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| - Very impressive first visit.
Place was busy at 9:30 on a Friday night-always a good sign-- and most of the clientele was Thai (judging by appearance and the language spoken)-- an even better sign.
My wife and I shared a pair of spring rolls with shrimp (very nice), followed by Thai Coconut Rice with Pork, a wonderful dish with exquisitely balanced flavors of pickled bits of raw pork, sweetness of the coconut, and tart cilantro. (Yes, the pork is raw, technically, but it's cured by pickling, like cerviche, and well worth trying. Don't be a wimp.)
There were numerous dried Thai chiles in the dish too, but no noticeable heat. So I took a bite of one (which I regularly do in all kinds of Asian places to no ill effect) and it about took the top of my head off.
Not sure what that was about, but we loved this dish nonetheless. It's on the menu under a Thai or Lao name, but you'll spot it under rice dishes when you look on the menu. The notes describe it as "a Lao classic," and it's easy to see why.
Main course was vegetarian: an eggplant curry to die for, with white rice. We were particularly impressed because curries typically just cook the vegetables to death, but in this one the various types-- eggplant, zucchini, sweet bell peppers, carrot-- had to have been added separately, because the texture of each was perfect. Also not too sweet: the coconut was precisely balanced with lime and basil so that every bite left us wanting more.
We splurged on dessert and went for the purple sticky rice with mango. Outstanding. There's a reason this dish appears on most of those "One Hundred Foods You Must Try Before You Die" lists, and this version is an excellent example.
I see some other reviewers mentioned poor service in their notes, but it was certainly not the case for us. As I said, the place was fairly busy, but we saw three servers working the dozen-or-so tables; our food came promptly and hot, and everyone was pleasant and courteous.
This isn't someplace to go to impress a first date: "unassuming" would be the kindest phrase to describe the cheesy strip-mall environment and scant decor, but for basic, well-prepared Thai dishes, it's a little gem out in the no-man's-land west of Dufferin on Steeles.
Also, the meal described above-- plus a Thai iced tea for me and hot tea for both of us-- was less than $40 with tip.
We liked this place enough on the first trip that we'll definitely be going back soon.Hopefully the rest of the less-than-extensive menu is as good as what we had tonight.
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