Foods from Anna
Comments
2009 Sep 5
We went for dinner at Anna tonight and thoroughly enjoyed our food, as well as the surroundings and service. I had eaten at Anna's 2 or 3 times previously at business lunches and had enjoyed the food; this was my SO's first visit.
We started with some fresh veggie spring rolls (summer rolls) listed on the Dinner Specials menu. They were described as being filled with vermicelli, veggies, lemon grass, and basil. They were amazing! Very fresh and flavourful, the rolls also featured a touch of cilantro (not enough for my anti-cilantro SO to be put off) and one of the most flavourful peanut sauces I've ever tasted. The SO literally licked the peanut sauce off his plate, and I didn't blame him! Highly recommended at $6.50 for 2 generous rolls.
For his main, he chose the 23, Pad Ped Makua Yao with chicken (sautéed chicken with eggplant, chili, and basil). This dish had real heat that snuck up on you after 3 or 4 bites. The veggies, herbs and chicken were perfectly cooked and the sauce was lovely, but it would have been much too spicy for me to finish. I am used to Thai restaurants that rate their food by “chili pepper”, and I usually choose dishes with a “2 chili” rating. Anna uses no such rating. Luckily the SO has a stronger palate than I, and finished the whole potion (and about 6 glasses of water!)
I chose the 37, Gaeng Kaew Wan with chicken (Green curry with chicken and coconut milk). This dish was perfect, served with an ample amount of tender chicken, peppers, squash, onions, bamboo shoots and herbs. The sweet coconut milk and hot green curry paste were perfectly balanced by the ample lime (juice, zest, and leaf, I believe) basil, and curry leaf added to the dish. The SO asked me to remind him to order this dish on our next visit, AND requested that I attempt making it at home (I've already found a recipe in one of my favourite cook books, Wandee Young's Simply Thai Cooking). SO finished my portion of this dish as well!
Dinner for two including spring rolls, two entrées, one steamed rice, one sticky rice, and two canned pops came to $51 including tax and tip. I consider this money well-spent for such a delicious meal in a lovely restaurant with great service.
We started with some fresh veggie spring rolls (summer rolls) listed on the Dinner Specials menu. They were described as being filled with vermicelli, veggies, lemon grass, and basil. They were amazing! Very fresh and flavourful, the rolls also featured a touch of cilantro (not enough for my anti-cilantro SO to be put off) and one of the most flavourful peanut sauces I've ever tasted. The SO literally licked the peanut sauce off his plate, and I didn't blame him! Highly recommended at $6.50 for 2 generous rolls.
For his main, he chose the 23, Pad Ped Makua Yao with chicken (sautéed chicken with eggplant, chili, and basil). This dish had real heat that snuck up on you after 3 or 4 bites. The veggies, herbs and chicken were perfectly cooked and the sauce was lovely, but it would have been much too spicy for me to finish. I am used to Thai restaurants that rate their food by “chili pepper”, and I usually choose dishes with a “2 chili” rating. Anna uses no such rating. Luckily the SO has a stronger palate than I, and finished the whole potion (and about 6 glasses of water!)
I chose the 37, Gaeng Kaew Wan with chicken (Green curry with chicken and coconut milk). This dish was perfect, served with an ample amount of tender chicken, peppers, squash, onions, bamboo shoots and herbs. The sweet coconut milk and hot green curry paste were perfectly balanced by the ample lime (juice, zest, and leaf, I believe) basil, and curry leaf added to the dish. The SO asked me to remind him to order this dish on our next visit, AND requested that I attempt making it at home (I've already found a recipe in one of my favourite cook books, Wandee Young's Simply Thai Cooking). SO finished my portion of this dish as well!
Dinner for two including spring rolls, two entrées, one steamed rice, one sticky rice, and two canned pops came to $51 including tax and tip. I consider this money well-spent for such a delicious meal in a lovely restaurant with great service.
2009 Jul 25
Dined at Anna's for the first time yesterday.
Beautiful restaurant, lovely decor, good service, nice clean bathrooms upstairs.
The food was good but I have had better. The portions are small, particulary given the prices.
Overall, I would return but this would not become a regular stomping ground. Here is rundown of what we ate:
1. spring roll with shrimp - absolutely delish!
7 and 8. hot and sour soups - I was quite pleased. Delicious and perfect blend of sour and comfort. The aroma of the coconut milk was so pleasant and comforting.
10. mango salad - was tasty and had some nice large shrimp
from here, the reviews of the dishes go down ...
16. chicken with ginger - good tasting enough but nothing spectacular, small portion, few pieces of meat
22. crispy beef - not something I'd order again - same comments as above, beef pieces were so tiny and taste was basically like beef jerky
23. chicken with eggplant - same comments as 16.
24. shrimp - nice whole shrimps, cooked well but again nothing spectacular
32. chicken and potatoes in curry and coconut milk - quite disappointed with this one: both taste and portion
40. pad thai - same comment was above
47 or 50 (don't recall which one) - vegetable dish - again same comment. Many of the dishes could easily be cooked at home for greater value I'm sorry to say
rice - I did like the rice.
Beautiful restaurant, lovely decor, good service, nice clean bathrooms upstairs.
The food was good but I have had better. The portions are small, particulary given the prices.
Overall, I would return but this would not become a regular stomping ground. Here is rundown of what we ate:
1. spring roll with shrimp - absolutely delish!
7 and 8. hot and sour soups - I was quite pleased. Delicious and perfect blend of sour and comfort. The aroma of the coconut milk was so pleasant and comforting.
10. mango salad - was tasty and had some nice large shrimp
from here, the reviews of the dishes go down ...
16. chicken with ginger - good tasting enough but nothing spectacular, small portion, few pieces of meat
22. crispy beef - not something I'd order again - same comments as above, beef pieces were so tiny and taste was basically like beef jerky
23. chicken with eggplant - same comments as 16.
24. shrimp - nice whole shrimps, cooked well but again nothing spectacular
32. chicken and potatoes in curry and coconut milk - quite disappointed with this one: both taste and portion
40. pad thai - same comment was above
47 or 50 (don't recall which one) - vegetable dish - again same comment. Many of the dishes could easily be cooked at home for greater value I'm sorry to say
rice - I did like the rice.
2009 Feb 28
We visited on a Saturday evening and more or less enjoyed the following meal:
6. Tom Yum Goong - hot and sour shrimp soup
7. Tom Kha Goong - hot and sour shrimp soup with coconut milk and galangal
11. Yum Nua Yang - BBQ beef salad
32. Gaeng Garee - chicken curry with potato and coconut milk
42. Pad Ki Mow - spicy noodle stirfry with chicken
Mango Ice Cream
Ginger Creme Brulee
The food was decent but it wasn't up to the level of Ottawa's better Thai restaurants.
Neither of our soups was very hot by the time we received it (the wide shallow bowls don't help maintain heat) and both lacked any real depth of flavour. The Tom Yum/Kha soups at Sweet Basil suffer from this too. See Pookie's Pookie's for good soup!
The BBQ Beef Salad was perhaps our biggest disappointment. Like Pookie's it contains relatively anemic bits of beef that are more like pan-stewed than charcoal grilled. I always compare this to what I had at Coriander Thai Coriander Thai and am always disappointed. The chunks of cucumber, bell pepper, tomato, iceberg lettuce, and onion in this salad were a welcome addition to our meal.
The Gaeng Garee was just okay. Quite a small portion (6 morsels of chicken and 5 of potato with a very mild sauce) and the small bowl of rice cost extra, making this dish a bit of a ripoff.
Like at Sweet Basil, the Pad Ki Mow was stellar! Full of flavour and a nice bit of spice, the only downside was that the portion size was a bit small. The raw beansprouts in this dish weren't appealing to us but being in a pile to the side they were easy to ignore. Try this dish if you like tasty noodles!
The Mango Ice Cream was tasty, refreshing and very dense. The Ginger Creme Brulee was satisfying and had a perfectly subtle but unmistakable ginger flavour.
All in all it was an enjoyable meal, but with better Thai options available to us at the same prices we are unlikely to return. If you look at their online menu you will see that it's labeled as being from 2007. Prices have gone up by about 10% since then.
6. Tom Yum Goong - hot and sour shrimp soup
7. Tom Kha Goong - hot and sour shrimp soup with coconut milk and galangal
11. Yum Nua Yang - BBQ beef salad
32. Gaeng Garee - chicken curry with potato and coconut milk
42. Pad Ki Mow - spicy noodle stirfry with chicken
Mango Ice Cream
Ginger Creme Brulee
The food was decent but it wasn't up to the level of Ottawa's better Thai restaurants.
Neither of our soups was very hot by the time we received it (the wide shallow bowls don't help maintain heat) and both lacked any real depth of flavour. The Tom Yum/Kha soups at Sweet Basil suffer from this too. See Pookie's Pookie's for good soup!
The BBQ Beef Salad was perhaps our biggest disappointment. Like Pookie's it contains relatively anemic bits of beef that are more like pan-stewed than charcoal grilled. I always compare this to what I had at Coriander Thai Coriander Thai and am always disappointed. The chunks of cucumber, bell pepper, tomato, iceberg lettuce, and onion in this salad were a welcome addition to our meal.
The Gaeng Garee was just okay. Quite a small portion (6 morsels of chicken and 5 of potato with a very mild sauce) and the small bowl of rice cost extra, making this dish a bit of a ripoff.
Like at Sweet Basil, the Pad Ki Mow was stellar! Full of flavour and a nice bit of spice, the only downside was that the portion size was a bit small. The raw beansprouts in this dish weren't appealing to us but being in a pile to the side they were easy to ignore. Try this dish if you like tasty noodles!
The Mango Ice Cream was tasty, refreshing and very dense. The Ginger Creme Brulee was satisfying and had a perfectly subtle but unmistakable ginger flavour.
All in all it was an enjoyable meal, but with better Thai options available to us at the same prices we are unlikely to return. If you look at their online menu you will see that it's labeled as being from 2007. Prices have gone up by about 10% since then.
2008 May 4
Went for supper last night with my fiance. We were the first in the restaurant at 5:30 pm, which is when they open on Saturdays. We chose to sit by the windows in the front, amongst the potted plants, which was good for people-watching.
We started with the stuffed chicken wings. I've attached a picture to give you an idea. I've never had stuffed chicken wings before, so I didn't know what to expect. Essentially, they seemed to be deboned wings stuffed with something akin to spring roll filling. My fiance enjoyed them; I thought they were good, but wouldn't order them again. I prefer normal spring rolls.
Next, we ordered the special crispy duck and the Chicken Panaeng, accompanied by the spicy mango salad. The crispy duck was very crispy but a bit dry and a little bland for my taste.
However, the Panaeng - red curry with coconut milk - was FANTASTIC. I could have eaten the whole order myself. The flavours were so intense - I could taste the cilantro in every bite, which I love. We actually had to order a second serving of sticky rice so that I could sop up the curry sauce - I didn't want to let one drop go to waste!
The spicy mango salad with shrimp was just that - spicy! The mango seemed to be green and not ripe, which was not what I was expecting, but it was a nice, fresh counterpoint to the spiciness of the dish. I found it very good, although my fiance thought it was too hot.
We washed everything down with the house white wine. It was light and fresh and worked well with our spicy meal.
We enjoyed our meal overall and will likely go back.
We started with the stuffed chicken wings. I've attached a picture to give you an idea. I've never had stuffed chicken wings before, so I didn't know what to expect. Essentially, they seemed to be deboned wings stuffed with something akin to spring roll filling. My fiance enjoyed them; I thought they were good, but wouldn't order them again. I prefer normal spring rolls.
Next, we ordered the special crispy duck and the Chicken Panaeng, accompanied by the spicy mango salad. The crispy duck was very crispy but a bit dry and a little bland for my taste.
However, the Panaeng - red curry with coconut milk - was FANTASTIC. I could have eaten the whole order myself. The flavours were so intense - I could taste the cilantro in every bite, which I love. We actually had to order a second serving of sticky rice so that I could sop up the curry sauce - I didn't want to let one drop go to waste!
The spicy mango salad with shrimp was just that - spicy! The mango seemed to be green and not ripe, which was not what I was expecting, but it was a nice, fresh counterpoint to the spiciness of the dish. I found it very good, although my fiance thought it was too hot.
We washed everything down with the house white wine. It was light and fresh and worked well with our spicy meal.
We enjoyed our meal overall and will likely go back.
2007 Oct 15
My wife and I went for lunch today (our second visit; we went for dinner with friends many years ago). Not much to add on top of the other glowing reviews on here as it was excellent. We both had hot-and-sour soup to start that was very intense (and tasty). Each chose a different lunch combination; my wife had a mango salad, chicken satay and spring rolls, I had a curry, beef and vegetable dish with a spring roll. The curry and spring roll were my favourites but all were good.
Ottawa has lots of good and inexpensive Thai restaurants if you're looking for a casual meal, but only a few that offer something a bit higher end. Anna is a bit pricier than other Thai places in Ottawa (but still very reasonable for what you get), but well worth it.
Ottawa has lots of good and inexpensive Thai restaurants if you're looking for a casual meal, but only a few that offer something a bit higher end. Anna is a bit pricier than other Thai places in Ottawa (but still very reasonable for what you get), but well worth it.
2007 Jul 28
This is definitely one of the best Thai restaurant in town! Being half Thai, I definitely know what authentic Thai food tastes like...just like being back at grandma's house! We had the Mango Salad and it was super! The mangoes used were a bit too ripe but it was still delicious. I had the 'Crispy duck with basil and chilli' (with fragrant rice and hot sauce at the side) and hubby had the 'Spicy noodles with shrimp'...it was unbelievable! Did not have any dessert but in my opinion, they should have coconut and tapioca based dessert, something Thai...not creme caramel...it is just wrong but obviously, we will go back for the food again! I love it!
Older
Cinnapuff