Destination Thailand’s third anniversary means another huge
festival at Yonge Dundas Square. One of the largest in Canada, the Royal Thai
Embassy transforms downtown Toronto into the friendly warm country with traditional
dances, exotic fruits, crafts, massages, Muay Thai, entertainment, and of
course authentic cuisine!
The Royal Thai Embassy also operates a worldwide certification
program, Thai Select, which grades restaurants on their authenticity. Aside
from using traditional ingredients, chefs are also judged by their cooking
method and how closely that matches actual approaches used in Thailand. In
Canada, the 88 restaurants that meet their requirements are given a premium or
red status. At the festival, eight local establishments will be featured:
- Bangkok
Garden
- Golden Thai
- Linda Modern
Thai
- Pai Toronto
- Patchmon’s
Thai Dessert
- Soi Thai
- Stratford
Thai Cuisine
- Thai Noodle
Having sampled eats from six of the eight vendors at a media
event, I can say attendees are in for a treat. Although these will likely be
the dishes served at the festival (ranging from $5-$10), the selection may
change depending on ingredient availability.
Pai’s gai ping is
the most flavourful and tender grilled chicken skewers I’ve ever had. Chef Nuit
Regular freely shared that the meat is so succulent due to being marinated in
coconut milk. Meanwhile, the rich flavours are derived from a paste of tamarind,
fish sauce, lime juice and chilies.
For something different try their moo nam tok, slices of
grilled pork jowl mixed with a spicy sweet and sour tamarind sauce that goes
perfectly with steamed sticky rice. The dish smells a good as it looks, just be
sure you can handle the heat as the chili and herb sauce on top is surprisingly
spicy.
With the success of the Regulars’ restaurants (Khao SanRoad, Pai, Sabai Sabai), it’s not surprising that Chef Nuit is Thai Select’s
ambassador of Canada where she’ll promote the program and encourage fellow restaurateurs
to uphold authentic standards. Having dined at their restaurants, there’s no
doubt that they serve the best Thai food I’ve ever had – as I write this I’m
wistful for another skewer of gai ping.
If you enjoy sauce drenched rice like myself, try the massaman lamb curry from Golden Thai. The
lamb is melt-in-your-mouth tender without any gaminess and the flavourful curry
goes so well with rice. Vegetarians, Golden Thai will also be serving tempeh or grilled tofu and vegetable satay
skewers (served with peanut, sweet Thai, or hot sauces).
The second non-meat offering at Destination Thailand comes
from Bangkok Garden who will be featuring a golden vegetable curry. If you’re a
carnivore, try their spicy cashew chicken, which although looks innocent has a
flavourful punch.
Linda Modern Thai has been experimenting with their menu to
ensure it can be reproduced with their high standards. At the media event, they
were showcasing the likely contenders:
- An interesting Thai beef salad consisting of flank steak
marinated with Thai basil coconut syrup, which has a sweet
tartness to it not unlike balsamic vinegar.
- Traditional grilled lemongrass chicken is elevated with a seafood sangwa sauce that the chef explains is like a salsa verde with fish sauce and lemongrass. It’s salty and sour against the smoky grilled chicken
and the dots of homemade sriracha are spicy without being overpowering.
Soi Thai, based on College Street, generally sells dishes reminiscent
of the street foods in Thailand. At the festival, they will be offering a
hearty complete meal: khao kha moo or
succulent braised pork hocks stewed in a flavourful soy sauce broth studded
with star anise, cinnamon, cilantro root, garlic and white peppercorns to give
it an earthy and slightly sweet seasoning.
If you find it overly rich, dip it into the spicy chili-vinegar
on the side that helps cut the grease. The pork hock arrives shredded over
steamed jasmine rice and is served with blanched gai lan (Chinese broccoli), pickled mustard greens, and half a
hard-boiled egg … you’ll leave full after this dish, so share it!
My first taste of Thai desserts was an introduction with Patchmon’s,
a family run eatery that concocts a wide variety of sweets. I love the kha-nhom chun, a chewy glutinous coconut
layer cake – you can actually peel each layer apart. Put together with coconut
cream, pandan juice and tapioca flour the dessert is light and delicious. It’s normally
served at special occasions and wishes a person good luck as they travel up the
layers.
For those who like savoury and sweet combinations, the kha-nhom sai-sai is a dumpling stuffed
with a savoury shredded coconut filling, lightly sweetened with palm sugar and
coconut cream, and then steamed in lotus leaf. Their ta-goe is another surprising dessert, starting off as a luscious
coconut cream on top but below a slightly salty tapioca layer with young
coconut and corn studded throughout.
With tons of desserts, Patchmon will be offering a
mix-and-match plate. Arrive early and try their gleeb lum duan cookies shaped like a flower. The shortbread like
cookies are finished with a food safe candle that adds a light charcoal taste
and fragrance, but it can dissipate as the day advances so won’t be as
pronounced for later customers.
Judging by the hot sunny weather Toronto has been graced
with this year, it’ll likely be a beautiful warm day. So, you’ll likely want a
cold drink to wash down all the spicy eats. Luckily, Singha beers will be on
hand selling their brews for $6; head to their special seating area for a
refreshing cold drink.
Don’t forget to pick up a free passport and have it stamped
at each vendor. Visit at least five of the restaurants and you’ll receive a
free t-shirt and be entered into a contest to win meals for two for one year (limited
to two visits per month)!
Visitors can even get a relaxing massage at two places: Shivaga
Thai Massage and Traditional Thai Massage Association of Ontario. They’ll offer
services with varying timing, but a massage is about $65. After an afternoon of
eating and drinking how relaxing would a massage be? Just try not to fall
asleep.
