Pai is one of the best Thai restaurants in the city, and my favourite place to meet up friends for lunch in the financial district.
There's no shortage of amazing Thai restaurants in downtown Toronto. There's Sukhothai, Sabai Sabai, Khao San Road, Nana, Salad King and of course Pai.
There's pros and cons to each of the above Thai restaurants but Pai is a fan favourite because of the vibe, the ability to make reservations and the location. I come here very often for lunch, because I find their lunch chicken pad thai for $12.50 to be a great deal.
At Pai I have tried-
Chef Nuit Pad thai: Tied with Sukhothai for the best pad thai in the city. Delicious. Make sure you mix it up while it's still warm and add the lime! The lunch version of this is just as big as the dinner version, but the lunch one is cheaper.
Khao soi: This dish is amazing. It comes with Khao Soi gravy/curry with soft noodles and fried noodles. It's a mixture of crunchy and saucy softness. Delicious. Their khao soi gravy is amazing with rice too. I ordered this for take-out lunch once (also cheaper than dinner but same size) and they give you a VERY generous portion of khao soi gravy. It comes in a huge container and I froze the leftovers to be used on lunches I brought from home. Best idea ever.
Khao Pla Tawt: It's a fried fish with rice. The fish here is very crispy and delicious. The sauces that it comes with is great. It's an amazing dish to compliment the pad thai or khao soi.
Mamasan braised beef: Not so good. Its a beef curry with rice. I dont think I like beef at thai restaurants. Even the Khao soi and pad thai dishes, I always go with chicken. The beef chunks at Pai are very hard and not juicy. I cant recommend this.
Service here is good, but the kitchen is a little slow. It's very close to St. Andrews station. Come here for an amazing pad thai but make resos cause its very busy!