where jess ate

I’ve only ever had delivery from Sukhothai’s original hole-in-the-wall location on Parliament. Having really enjoyed the pad thai, even when it was take-out, I was happy to hear a second location across from St. Lawrence Market had opened.

Sukhothai is owned by the husband-and-wife duo, Jeff and Nuit Regular. Having brought us the popular Khao San Road (although they are no longer there) and Sabai Sabai, they’ve got some serious cred.

Upon entering the restaurant, I was surprised at how large it was. It’s very spacious and is decorated with sleek and modern décor.

Four of us arrived for lunch around 1pm on a Saturday to find it pretty empty. I imagine it’s a lot busier for dinner. And while it wasn’t very busy, I have to add that our server wasn’t very attentive…

Anyway, to drink, I ordered a Thai Iced Tea ($4). It’s tasty but also quite sweet and creamy so if you’re looking for something light and refreshing, I wouldn’t recommend ordering this.

We started off with some Shrimp Chips – with tamarind dip ($5) which arrived in an enormous bowl. They were really, really addictive. They tasted great on their own but I also liked the sweetness from the tamarind dip. They’d make for a great bar snack!

Another starter we ordered was the Garlic Chicken ($9). There’s also garlic tofu or garlic shrimp, if that’s your preference. The bite-sized pieces of chicken were nicely fried and weren’t greasy at all. Crisp and garlicky with a bit of sweet and sour sauce. Another great sharing appetizer!

Having heard some great things about the Tom Yum Kung – hot and sour shrimp soup with herbs ($6), I made sure to order this on my visit. We ordered the starter size but you can get a larger entrée size which comes with a side of rice.

The server asked us what spice level we preferred and we decided on medium. It was actually quite spicy but so. damn. good. It had a strong cilantro flavour and was easily one of the best tom yum soups I’ve had. Don’t miss out!

Our first entrée was the Khao Soi – yellow noodles in curry gravy with beef ($14). This Northern Thai specialty came topped with green onions, coriander and fried noodles. You can get this with chicken instead of beef but the beef came highly recommended by our server.

It tasted nearly identical to the version at Khao San Road but that’s definitely not a bad thing. I loved the sweet, rich curry with the tender chunks of beef and the crisp noodle topping gave it a nice crunch. Delicious!

Another favourite we ordered was the SukhoThai Pad Thai ($14). There’s a regular pad thai on the menu for $1 less but it won’t come with cilantro, peanuts and lime. Similar to a lot of the other entrees, you get to choose your protein – chicken, beef, shrimp or tofu. We opted for shrimp. Their pad thai is a little sweet but I like it that way. Just as good as I remembered!

The last entrée we shared was the Gaeng Panang – panang with Thai basil, tamarind sauce, onions and deep fried shallots ($12). Since we already had some chicken, beef and shrimp, we decided to go with tofu for this one. Unfortunately, we weren’t huge fans of this dish and all agreed it was the least successful dish we tried.

It just didn’t have the flavour punch we were looking for. It just seemed a little toned down…could it have been the tofu?

Sukhothai only has two desserts – tapioca and Cassava Cake ($4). We went with the latter which was described in the menu as a “tender dessert made from cassava, coconut milk, coconut strips.”  It was soft like a rice cake and had just the right amount of sweetness.

Overall, I really enjoyed the food at Sukhothai. Being a fan of all their other Thai ventures, Jeff and Nuit Regular can seem to do no wrong!

At a glance:
• The second, recently opened location of Sukhothai
• Located on Wellington near St. Lawrence Market
• Large space with modern décor
• Open for lunch and dinner Mondays to Saturdays; closed Sundays
• Don’t miss the amazing Tom Yum Kung (hot and sour shrimp soup)

Ratings (out of 5):
• Food: 4 stars
• Service: 2 stars
• Atmosphere: 3 stars