Okay, so I lied. I didn’t come back right after the Panther Paintball entry to talk about the festivities for that evening. So sue me. (Actually, please don’t. I’m but a lowly freelance writer struggling to afford an extra value meal at the golden arches. I want to get a McChicken, please. Fries’d be nice too) Anyways, getting back to my cousin’s stag this past weekend, after we finished up with the Pain Game in South Surrey, everyone went back to their respective homes to shower, clean up, and get ourselves all pretty for the Chilli House Thai Bistro, located in Downtown Vancouver.


More specifically, the Chilli House is right along the north shores of False Creek, tucked in along the pedestrian-only walkway just south of Yaletown. This is the same neighbourhood, approximately, as you would find StoneGrill, C Restaurant, and Marmalade Bar and Lounge.

My brother (yes, the same brother as my now famous So a crow flies into my house story) and I were one of the first to arrive, so we thought we’d help ourselves to a couple of drinks. Heading upstairs to the private lounge upstairs where the bachelor party would be held, we found a personal bartender who would be helping us for the rest of the evening. While they had some more exotic drinks (with a distinct spicy Thai influence), my brother and I weren’t so adventurous. I opted for a simple vodka martini whereas he ordered a Jack Daniels and Coke.

Eventually, the other 20-some-odd goofballs filtered into the room, including the man of the hour, Quincy. As expected with Yaletown fare, the food came in fairly small portions (they were all share plates), but the price was a little lower than I expected (it was a set menu, working out to $30 a head, including taxes and tip).

One of the most interesting dishes was what appeared to be Japanese prawn tempura, except instead of the usual batter, the jumbo prawn was wrapped in crunchy Thai noodles. The same stuff you’d find in a Mandarin Chicken Salad at most restaurants (including fast food joints like Wendy’s). Along the way, we also got a spicy beef salad, chicken curry, pad thai noodles, spring rolls, and a whole crab (complete with the brainy guts under the shell).

All in all, I’d say the food was quite good at Chilli House, but given that it was Thai, the dishes were a little too spicy for my tastes (as I fully expected). I didn’t have a chance to check out their regular menu, but I’d suspect that the pricing would be more or less in line with similar restaurants, like Thai House, Tropika, Banana Leaf, and others.

After dinner, the majority of my cousin’s “crew” went to The Penthouse for the stereotypical bachelor party entertainment. We all had to chip in for Quincy’s… er… fun, whether we were going on not. My brother and I were not. In any case, I received an email from Quincy shortly afterwards, exclaiming that he was the last man standing at 5:30am the next morning. Well done, cous (is that how you type out the shortened version of cousin?), well done.