PAI NORTHERN THAI KITCHEN [TORONTO]

So just a block or so from the always busy Khao San Road is the new Pai Northern Thai Kitchen Restaurant on Duncan Street in the downtown Entertainment area.

This restaurant is equally as busy with what seems like a blackout period during the peak dinner hours for reservations. I would recommend making your reservation here about a week in advance if you’re planning to dine between 6-8pm.

Once I entered the place, I saw this really cool wooden barrel thing that spun around with carvings of what looks like muay thai fighters. Definitely caught my attention and a cool piece of decor that I’ve never seen before.

One thing I want to note before writing this post is that this restaurant is one of the most poorly lit restaurants ever for taking photos. I had to use the help of a candle on the table for external light. Regardless, the Piquey Eating must continue and here are my thoughts about the different dishes I tried.

First up was the starter tom yum soup ($6). Absolutely delicious with so many flavours and just the right amount of spice. My friends said that the soup was a tad spicy for their liking, but this is a Thai restaurant and I love me some spicy food. The ingredients that go into a tom yum soup include tamarind, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, Thai chili peppers and fish sauce. Everything about this soup was fresh and full of distinct flavour, absolutely one of my favourite soups ever.

The second thing I tried was their Gaeng Hunglay ($15) which is supposed to a a sweet and sour ginger curry with ox tail in it. A little disappointed with this dish especially after eating that delicious tom yum soup. The curry leaves a lot to be desired in regards to the flavour department. The ginger definitely wasn’t pronounced enough in the curry. The ox tail also could have been stewed more to be a bit more tender and fall off the bone.

I also had a sip of their lemograss ice tea. Not something that is worth the extra dollars, the tea just tasted like syrup with a slight hint of lemon grass flavouring.

I tried some of their Gaeng Kiaw Wan ($16) which is their green curry served in an actual young coconut. Definitely a cute presentation touch by putting it in there. I loved how creamy the curry was and the meat was perfectly tender. I saw plenty of these going by before we got our order so I’m pretty sure this is one of their most popular dishes.

According to one of my other diners, the pad thai ($14) was one of the best she’s had so that’s definitely worth a shot if you make your way to Pai.

I have yet to try their Khao Soi to see if it does measure up to Khao San Road’s, but that is for another post.

Until we dine again,

-The Piquey Eater