My Thai favourites



 Mango Salad

Whenever I get asked what my favourite Asian country is, my answer would be Thailand. I have travelled to Bangkok several times and I absolutely loved each and every trip. I love the shopping, the culture and the food! I’ve tried eating at hotel restaurants and I’ve also ventured into buying food from street vendors. Once, I was accompanied to a hole-in-the-wall food stall by a local who, I guess, was morbidly curious to see how I would react to eating authentic Thai cuisine. I’m glad he did not have a camera handy as my expressions had surely been priceless. I’m positive he got a kick from watching this tourist eat, though. Every bite I took of the green curry was followed by a gulp of Pepsi! It was so spicy (it practically burned my tongue!) that I can’t even describe what the dish tasted like. Good thing there was Jasmine rice, which I had to take big spoonfuls of, to neutralize the heat.

Luckily, my taste buds were not permanently damaged, and I still love Thai food. I remember when I was pregnant with DD#1, I would crave Pad Thai. I would drag hubby downtown for my fix--Salad King and Green Mango satisfied my Thai cravings!

Now that I’m in the ‘burbs, I have to get my Thai fix every so often without heading downtown. When I feel like having some Thai but there is simply no time to sit down to enjoy a meal, I settle for Thai Express. My girls love their mild Pad Thai while I often order the medium. I wouldn’t recommend the curry or even their soup, though, as it is too bland.



Tom Yum soup

For some authentic Tom Yum soup, mango salad and fantastic fish cakes, I would go to Thai Bamboo in Concord. The Tom Yum soup is really spicy-sour and the lemon grass balances the flavor. The thickly-cut mangoes in the salad has a nice dressing tasting predominantly of fish sauce. As for the fish cakes, well, DD#1 can eat a whole order of this fluffy and tasty starter.

Fish cakes

The main dishes that we have tried at Thai Bamboo are just so-so. The curry is a bit watered down for me. As well, there is too much veggie-filler in proportion to the meat.

Pad Thai and Spicy Basil Beef



Chicken Panang

For Pad Thai, my family and I prefer Our Thai in Vaughan. Their Pad Thai noodles are perfectly cooked, well-garnished and have a wonderful sweet-sour tamarind sauce. It is not too greasy, either. We also order our other favourite noodle dish there—Thai Panang noodles, a dish that is essentially Pad Thai mixed with Panang (a milder version of other Thai curries) sauce. Yum! Their red curry is a great blend of spices, thick with creamy coconut milk. The servings are generous and the ambience is casual—definitely more upscale than Thai Bamboo.

Chicken Pad Thai

I still have a number of Thai restaurants to try out. Not sure when we will get to all of them but I will make sure to post our discoveries. In the meantime, we have our tried and tested favourites to enjoy. 

Beef Red Curry

Panang noodles