Pai Northern Thai Kitchen

Pai (@PaiToronto) is a fantastic Northern Thai restaurant in Toronto that serves authentic cuisine with sophisticated flavours. Without reservations, you can wait up to an hour on weekends for a table, but it's worth it.  Some opt to sit at the bar when seating is scarce in the main dining area, but others request to sit on the floor without shoes in a traditional setting and larger parties can book private dining.  But, my favourite spot is a nook that offshoots from the main area where vintage vinyl album covers from the likes of Al Greene, Clapton, Queen, and Bob Marley decorate exposed brick walls.

My drink of choice has always been a Thai iced tea at Pai.  It consists of a robust tasting tea mixed with plenty of ice and condensed milk, a great combination to tackle the Phet Mak Mak (Thai spicy) spiciness level that you can foolishly choose for your appetizers and mains.  

Thai Iced Tea

I typically order a main as an appetizer since they are priced similarly, but my last visit, I ordered the plah nua  (beef salad).  It featured tender grilled beef cooked to medium with shredded cabbage and a tangy lime fish sauce.  Delicious! 

Plah Nua
(beef salad)

You won't find an inferior ketchup-based pad thai here (think Springrolls).  Instead, you get these bouncy rice noodles mixed with a flavourful tamarind-based sauce.  In addition to your choice of chicken, beef, pork or tofu and veggies, all the usual suspects are present:  crunchy bean sprouts, egg, tofu, aromatic chives, fragrant coriander, roasted peanuts, shredded cabbage and slices of fresh lime.  All of the ingredients mingle together to create depth and layers of complexity.  I love how the dish excels by balancing savoury and acidic elements while not having to rely heavily on sweetness to satisfy "foreigners."

Chef Nuit Beef Pad Thai

Chef Nuit Shrimp Pad Thai

The pad gra prow is deceptively simple.  It's just stir fried ground meat (chicken, beef or pork) on top of rice right?  Wrong.  First, it is essential to add the crispy pork belly, which is a delightful accompaniment to the ground meat .  It's so sinfully crispy that it must be fried twice.  But don't worry, the cucumber is there to cut some of the fat.  The fried egg usually has a runny yolk, which is used to combine all the ingredients into a cohesive whole along with the oyster sauce.  The chilies on the plate and in the tangy nam plik nam pla sauce (fish sauce, garlic, lime) give the dish a nice kick! 

Pad Gra Prow

The khao soi here (with a choice of braised beef, chicken breast or chicken drumsticks) is one of my favourites in the city!  The deep fried crispy noodles always tower into the sky and the tender egg noodles absorb all the exquisite flavour of the golden curry below.  The curry is rich and creamy but not heavy enough to prevent me from consuming it with rice after I am done all the noodles... Why waste good curry?  My only complaint is that I don't always receive mustard vegetables with my khao soi, which is essential in creating the ultimate experience.  

Khao Soi with Chicken Drumsticks

Khao Soi with Braised Beef

Rice is an excellent canvas to capture all the bold and full-bodied flavours of all of Pai's curries but also their soups!  The gaeng masaman tamarind curry is a terrific comfort food dish for its tender braised beef, starchy potatoes, and crispy shallots.  The gaeng kiaw wan green curry served in a coconut is ordered more for its novelty than taste but you get superb taste from the kaffir lime and basil leaves.  The gaeng hunglay is a sweet and sour ginger curry served with either pork belly or oxtail.  The fall-off-the-bone oxtail was unbelievably tender!

Gaeng Masaman with Braised Beef

Gaeng Kiaw Wan in a Coconut

Gaeng Hunglay with Oxtail

In all, with aromatic Thai herbs and spices at their arsenal, Pai successfully finds the harmonious balance between sweetness, saltiness, and acidity in their dishes.  It's a must-go restaurant in Toronto!

Pai Northern Thai Kitchen
18 Duncan Street
Toronto, ON M5H 3G8
Canada

Date Last Visited:  April 17, 2015

The Grand Opening of Poutineville in Toronto!

Poutineville's First Toronto Location!

There was nobody more excited yet apprehensive at yesterday's grand opening of Poutineville (@PoutineVille) in Toronto's Annex than the Urban Foodie.  As a lover of poutine, I was delighted to hear back in April from Michael Fresco that there would be another entrant into the Toronto poutine scene.  But, would Poutineville live up to the hype?  

Poutineville was promising an upscale sit down establishment where you could have a drink and choose from a variety of specialty poutines such as the Filet Mignon (fresh crispy home fries topped with cubed, tender AAA filet mignon, sauteed mushrooms, caramalized onions, fresh cheese curds with a hint of blue cheese and home made pepper sauce).  But what if you were feeling creative and adventurous?  You could customize your own poutine from the type of potatoes and cheeses right down to the meats, vegetables and sauces!  Throw in the infamous Heart Attack poutine (a $100 poutine weighing over 15lbs) and you have elements of a poutine joint that Toronto has never seen.  A winning formula in my mind... 

But that's why I was feeling so apprehensive leading up to my first bite at Poutineville.  I really wanted this place to fulfill my expectations... my poutine dreams if you will.  

So how was it?

In the evening, Poutineville was dimly lit with Edison bulb lights throughout... how romantic I thought :).  The interiors had exposed wood and brick giving the ambiance a cool industrial look.  It seemed like the white counter top bar with under-lighting was well stocked.  Speakers were scattered throughout the place pumping out top 40s music while TV screens played the accompanying music videos.  I'm sure this place is going to be a favourite amongst the after clubbing crowd... it is open until 4am from Thursday to Saturday after all.

So how is the poutine?

Below is an image of the create your own poutine menu.  You can check off whatever you wish and any box with a number beside it represents an add-on dollar value to the base price.

Create your own Poutine!

While tempting, I opted to order the Shepherd's Pie poutine and the namesake poutine, the Poutineville.

Shepherd's Pie ($12)
 Hand crushed potatoes* with fresh cheese curds, minced beef, corn, peas topped with their home made poutine sauce and melted mozzarella cheese

The Shepherd's Pie poutine was delicious!  I liked how there were 2 types of cheese.  You have your traditional squeaky cheese curds scattered throughout the mess of poutine and on top you have a baked mozzarella cheese canopy.  The cheese canopy had crispy broil marked parts as well as areas of melted, gooey goodness!  Because it was baked, the temperature of the dish was warm throughout.  Also, the poutine actually tasted like a Shepherd's pie with familiar ingredients such as minced beef, corn, and peas.  The peas made the poutine extra fragrant and is an ingredient that really distinguishes the dish. *What I didn't realize until after I left was that the Shepherd's pie poutine was served with regular cut fries instead of the hand crushed potato variety as per the description.  Perhaps they ran out of hand crushed potatoes?  Opening day kinks?  I thought the hand cut fries worked well in the dish but a little notice would have been appreciated.  

Poutineville ($12)
 A house specialty of hand crushed potatoes* with fresh cheese curds and mozzarella topped with their slow 8 hour home cooked braised beef and wine sauce

I usually resist the temptation to get braised beef in restaurants because it often isn't done well and this frequently results in dry, tough meat.  Poutine with braised beef typically would not be the exception had it not been the namesake dish of the restaurant.  I mean, I had to order it, it's their specialty!  To my surprise, the braised beef was moist, tender and flavourful, perhaps they really did slow cook it for 8 hours...  It was tasty but it was a bit on the cold side.  It's probably because the beef is cooked separately from everything else and sits at room temperature while waiting to be part of a greater whole.  It wouldn't be a problem if the wine sauce was piping hot and covered the entire poutine but that was a miss on both parts... I'm just going to give them the benefit of the doubt and attribute this to opening night jitters.  The wine sauce wasn't too acidic like I feared and instead it made for a full-bodied sauce.  The cheese curds were squeaky which is a must for a great poutine.  Unfortunately, the hand crushed potatoes were substituted for regular fries without my knowledge as well.

Overall, I still had a great time at Poutineville.  I'm sure they will will work out their kinks and become one of the elite poutine places in Toronto - I have faith!  I'll give them another chance to serve me the hand crushed potatoes I've heard so much about.  I'll also definitely go back to eat a Montrealer... smoked meat poutine topped with a fried pickle!  Ironically, the Montrealer comes with the regular cut variety...