I had a chance to visit several fine restaurants in Toronto over Labor Day weekend this year. One of them was Ranu Thai Cuisine just 3 blocks West of the Humber College Campus in the Etobicoke neighborhood on Lake Shore Blvd.
They serve mostly takeout but there are 10 seats in the restaurant where patrons can wait for their order or grab a quick meal.
I started with my favorite Thai dish, Tom Yum Soup with chicken this time. I normally have had Tom Yum served with canned straw mushrooms, but this soup was served with grocery button mushrooms, that added to the freshness and lightness of this traditional Thai Soup. I had the soup with some grilled Lao sausages. Two thumbs up here.
I have had some very traditional Papaya Salad in my time and asked for this dish to be prepared spicier than most Americans would like. Again ingredients were fresh and they used real chopped peppers, not the dried pepper flakes you sometimes see used. It was delicious and used just the right amount of Asian fish sauce - not too strong, just salty enough. It was unapologetically hot and I loved it.
The next dish was Beef Massaman Curry. This is a good "training curry" for people new to curry dishes as it has a lower level of spiciness compared to that of Green, or Panang Curry (which are also on the menu). It was sweet rather than spicy. I did have to cut larger pieces of potato into smaller pieces, but this dish was appropriately meaty and savory.
Last but certainly not least I ordered the Chicken & Shrimp Pad Thai, a staple dish of most Thai restaurants. If you can't make a decent Pad Thai, well then... The noodles were firm and not soggy - tough to do in a takeout environment, where the food continues to cook a little in the container before you get it home. It was served with lime on the side (important). They also asked me before putting chopped peanuts on the side as well. I asked for some chili powder which was also provided. Solid dish that should go over well with the local students I would think.