It’s AUTHENTIC! And Siam Authentic Thai Cuisine has it.
Winnipeg lies over 12,000 kilometres from Thailand, but the Royal Thai Government says we have authentic Thai cuisine.
As Thai food—with its balance of sweet, spicy and sour flavours—became popular across the world, the Royal Thai Government launched the Thai Select program to promote quality Thai cuisine. It certifies restaurants that have an authentic Thai menu, use authentic ingredients and cook with traditional methods. Two levels of certification exist. Thai Select indicates a fine authentic dining experience with a three to four-star degree of excellence. Thai Select Premium indicates a premium five-star or higher dining experience.
Siam Authentic Thai Cuisine, a south Winnipeg restaurant, received the Thai Select Premium certification in 2016. Mick Kongmanisvong said representatives of the Thai Embassy in Vancouver arrived at his restaurant unannounced. They had flown to Winnipeg at the request of another restaurant and decided to visit all the Thai restaurants while in town. After tasting the food, they queried the chef about ingredients and training. The head chef, Kongmanisvong’s mother, attended cooking school in Thailand.
The most difficult part of the certification process was to show them all our ingredients so that they can see that we were cooking all our dishes like how they do in Thailand. They were very thorough in wanting to see all the ingredients.
Mick Kongmanisvong
“The menu must be 90 per cent authentic and our ingredients must be a minimum 80 per cent authentic ingredients as well. For example, in the green curry we put Thai eggplants, zucchini, bamboo shoots. We can’t put carrots or celery or any random vegetable in there.”
The certification team found the restaurant’s green and red curry to be the most authentic. The beef salad, prawn salad and mee krob noodles were also standouts.
Siam Authentic Thai Cuisine is the only Thai Select Premium restaurant in Winnipeg. One other restaurant, Bangkok Restaurant, has a Thai Select certification.
Hospitality and atmosphere are factors in the certification process too. It’s not just a meal; it’s a journey into Thai culture.
“We just have to keep doing what we are doing,” said Kongmanisvong. And we’re glad they are.
Photos by Kristhine Guerrero
