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| - Pai Northern Thai Kitchen is one of the Entertainment District's newest arrivals, and the brainchild of Gusto 101's Janet Zuccarini and Nuit and Jeff Regular. This restaurant, which is tucked away from the chaotic King street crowd onto Duncan street (South of Adelaide), maintains an underground aura (quite literally, too) with beautiful, quaint, and cozy decor.
Notwithstanding the question of "authenticity," which is somewhat raised by the hipster-y crowd, I was thoroughly impressed with my chicken pad thai. I also got a good chuckle out of the "spiciness" scale, which includes a "foreigner" level for those who can tolerate the heat but maybe not to the same degree of those who hail from Thailand. The presentation of the meal was absolutely perfect, even though it lacked a bit of sweetness. Also, the noodles weren't overly saturated in peanuts, which was a plus for me.
I washed down my meal with a drink called "Amir Johnson" (and yes, it was named after Toronto Raptor power forward/centre player). This cocktail was packed with a punch in the form of scotch and amaretto, which beautifully complemented and neutralized the spice of the pad thai.
A friendly tip: it's safe to come here in a party of two, as many of the tables are configured to seat that many people at any given time. If you come here with a party of 3+, you might have to wait a while to be seated. In the event of the latter, you might luck out and get the table where you are obliged to take off your shoes and are surrounded by a cavalcade of colourful pillows.
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