where jess ate

Pai (@PaiToronto) is the newest addition to the Regular’s growing family of Thai restaurants. It joins Sukhothai (three of them!) and the tapas-style Sabai Sabai.

Located in the entertainment district on Duncan St., Pai is named after a northern Thailand town where Nuit and Jeff Regular first met. Since opening Sukhothai in 2008 and Khao San Road (which they are no longer affiliated with), Torontonians have had the pleasure of enjoying Nuit’s cooking.

Pai’s space is located in a basement and is a lot bigger than I expected. It features a long bar and a mixed bag of seating options  – cushioned floor seating, high-tops, bar seating, regular table seating as well as a private room available for large groups.

The menu at Pai is inspired by Northern Thailand, consisting of an extensive list of snacks/starters, noodles, soups, curries and noodle/rice dishes.

We started out with the Grabong – vegetarian deep fried squash fritters with a garlic tamarind dip ($10). I guarantee you’ll fall in love with this tangled web of deep fried squash. Pull it apart and dip it into the sweet and sour tamarind dip. It’s such a perfect bite! While I’d call this a must-order, I’d only recommend doing so if you have at least three people. It’s a lot to tackle for two people and it’s quite filling. You’ll definitely want to save room for all their other dishes.

The other appetizer we shared was the Gai Satay – grilled curry marinated chicken skewers served with peanut sauce ($11) which consisted of five skewers. While I found the chicken a tad dry on its own, the tasty peanut sauce definitely helped. It was a decent starter but not particularly memorable.

Up next was Chef Nuit’s Pad Thai – stir fried rice noodles in a tamarind sauce with beansprouts, tofu, eggs, chives, Thai coriander, fresh lime and roasted peanuts ($14). Like most of their entrees, you get to choose your own protein – chicken, beef, pork, tofu, veggie or shrimp.

Chef Nuit definitely knows her way around a pad thai. Before Sukhothai, I don’t think you could call what I was eating pad thai. Her version has a nice balanced sweetness to it – quite addictive! I doubt you’ll be able to eat just a spoonful.

Another carb-heavy dish we ordered was the Pad Gra Prow – stir fried ground chicken, beef or pork stir fried with holy basil and oyster sauce, served on steamed jasmine rice and topped with a thai-style fried egg ($14). I love how something so seemingly simple on paper and in presentation can be so delicious and satisfying. One of my favourites of the evening!

You can’t come to Pai without ordering a curry or two. One of our choices was the Gaeng Kiaw Wan – green curry with bamboo shoots, karffir lime leaves, basil leaves, green peppers and coconut milk ($16). We chose fish (tilapia) for the protein and it worked incredibly well. In contrast to the pad gra prow, the presentation of this green curry was impressive as it came served in a coconut. My only complaint is that the curry is quite runny so it doesn’t soak up into the rice quite as nicely. And I really wanted to soak up every bit of that delicious curry.

The other curry we decided on was the Gaeng Hunglay – pork belly or oxtail in a sweet & sour, ginger curry, served with steamed jasmine rice ($15). When we chose oxtail, our server warned us that there are a lot of bones in it so it requires more work… but it’s definitely worth it. Nothing beats a hearty oxtail stew! I loved this rich brown curry. It’s something I’d order again in a heartbeat.

Unfortunately I found the service to be a little hit and miss. They were very accommodating when I discovered our reserved table was a high-top and they happily switched us to a regular table to accommodate a baby. However, our server seemed a little forgetful at times when we’d ask her for extra bowls or requested an extra setting as we were missing one. Nevertheless, we had a great meal at Pai. The food was delicious and I’d expect nothing less from the Regulars!

At a glance:

• Northern Thai-inspired restaurant located in the Entertainment District (Duncan St)
• Brought to us by Nuit and Jeff Regular (who also own Sukhothai)
• Takes reservations; Open Mon to Sat for lunch/dinner; Sundays, for dinner only; closed all statutory holidays
• Low-key, casual atmosphere; plenty of seating (cushioned floor seating, bar seating, high-tops as well as a private room for large groups)
• Favourites: Grabong (fried squash fritters), pad gra prow and gaeng hunglay (with oxtail)

Ratings (out of 5):

• Food: 4 stars
• Service: 2.5 stars
• Atmosphere: 4 stars