Dinner with a friend here at the very very busy location just east of the Yonge and Bloor intersection. You can find the entrance down the small flight of stairs below the Firkin.
Toronto was bracing for one of the chilliest nights ever seen on record (-34 celsius) so some warm and delectable Northern Thai food was a good choice. Highly recommend putting in a reservation otherwise the wait for a walk-in table may be a bit long. I guess you can always grab a pint or two upstairs at the Firkin to pass the time. I'm happy that we had a reservation for the night.
Just a note that during winter, sitting near the front of the restaurant can get a little chilly with the door opening and closing all the time. They have a thick curtain to help shield people from the cold but it works best when there isn't a constant foot traffic through. The large floor-to-ceiling window at the front of the restaurant isn't insulated either so you could feel a bit more of a chill sitting towards the front.
We had quite the feast for a table of 3. We ordered two appetizers and three mains. This was the recommended amount of food by our really friendly and attentive server.
The lightly-fried and breaded garlic shrimp were crunchy and had a nice little savoury tamarind dipping sauce to pair with it. I wasn't a big fan of the laap lao (minced pork lettuce wrap). It was a little bit watery and lacked a bit of flavour even though it had some minced child peppers in it. Glad I tried it thought.
Entree were a shared trio of drunken noodles, massaman curry, and the khao soi. All three were definite hits and they went down a storm. The braised beef was super tender and the slightly sweet curry over some rice was great. My star of the night was the khao soi with the bowl of rich and thick golden curry and the egg noodles floating within.
We were told earlier that our reservation would only be for about 1hr 15min as there would be another reservation following us for the table. We stayed about 10 minutes over our time but there was no pressuring for us to eat faster or settle the bill pre-emptively.
it's an excellent solid choice for some Thai food in the heart of the downtown core. Again, I would recommend booking a reservation if you come here on a weekend.