, Jer bear mentioned that the sauce thang on the table was supes off the boat.

We had the papaya salad to start off with. I will just say that I've had papaya salads. Oh, I've had some. And this one was.... how can I put it... THE BEST I'VE EVER F*CKING HAD. It had just the right amount of acid and sweet. Also, I loved the fact that there were dried shrimp in there! Added a little crunch and lots-o-flaves! I'd go back right now for some more of that!

I had the beef green curry. Or green beef curry? Quwhatever. I'm gonna say exactly the same thing I said about the papaya salad. It was THE BEST Ì'VE EVER F*CKING HAD. Holy bejesus. Just by smelling it, I knew I was gonna fall in love with it. And yes, I'm serious about my food, god dammit. The beef was cooked with such perfectness, that it legit almost made me effin cry. Crying because of meat. Now that's new, even for me! The presence of lemongrass and kaffir leaves gave it a whole other level of flavor. With some peppers, it was hot but not TOO hot. As in, my lips weren't completely on fire. I may, or may not (I MAY) have told Jer bear that this was my all-time favourite curry. I'm talking EVER. Best thai curry in town made by some white boys. Who would've known!

Jer bear had the jungle curry: fermented rotten fish (wow, sounds WONDERFUL), green beans, bamboo shoots, thai basil, green peppercorns, kaffir leaves, ginger. This sh*t was spicy, and then some! Jer started sweating pretty much 30 seconds after his first bite. And then he got the 'spice cough'. And then his nose started running. The whole spiceffect, really. The fish was sooooo tasty and had obviously picked up all o dem flavas: I really didn't mind that it was fermented. Whatever, it's like kimchi: so freaking good. I didn't just make a random comparison, btw; kimchi is also fermented :) The veggies also took in all the loveliness of the broth, which was a-MAH-zing! Jer really wanted me to eat peppercorns, which, lets face it, I've eaten no more than 4 times in my whole life (and my life is pretty damn long). It was like a pop of flavor in my mouth! Soooo good!

You order at the counter and they bring it to the table. There was a mistake with Jer's order so he got his plate a bit after mine but the dude said sorry about 3 times. All is forgiven.

And now, les scores!

Food: 9.5
Service: 8

I heard someone say 'I think this is the best Thai food I've ever eaten', and I believe them. I, for one, will go back 28 times.