Most authentic Thai in GTA

Regional Dining Discussions Ontario
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Some oldsters (like me) on this Board have been discussing topics like authenticity online for over 20 years.

I think I understand where you are coming from. Once you are at my old stage of life, you might see where I am coming from. Or you might not.

This type of topic where posters debate whether a food being served in Toronto, with different ingredients, imported ingredients, different terroir, people of another ethnic or cultural background preparing a dish, Thai by Thai chefs and not by Chinese, Mexican or Sri Lankan chefs, etc. becomes a repetitive and boring topic after it’s been discussed a dozen or 10 dozen times.

One of the BEST Thai restaurants in Toronto, is no longer is in business, because Torontonians were too cheap for the restaurant to stay afloat, since higher quality ingredients cost more money. This was before the rapid inflation of the past 3 years, that restaurant had an excellent Mexican chef, and the restaurant was owned by immigrants from Hong Kong. Maybe Toronto will eventually be ready to spend $75 per person on an excellent Thai meal, the way they are willing to spend money on French food, some upscale Japanese, some upscale Italian Italian restaurants. Ultimately, the people who live in or visit Toronto are the ones who determine which restaurants stay in business. Many restaurants alter their recipes , menus, service approach, to serve the Toronto market, to survive in a fickle business with tight margins that are getting tighter.

You are getting some thoughts from people who are Gen X (like me), Boomers, and Silent Gen (born before 1945).

Feel free to write your thoughts down about what you hope to find, and share what you like or find uninspired.

The beauty of Chowhound and HungryOnion is that they were and are Discussion Boards, where people share thoughts and perspectives.

The thing about Taste, is that there is no Accounting for it.

Who is the Arbiter of Authenticity?

Borders change, ingredients change, recipes change, what is considered authentic changes.

Opinions about taste and authenticity, and whether authenticity in Toronto matters, will vary depending on the poster’s outlook and experiences.

These topics are inherently subjective. I know which posters are on my wavelength, and which posters have interests which are different than mine.

Enjoy your food journey. :slight_smile:

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This is great! I wish they’d share which restaurants use their sustainable and local shrimp so we can visit those restaurants. Would be a good marketing idea to get more restaurants to use them (vote with our dollars!)

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I understand but bell peppers have always tasted out of place for me for Thai curry. Also, I’m looking for places that would give nostalgia and comfort to a little home sickness for recent immigrants. That’s the food experience I’m looking for when i say authentic.

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You’re my generation… I’ve lived in NYC, Boston, Miami, Houston, NJ, Seoul, and now Toronto. I’ve seen all these places change (much larger population densities there). I’m sharing what has happened in the past and how and why they’ve shifted. I’m not as young as you’d think… And no, i don’t agree. Even if i weren’t the same age, it’s the varying perspectives and experiences one goes through, thinks about, and internalize that should count more? Especially if history (and topics) keep repeating itself cause different cities are at different stages and paths.

I for one, have not tired of the topic and believe it to be an important one in the bigger picture sense. It’s people’s culture.

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I know about Planet Shrimp.

I had a started a few
threads about sustainable shrimp on Chowhound, and 15 years ago, I tried to find dim sum made with sustainable shrimp. There is a sustainable dim sum spot called Harmony in Mill Valley, CA, so I knew the concept worked somewhere.

At that time, I was only buying sustainable frozen shrimp for at at-home consumption, and I was cutting back on ordering shrimp because of the issues with the mangroves in SE Asia.

Of course, it is too expensive for a regular dim sum restaurant to switch to sustainable shrimp in Toronto, because our market has not been willing to pay for that quality on a large scale.

I also sat behind the owner of Planet Shrimp on the train to Toronto about 4 years ago.

I have only seen Planet Shrimp shrimp on one or 2 menus.

This is an interesting thread AQUACULTURE articles - Hakai Magazine and The Atlantic: What It Takes to Feed Billions of Farmed Fish Every Day - They’re usually just given ground-up fish. One company is exploring a more sustainable alternative: maggots.

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Unless a restaurant has spot prawns or side stripe shrimp on the menu, we basically never order shrimp. Which sucks as we do love shrimp. Hooked and The Big Carrot usually sell frozen sustainably farmed shrimp, which I use for cooking at home. You are right that the North Atlantic cold water shrimp are also harvested sustainably, so we enjoy them when possible (mainly at home).

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Pai is not what it used to be. There has definitely been a steep decline in the food. I used to eat at Pai once a week. My last two experiences have been awful…so bad, that I will never go back.

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That’s too bad… Was looking forward to it based on reviews. Do you happen to have a replacement place you would recommend for Thai that’s authentic?

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Be aware that there are two locations of Pai.
I was at the Yonge/Eglinton one (Uptown) recently and it was awful - left all 3 dishes I tried and mentioned that one dish didn’t taste anything like the same dish I had tried there before.
I had stayed out of the discussion earlier as it wasn’t clear which Pai was being considered. I can’t speak to the ‘Downtown’ version.

As for ‘authentic’ - I can only say what I like - having travelled to Thailand more than half a dozen times (eating both on the street and upscale) my experiences there have declined significantly from what I recall. Not sure if that’s totally because of a ‘decline in the preparation/ingredients’ or a ‘decline in my memory’.

Regardless, I do know that Khao San Road is my most visited despite no reservations and occasionally having to wait. There’s often a line-up - which in itself speaks to the popularity. Nana (same ownership) is an occasional choice - but not open every day.
For ‘fast and cheap’ I embrace Salad King (the Yonge street version as it’s on the subway).
My choices for upscale have mostly closed (sadly). Bangkok Garden has survived (now the oldest surviving, since Thai Shan Inn closed) - but I don’t think it’s worth the extra cost.
I’ve probably been to all the Nuit/Jeff Regular places including their original Sukothai. And similarly all the Wandee Young places (including Thai Shan Inn and Bamboo club).

But I have no idea what is ‘most authentic’ - I do recall a discussion with the original owner of Thai Princess (Thai herself) who said she couldn’t bring in ‘Thai chefs’ as there were unemployed ‘Canadian chefs’ so she couldn’t ‘import’ a Thai chef - had to train people who were already here.

And there are now far too many places for me to try them all - when I already have places I can eat/dine at at ‘reasonable cost’.

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I haven’t tried Thai Nyyom, located at 1419 Bloor St W, yet. 3 dishes daily. It looks good to me.

To order online

https://www.qp925.ca/ordering/restaurant/menu?restaurant_uid=795f4f79-d02a-456f-a43f-439cb4dabc6b&client_is_mobile=true

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Thank you for sharing your perspective and insight. That’s interesting they can’t find Thai chefs here. Wish that skill set qualifies for working permits…

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Thanks for the rec! On my list. I’ve also responded to the last article regarding authenticity. Seems vastly misguided

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You seem to have a good taste memory. I went back to the store and unfortunately they’ve changed hands. The new owner’s broth isn’t as tomato-ey and she uses a milder and smoother fermented shrimp paste which she says she buys from Vietnam. Based on this return visit (and other things I’ve observed), I’m not recommending the restaurant anymore.

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That’s a shame… Would have loved to experience it and expand my knowledge of that culture

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If you’re interested in bun rieu, the next best IMO is at Bong Lua. But I haven’t been back since 2020 and it seems a lot of places seems to have dropped in quality since the lockdowns. They do a more extravagant version of the dish with pieces of shelled crab and if memory serves only the large size has a full crab. However, they don’t serve the fermented shrimp paste.

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Sadly that seems to be the case across the board with every type of food. Thank you for the tip!

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I’ve just tried Mengrai Thai. It’s certainly better than Pai but still light for my liking. I didn’t get the acidity kick from the citrus as well (i like it when all the flavors are hitting on all cylinders when it comes to Thai food). I mentioned my background/experiences and the gentleman did tell me theirs is lighter than what’s typical. They also use better coconut milk. Server who’s Thai also mentioned they use all fresh ingredients and not from spice paste from a tin can. I asked if they had bell peppers on their curry and they looked at me funny. lol when they gave me that look, I told them that’s the response I was hoping for and my expectations rose.

Still in search but at least we have Mengrai Thai. It’s a good baseline for what I’m looking for

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Did you try Nyyom yet? I will be stopping by soon. It’s a more of a hot table type of place.

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If you like Singaporean or Malaysian food, I recommend Kiss My Pans on College St. It’s a coffee shop / cheese shop with some Singaporean dishes. I enjoyed the beef rendang last weekend. Kiss My Pans offers some is the same dishes and coffees found at Kopitiam in NYC.

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