Happenings at Viphalay
May 7, 2009
So much has happened these past few weeks here at Viphalay. Lily, Vipha's daughter/My sister/the waitress with the 2 little babies, got married April 25th, just a few weeks back and it turned out to be an incredible event. Just because you guys are now a part of the family and so many people have been asking, we'll be setting up some photo albums at the restaurant for everyone to see.
We've been teasing you this past month with new little dishes and desserts... and Version 3 of our menu is finally being released today! We've added some awesome new dishes in honour of the 2 Chefs we brought over from Thailand. They've done such an amazing job dishing out Mom's famous recipes that we're giving them a chance to show off their skills to you by adding some of their specialty dishes to the menu. You'll see an increase in fish and seafood dishes, as those ingredients are a huge part of Thai cuisine.
September 1, 2008
A customer reminded me that we do have a website and I thought I'd better keep on top of things, so here's a quick summary of our first year open... yes it has been a year!
We've updated our menus to include some tasty new dishes and our well received experimental dishes. Due to a massive increase in popularity over the past year and a shortage of staff we haven't been able to keep up with a couple of your favourite dishes and greatly apologize for that. I have some mailing lists started to let you know when some of those harder to make items will be available so send me an email with the subject line reading "favourites update" to news@viphalay.com and I'll keep you notified of when those dishes are available.
In the news: We've been fortunate enough to make it into a few local papers with amazing reviews, here are the one's we've been notified of for your viewing pleasure:
Edmonton Journal
Vue Weekly
See Magazine
Boyle McCauley News
I'd like to thank everyone who has supported us and continues to support us for our first very successful year. It's because of all of you that we're here and because of you that we enjoy what we do so much. Your smiles and satisfied tummies are our new motivation to strive for even better. Thank-you!
January 11, 2008We're in the process of developing a new menu. If you've been visiting often you'll notice that we've been introducing some "not on the menu, yet" items. Yes, we've been secretly adjusting recipes and using you as guinea pigs, but I know you like it. Just so you know here is a list of a few of the items we've changed, deleted, and added:
NEW:- Crispy Wontons - filled with cream cheese and crab (can also be found in our sampler platter) $8.99
- Spicy Thai Fish Cakes (can also be found in our sampler platter) $6.99
- Penang Curry - A milder curry similar in flavour to red curry but slightly sweeter and richer in flavour with sautéed chicken, or beef. $ 9.99
- Puht Ped Curry - Juicy morsels of chicken, or beef sautéed in a red curry paste with bamboo and fresh Thai basil. $ 9.99
- Roti Rolls - A traditional street vendor treat; delectable pan toasted roti pastry smothered in condensed milk and sugar. $ 4.99
- Kow Tom - banana blanketed in our delicious purple coconut rice steamed in banana leaf (if you like our mango rice, you'll love this traditional dessert) Special Intro Price $ 4.99 ($6.99 w/ice cream)
UPGRADED:
- BBQ Chicken - The same amazing lemongrass marinade but 3x the size. Instead of chicken breast which we found dried out too much, we're now using a whole 1/2-chicken and it is absolutely delicious! Special Intro Price $ 11.99
In the next few weeks there will probably definitely be more goodies to test out but your server will be sure to let you in on the details!
November 7, 2007Tomorrow we'll officially have been open for 4 months. It's been a fabulous run these past few months, we've been featured in the Edmonton Journal, the Boyle-McCauley news for September and just recently in Vue Weekly
September 13, 2007SURPRISES AND TASTY TREATS!! For the past couple weeks if you've stopped by and had a chance to order our sampler platter you'll notice that there are 2 items in it that aren't on the menu yet. This is when you get to be the judge to determine whether or not these items make it onto the menu. We're introducing spicy Thai fish cakes and crispy crab wontons in our sampler platter, item #10 on the menu so check it out and tell us what you think.
... and just because we love surprises we're also going to surprise you with tasty new experimental treats every now and then. We're thinking about expanding the desert menu so leave a little space for some testers.
July 10, 2007
FINALLY! We're finally open, actually we've been open since Sunday. Sunday was a great trial run and was pretty busy, I think we handled ourselves pretty well. The morning was spent blessing the restaurant with luck and good fortune. When you take a look at the front door you'll see some white dots and a bit of script, that was from the Monk. Once you walk in and take a look up, you'll see a mini altar, in the altar is a lady we call "Nang Gwok," her job is to call people into the restaurant. We had to give her a little make-up set, mirror, and a brush set because she likes to be beautiful... making her happy apparently brings people in. Nobody really came in today and it was pretty quiet but it was nice to get off early for once. I think Nang Gwok was taking a break today too. :P Hopefully she'll lure you in soon. ;)
June 26, 2007
All the construction has been completed, now we're just waiting on the fire and health inspectors. Next week we're preping and making sure we have everything perfectly in place... business cards have been printed and we're expecting to open JULY 9, 2007, so watch out!!
June 15, 2007
Construction is wrapping up and should be completed within the next week and half. Things are getting together quick at the restaurant... well quick considering that it's been over a year since we decided we wanted to open a restaurant but now we'll be open just in time for summer festivities.
May 19, 2007
My parent's 25th Wedding Anniversary Party and sneak preview: We had a little preview party of the restaurant for some family friends to celebrate my Mom (the head chef) and Dad's 25th Anniversary a little while back. The floors and baseboards hadn't been installed yet but it was a blast!
