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| - I was in Calgary in December, and within the frosted city, Thai Sa-On serves as a warm haven of delicious Thai cuisine. Most importantly, the warmth comes not only in the form of great food, but also in the form of a warm welcome and friendly attitude.
I'll start with the food. We ordered 4 dishes: the kao pad ka pao (basil fried rice), kao pad prik kang (red curry), kang kiew wan kai (yellow curry), and Jackie Chan's favorite beef dish (ask the manager, and he'll tell you). In addition to the coconut rice we ordered on the side, everything was delectable. The portion sizes are what you'd expect for Thai food (relatively large); for my group of 6 people I was in, what we ordered was just the right amount.
The restaurant itself is quite clean, well decorated, and comfortably lit. No negatives there.
On to the service. Maybe it was because of the -10 degree celsius temperature that day, or the fact that it was Boxing Day across Canada, but we were the only group in the restaurant at around 6:00PM. Whatever the case may be, the manager gave us his full attention. Not only was he attentive, he was also extremely friendly, and we had a lengthy conversation about the differences between America and Canada (as he sees it), his experiences living amongst Canadians (he's from Thailand) for the past several decades, and even about Jackie Chan's kung fu skills vs. two of his contemporaries'. Mind you, the food didn't come out any slower as a result, even though he did take a bit longer to take our orders, since he clearly enjoys conversing with his patrons.
If you ever find yourself in Calgary, regardless of whether it's under frigid circumstances, I highly, highly recommend giving this place a try. The food is delicious, and the manager is one of the most gracious, friendliest mangers I've ever met (he gave us the coconut rice for free!), and I'm usually not the talkative kind when it comes to dining at restaurants. In my mind, this place deserves 5 stars!
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