Anju Restaurant

I've gotten the chance to visit the renewed Anju a few times since its reopening. I returned again this past Saturday with my family in celebration of my mom's birthday. To ensure that we wouldn't be placed on a insanely long wait list, I made a reservation nearly two weeks in advance. We arrived and was promptly seated in the booths found at the back. This was a different experience for me - the previous times I've came, I was always placed at the high top counters facing the street of 17th ave. I love those window seats because it gave my dining companions and myself the entertainment of people watching (whether it be those passing by or the bustling staff found in the kitchen). This time, we were placed in the "den", and while the seats were comfortable, the noise level was a bit too high for my party's liking.

White Elephant Thai Cuisine

I've been hearing the latest rave about this authentic Thai restaurant lately so when my brother and I were debating on a place to dine late Friday night, I suddenly remembered this restaurant.

For some reason, I was under the impression that White Elephant was found in close proximity to North Hill Mall. I was proven wrong as we continued to drive along 16th avenue into the NE side of town. We didn't find the restaurant initially and had to stop the car to take a look around us. There were no apparent signs advertising the restaurant's existence but I knew it had to be right in front of us because Google map told me so! It was then that I spotted an elephant on the side of a run down hotel, Point Inn. We drove over and sure enough we had found our White Elephant. Not going to lie, we did not expect such a setting but we entered the Inn as skeptical as we were (Urbanspoon ratings were a huge influential factor in this).

We were quickly seated as most tables were leaving since it was 9pm by this time. The restaurant looked old and run down, but in a god way - like one of those long standing restaurants where the grungier they appeared meant the better tasting they were. As an Asian myself, I'm aware to not judge a book by its covers when it comes to restaurants because past experiences have taught me that the more sketchy a restaurant looks, the better tasting the food is.