5697 Côte-des-Neiges, corner Côte-Ste-Catherine, Montreal
Tel. (514) 739-2999 | M-F 10h00 to 22h00, Sat+ Sun 12h00 to 22h00
Lunch specials from $7.39, dinner specials from $14.99
Not wheel chair accessible
ife is short, so start with dessert. Specifically, the coconut ice cream served in a coconut shell. Squeeze the orange slice so that the juice drizzles the coconut glazing. Take a spoon and eat slowly. Forget everything else.
Coconut ice cream
OK, we didn’t really start with dessert. We had appetizers of chicken satay (more on that) and fish cakes, more like a quenelles de poisson – or gefelte fish if you want – touched with fresh basil and chilies and fried.
But if I had known how good the coconut ice cream was, well, you get the idea.
This is a great place – easy to eat well for under $20 a person. It is good food, but not fine dining. Hanging close to both the Jewish General Hospital and Université de Montréal, it gets a quick moving, eclectic crowd. When the place is even half full, it is impossible to walk between tables. Eating quasi-cafeteria style is far from romantic, even with candles on the table. I am surprised more napkins don’t end up in flames. This might not be the perfect spot to propose, but if what you want is good Thai food at a reasonable place, you’ll come back often.
We started with Chicken Satay – four brochettes with a peanut sauce and tangy sweet sauce. The chicken tasted as if it had been cooked once in the oven to get it done and then slapped on a gas grill just before serving. The sauces were tasty and necessary. The fish cakes in contrast (Tord Maan Pla) had been cooked to order and were delicious. This proved to be the theme for every dish. Tom Yum, the generic multi-flavoured Thai soup (basil, chilies, slightly sweet, slightly sour) was tasty but the shrimps were overcooked and had no real taste. However, the shrimp in red curry - Pad Prik Kung, was sweet and succulent, possibly because we had ordered three dishes for the table and there weren’t enough overcooked ones hanging around. This is a superb dish, by the way, with the flavours just right and the coconut milk handling the balance nicely without being cloying. Ditto for an order of chicken with garlic, green peppers and basil (Kai Kra Pao), which our waiter told us, is the restaurant’s most popular dish. In both cases the flavour balance is great and the heat from the chilies sneaks around the corner, about three spoonfuls after you think the cavalry has gone by. Extra heat is there if you want it but take your time getting there.
Pad Prik Kung
On the minus side of the menu was a hot and sour soup, which was more sweet and sour. I’m not sure if this is an authentic Thai dish or anemic Chinese. Similarly the vegetarian Pad Thai needed a lot of work. This is a signature Thai dish that requires just the right combination of ingredients and flavours to get it right. Once the tofu and noodles take over from nam pla fish sauce and dried shrimp, the dish shifted to terminal blandness which no amount of extra limes and hot sauce could rescue.
Pad Thai
On the plus side were the main dishes, substantial and filling curries served with excellent rice and a delicious, slightly spicy mango salad cut with galangal (think Thai ginger) and Bermuda onions. The mains also include soups and an egg roll appetizer as well as coffee or tea. We had a refreshing ginger tea and green tea is also available.
Service is excellent. Anyone on the floor will help you with the menu or take your order. Bottom line. We’ll go back. Make sure that Sirina Sae Ung – the owner and chef – is in the kitchen. Her smile alone makes it a pleasure to eat here. -- Reviewed by Barry Lazar (Nov/06)
