In the dead of winter, dining at Koh Lipe Thai Restaurant can change your attitude. Set in the “restaurants” section of China Splendid Mall, the tired mall doesn't feel exciting, but walk into the cheerful restaurant and the exterior environment disappears – goodbye winter, goodbye tired looking mall. Hello, Thailand.

And the attraction is not just from the colourful environment. Koh Lipe serves some seriously delicious food. The goong moun ($13.95) is a can't miss appetizer. A flavourful but light shrimp paste (studded with carrot, chilli, and betel leaf) is wrapped in crispy tofu sheets that's like a spring roll but better. It's tasty on its own or with a splash of the savoury and sour Arjard vinaigrette.

Koh Lipe synthesizes the sour, salty, and umami elements of tom yum into a powder that covers the  chicken wings or peek gai tom yum ($13.95). Given it’s a dry rub, the batter on the wings remains crunchy, a great contrast against the juicy meat.

Their pad Thai with shrimp ($22.95) has the requisite elements needed for success: chewy noodles, enough sauce to cover the noodles without making them soggy, and crispy elements to add texture. I’m glad the chef was restrained in his use of tamarind, so the pad Thai wasn’t too sour, the flavours were perfectly balanced.

My first experience with guey tiew khaek or Islamic noodles ($17.95 for the veggies and tofu version) was not a success. Using the same rice noodles as pad Thai, they’re covered with an overly sweet red curry, which really needed a spicier element to create harmony. If anything, the best part of the dish was the onsen egg, the molten yolk adding a creaminess to the curry noodles.

For something spicy, the prik gaeng moo krob ($23.95) packs a punch and had me downing two glasses of water. A blistering hot curry paste covers fried and then stir-fried pork belly, soaking into the meat. While tasty, given the sauce was already oily, using pork belly as the protein made the dish too heavy, chicken and/or shrimp would be better.

For a flavourful curry, I prefer the khao neow gaeng ($22.95). Slices of chicken and fresh pineapple are covered in a heat-filled yellow curry that's spicy but bearable. The sticky coconut rice sitting in the pineapple gets covered in the sauce but is not saturated and goes wonderfully with the chicken. 

Our table was impressed with the pad gra prao ($18.95), a plate of steamed rice topped with ample amounts of minced chicken flavoured with basil, onion, and chili. All at once spicy, salty, and sweet, it blends into one as the thick yolk oozes out of the fried egg. While the dish has a similar taste to the prik gaeng moo krob, the sweet element helps make this a more palatable dish.

Despite having leftovers, we ordered the khao neow ma muang ($12.95) to share. One bite of the slightly salty mango coconut sticky rice and we were hooked. The sauce was warm and thin, so it coats the sticky rice so well. It’s paired with soft mango slices that adds enough sweetness to remind you it’s a dessert.

The sticky rice was so delicious we added a khao neow tu rian ($12.95) to try the durian version of the dessert. As a child, my first experience with the fruit was terrible - the overpowering aroma and texture made me feel like I was sucking on a moldy gym sock. My second taste at Koh Lipe was much better, the fragrant fruit mellowed by the sauce and rice. Nonetheless, I still prefer the mango version as the fruit is firmer to contrast against the soft rice and adds a tropical taste the durian lacks.

I would skip the tom yum fried rice with vegetable and tofu ($18) as it's also very tangy and two sour dishes were too much for one meal. Indeed, tom yum's recipe has lemongrass and lime, but these tart elements soaked into the rice it was powerful. Still, I enjoyed all the herbs: galangal (a peppery ginger), basil, and kaffir lime leaves, which added a freshness to the starch. The fried rice was just too wet - Chiang Rai likely uses fresh rather than day old rice – to the point that it tasted better as leftovers.

If you’re a fan of chicken devil, the crispy chicken chilli sauce stir fry ($19) is a stellar version of the dish. I love the big nuggets of battered chicken that’s very lightly covered with the spicy, savoury, and sweet sauce so they remain crunchy. Just get to the chicken quickly as there’s not a lot of pieces amongst the vegetables.

Do not take out your food... Chiang Rai takes the time to beautifully present dishes. Each adorned with deep fried rice noodle sticks, beet ribbons, a stalk of green onion, and an orange slice. And while the décor makes for a great presentation, on subsequent visits I’ll ask for dishes plain as it's also wasteful to discard the garnishes. By dining in you'll also benefit from Chiang Rai's cheerful environment. It won’t necessarily feel like you’re in Thailand, but still funner than sitting around at home. 

Jatujak Thai Cuisine is quickly becoming a chain of restaurants serving cheap-and-cheerful Thai food in the Toronto suburbs. After seeing so many of their dishes on Instagram and finding positive Google/Yelp reviews to back up the pretty pics, I decided to head north to their outpost located on Steeles a stone’s throw from Scarborough. From the outside, the storefront looks like any other plaza establishment, but once you enter, the dining room is surprisingly spacious and modern.  

Order a lunch special and they’ll arrive in no time – sometimes a worrying sign of premade food that just sits around and is assembled to order. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case with the pad Thai ($8.95). The heap of brown noodles studded with chicken, onions, and bean sprouts didn’t look like much, but once I had a forkful the seemingly too-wet noodles was the perfect consistency and the sweet flavours nicely balanced by the sour and savoury elements. While I couldn’t smell much wok hay when the dish was presented, the pad Thai did have a mellow smoky element that briefly peaks out while being consumed.

I’d skip the chicken green curry ($8.95), it’s run-of-the-mill and a tad sweet for my taste for something that has two chilies listed beside it on the menu. Truth be told, I was probably still a little salty from hearing that the steamed fish curry wasn’t available, something I really had my heart set on.

Jatujak’s beef khao soi ($15.95) could also use a kick of heat to really push the bowl to the next level. Still, it was a tasty dish with the creamy curry broth incorporating a hint of citrus. The combination of silky egg noodles with crispy ones were also on-point with equal amounts of both textures. There were also tons of brisket in the bowl, so this is a great choice for those who really want their protein.

Until my work-from-home schedule ends, and I re-join the downtown rat race, I’m glad to have found Jatujak who will satisfy my Thai cravings until I can taste Chef Nuit’s creations again. I guess their affordable price points, large portions, and ease of getting a table also doesn’t hurt either. If only they had the steamed fish curry – one day, you will get into my belly.

The rally cry to support local small businesses seemed to spring up immediately after the quarantine was announced. I’ve championed the cause, ordering from my favourites in North York that provide delivery services. With all the great establishments in the neighbourhood, we’ve generally supported restaurants that are close to home, but one night, the craving for Thai food was just too strong, and that’s how I stumbled across Thairoomgrande on Ubereats.

Their Thai shrimp rolls ($8) are a hefty size, stuffed with shredded vegetables and peppery glass noodles with whole shrimps on the ends. Despite waiting around at the restaurant and a long detour while Ubering, they remained surprisingly crispy and was the promise of good food to come.

For the most part, Thairoomgrande’s fried dishes deliver well. They smartly served the house made Thai sauce on the side so the Grands chicken wings ($11) also remained fairly crunchy. The plump wings were cooked to juicy perfection and well-seasoned so they could be eaten plain or dunked into the thinned sweet and spicy sauce.

Before biting into a dish with three chilies on the menu, make sure there’s a cold drink by your side… the restaurant does not shy away from spice! The chicken devil ($15) incorporated the typical dried red chilis stir-fried with the fowl, but the sweet and savoury sauce also gets a dose chili oil that soaks into the breaded chicken for a devilish bite. In this case, the sauce mixed with the coating isn’t the greatest choice as the breading becomes mushy when being delivered.

Their curry pad Thai ($15 with chicken) isn’t the typical plain noodles tossed with curry powder for colour. Thairoomgrande must use curry paste and powder as the rice noodles are well-coated making for flavourful bites. I wish we had ordered this dish in the same sitting as the vegetable green curry ($15) as the two should pair well together: the noodles were a little dry and needed more salt while the green curry was heavy on coconut milk and light on spice; yet, a drizzle of the green curry on the pad Thai could be a stellar combination.

For a restrained heat, the basil shrimp ($17) is a terrific choice. There’s chili oil used in the savoury sauce, but since the shrimp aren’t coated it isn’t overpowering – if anything the spiciest item in the dish is the broccoli. I’d would like more basil with the shrimp - you really need to look for the herb, there’s not enough of it that it completely permeates the dish.

Oh, but the item that impressed us the most (we ordered it again on another occasion) was the Grand seafood fried rice ($15). I haven’t been able to pinpoint what flavours the rice - my closest guess would be a cross between tom yum and something like shrimp paste.  Whatever the ingredients, the rice is spicy with elements of bright herbs and an umami finish. Absolutely delicious. Like most of their dishes, you can choose from a selection of proteins, but we’ve stuck with seafood as the shrimp, calamari rings, and imitation crab sticks goes so well with the rice.

I must admit, with all the disposable containers being used for delivery and takeout, I’ve been experiencing environmental anxiety lately – there’s so much plastic and waste! Thairoomgrande helps reduce the guilt a bit as most of their dishes arrive in biodegradable paper containers (only the saucier ones are served in dreaded black plastic). The containers are more costly, but with eateries solely doing take out and delivery, I’m glad restaurants like Thairoomgrande are trying to reduce the long-term effects of the “new normal”. Our Earth and future thanks you.