Amazing Seafood at Captain’s Boil

Bib and gloves at Captain's Boil

While my youngest DD#2 is not too fond of seafood, the rest of the family LOVES them. So, when Hubby and Grandma’s birthdays came around, I looked for yet another seafood resto in town. Good thing Captain’s Boil in North York was not too far from us. It opened just last November 2015 and is the first and only seafood boil place in Toronto so far. We were excited to give this a try!

We got there early for lunch as they do not take reservations for a party less than 8. I already browsed their menu online so I pretty much knew what to get. So, the ordering goes like this—first, select what seafood you want, or in their words, “choose your catch.” They have a selection of crawfish (of course!), several kinds of crab, lobster, mussels, clams and shrimp. Then, you select your flavour: Cajun, lemon pepper, garlic or Captain’s boil which is a mix of all three flavours. The last step is choosing your heat: from non-spicy to fire.

We ordered Dungeness crab, lobster, clams and shrimp. All of which we flavoured with Captain’s boil. We got non-spicy for the shrimp, just for DD#2, and the rest we got in mild heat. We also got seafood fried rice.

Now, what is a Seafood Boil? There are several versions depending on which US state you are in, but in a nutshell, it is a mix of fresh seafood boiled in spices. This blog is one of the harder ones to write as when I recall what we ate and how it tasted, I start to get hungry. And as it is not the cheapest of dining options, one must control her cravings!

Anyway, our rice arrived first and it was delicious. We realized later on, though, that we should have just ordered plain rice not only because this quickly ran out (a serving is better for 2-3) but also because the flavours of the rice were lost in the Captain’s Boil sauce. It was packed with a good amount of seafood though and would be good to order if you are not focused on the shellfish. But then again, why wouldn’t you be?

Seafood rice at Captain's Boil

The rest of the dishes arrived with the lobster and crab last as these took longer to cook. They came in big, clear plastic bags oozing with steam. As we opened the bags, the aroma from the spices wafted through our noses and watered our tongues. So, we quickly put on the bibs and gloves provided and dug in. 

Yummy seafood at Captain's Boil

It was just heavenly. The seafood was fresh and wonderfully cooked. The mild heat got our noses runny. We can just imagine what “Fire” would be (they did describe it as “my mouth is on fire!”). DD#1, lover of lobster, was all giddy and already asking when we were coming back. This was after the first few bites! We ate the rest of the sweet, tender, melt in your mouth clams, shrimp, lobster and crab with no regard for sauce-covered, drippy gloves and splattered-on bibs. It was just divine.

not a pretty picture but it was a delicious mess at Captain's Boil

Now, as I said, it was not the cheapest of dining options. A lobster or crab is about $30-40 each while the others are about $13/lb. As well, street parking can be a challenge. But going to Captain’s Boil is so totally worth it. We cannot wait to go back. 

Thai in Downtown Toronto: dinner at Pai

Drinks at Pai

Am always game for Thai food and I always look for excuses to go downtown. So, Thai food with good friends in Downtown…well, I’m there in a heartbeat!

We got an early start to dinner on a Friday night at Pai over at the Entertainment District. There was already quite a crowd but we managed to get a table. If you were expecting to see some Thai décor with elephants, statues and silk, you might have to do a double take to see if you have come to the right place. This basement joint felt as festive as a Mexican restaurant with hints of Jamaican by the bar. The place was vibrant though and it set the mood up for a chill night with friends.

We started off with some drinks of Tom Yum Caesar, Spiked Pineapple shake, Ginger beer and Thai Iced Tea. Surely you can guess what I had to try—why, the Caesar, of course! It was just okay—not quite Caesar-ey nor was it Tom Yum-ey. The Pineapple shake seemed more interesting to drink! We figured, though, that at $15 and not much of a spike, we were in fact, paying for the pineapple... Maybe it was organic?

Pineapple drink at Pai

We got some delicious spring rolls to start with. The dipping sauce provided the nice sweetness to the deep fried vegetarian roll of mushrooms, glass noodles and sprouts. We liked it so much, we ordered another! Not that we were spying, but we saw that quite a few other tables had some sort of fries, which we promised to try next time! These were apparently deep fried battered squash fritters. Interesting...

We then moved on to our Tom Yum soup, served in an aluminum tureen and kept warm with a small flame beneath. It was delicious! This sweet, sour and spicy shrimp soup with its wonderful lemongrass-coriander broth warmed our tummies beautifully.

Tom Yum at Pai

We also had Chef Nuit’s Pad Thai with shrimp. It was yummy but I cannot quite say it was the best Pad Thai I’ve had. It was certainly so good, we ordered another! We were not hungry at all, eh?

Chef Nuit's Pad Thai at Pai

Then, we had Green Curry beef (Gaen Kiaw Wan) in a coconut. The curry was not very thick but the flavours were good. A hint of shrimp paste and tender beef made us eat more rice than we normally would. Presentation was superb, of course.

Green Curry in coconut at Pai

The Tom Yum and Green Curry both came with jasmine rice, but we still ordered Khao Pad Thamada or stir fried rice. Talk about carb-loading! This was also a meal in itself with veggies and our choice of protein—shrimp. This was something we probably should not have ordered anymore. Did I mention we were only four in our group?

Fried Jasmine rice at Pai

In terms of spice levels, we were not quite brave as to try what I had in the streets of Bangkok many years ago. We opted for Foreigner Spicy over Thai Spicy. Foreigner Spicy was spicy alright but I had a feeling that what they call Thai Spicy here was just Foreigner Spicy over in Thailand.

Nevertheless we enjoyed this good Thai meal. The servings were not huge so that makes each dish a bit pricey. One order would be good for one person and at about $15 each. My friends and I opted to share so we can try a variety of dishes, but we also ordered a lot for our small party. At the end of it, we were stuffed-- with rice and noodles expanding in our tummies! It was a delicious way to get bloated, I would say! :)