golden thai

it's mid december and the weather in toronto is still too warm to feel like winter. not that i am complaining, but it does feel strange to have no snow and no icy cold winds to irritate us. to spice up the rather dull winter weather, the three purples went to Golden Thai for some yummy curry.

we were welcomed with warm wooden interiors with exotic antiquesque decorations that shout, 'you are in a thai restaurant!' maybe it is the brown walls or the orientalistic decors. it did feel more like an upscale restaurant than average thai restaurants (salad king perhaps? don't get me wrong, it has good pad thai for what it is and i used to enjoy eating at salad king when i was in school). i was pleasantly surprised to find that despite the fancy presentation, the food pricing was reasonable and affordable. bonus points!!

 

we started off with Pho Pia Sod: Cool Rolls ($6.45). three freshly prepared roll filled with chicken, egg, cucumber, coriander and carrots served with golden thai sauce. i am more of a vietnamese summer roll kinda gal and the chunky cucumber in the middle was not doing it for me. i really really liked the golden thai sauce though. it was tangy and sweet.

please excuse the blurriness of the photos. we were seated at the back of the restaurant where there were no lights besides the little candlelight on the table. anyways. the Lychee & Mango Salad ($8.95) was sweet and sour. it was made with fresh lettuce, red bell pepper, purple onions, carrots topped with slices of mango and few lychee on top. the mango could have been little more ripe though. the sesame lime vinaigrette was well blended with the vegetables. the salad was an excellent balance to the curry because the curry was bit spicier than we had expected. if you think you will be eating curry or other full flavoured meal, the lychee & mango salad would be a great side for your tastebud.

prior to going to a restaurant, i always do a little bit of review research. many of reviewers (at yelp) have commented how excellent the green curry is and i just had to try it out. the Green Chicken Curry ($11.95) was good. to tell you the truth, this was my first thai curry experience. i am not a huge fan of coconut and i always opted out for pad thai or thai fried rice whenever i go to thai restaurants. now i regret not trying the curry sooner. the server did warn me that it can be a little spicy and it was bit spicier than i had expected. if you cannot take spicy food well, you may want to choose milder alternatives. the dish did not come with rice and i ordered a side of steamed rice ($2.25) which made the experience much more enjoyable. the chicken breast did not feel dry and it came with plenty of thick curry. i suggest you mix the rice and the curry together (who doesn't?) for a splendid tasting experience. mmmm.

last, but not least, we were going to try the pad thai but the server suggested Thai Spicy Noodles ($11.95) with beef instead. the rice noodles were well cooked, soft and chewy as it should be, and the beef was very tender and full of flavour. this too, was bit spicy. the menu has * next to the name of the dish to indicate how spicy it is. we were trying to figure out what the asterisk meant for the longest time (there were no indications). the green curry had two *s and the thai spicy noodles and lychee & mango salad had one each.

the only downside of this place was perhaps too many options to choose from the menu? not that it is a bad thing, but when you are hungry, reading a list of food that extends to about a hundred can be overwhelming. golden thai offers dinner suggestions (prix fixe) which seem like a good deal if you are on a date. i suggest you make a reservation to be safe, because it was quite packed on a tuesday night.



Golden Thai
105 Church Street (at Richmond St E.)
416.868.6668
www.goldenthai.ca

posted by rin