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Editorial Review

Reviewed in the Jun/July 2010 issue of Ciao!

It’s a sad truth. A trip to Thailand will colour your tastes for the exquisite South Asian cuisine—with its bold yet ingeniously harmonized flavours of chile, garlic, lime and coconut—for the rest of your life.

After eating the fresh and fantastic food in oceanfront guest houses, from roadside stands and at Bangkok’s night market, you will forever search for a Thai food experience that comes even a whiff close to the real deal.

And don’t even think about trying to replicate the divine curries, peanut-happy pad thais, and exotic stir-fries infused with basil, kaffir lime and lemongrass in your own kitchen. It will never taste the same.

That’s why a visit to Osborne Village’s Bangkok Thai is a competent North American-style substitute that easily satisfies any Thai-food craving. A blast of aromatic spices, citrus and chopped-fresh herbs entice customers as they ascend the stairs to the restaurant, located on the second floor of the McKim Courtyard at the corner of River and Osborne.

For Thai-food neophytes, the 90-plus item menu is a safe and pleasing introduction. With 21 appetizers, salads and soups, 34 curries, stir fries and seafood dishes, 7 vegetarian plates, and 15 noodle and rice bowls, there is a taste for all palates. Detailed descriptions of items answer questions that servers can’t field.

For the spice-adverse, there are plenty of mild dishes. For the experienced Thai food fiend, Bangkok Thai covers all bases.

Som Tumm salad (#3), with its ribbons of fragrant green papaya, are dressed with garlic, lime and chile vinaigrette that instantly makes lips sting. Tangy heat springs forth with the first bite. Roasted peanuts add a savoury touch to this traditional Thai salad.

Spice wimps stand down because Tom Yum Goong soup (#11)—a lively and aromatic broth spiked with button mushrooms, lemongrass shoots, lime leaves and prawns—also brings the heat.

Chunks of tender eggplant are served in a surprisingly mellow yet garlic-loaded sauce in the Thai spicy eggplant (#58).

Don’t be fooled by the red chile sitting on top lightly fried tofu and thick cuts of stir-fried onion and peppers in Bangkok Thai Curry Tofu (#61). This is a smooth, silky ride fuelled with yellow, coconut curry and sweet basil leaves.

Tamarind, coconut curry and tiger prawns come together in sweet harmony in the Goong Ma Kam (#52).

Finish your trip to Bangkok Thai with honey fried bananas (#78), battered and crispy-fried bananas drizzled with palm sugar syrup and a scoop of coconut ice cream.

Bangkok Thai is open Mon-Fri 11:30 am-2 pm, Sun-Thurs 5 pm-9:30 pm, Fri & Sat 5 pm-10:30 pm.

Reviewed in the Oct/Nov '05 issue of Ciao!

Housed on the second floor of an elegant historic building, Bangkok Thai offers a unique view of Osborne Village. A few Thai artifacts are seen throughout the restaurant, but diners are instantly transported to Bangkok when the water arrives in ornate silver cups. The silver tableware provides a truly elegant and traditional evening. This is the place to go for dishes with a touch of sweetness. One such offering is mee hang. This steamed egg noodle dish is served in a lime juice chile, which offsets the sugar notes with a delightful, latent heat.

The soups are a delicate balance of flavours. Tom yum goong, a version of the traditional hot and sour soup, is generously dotted with large, succulent shrimp, which add a hint of brine to the aromatic lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf.

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