Toronto is home to some of the best and most versatile restaurants in the world. I am a huge fan of Thai food, one dish in particularly actually, Pad Thai. I have made it one of my missions this summer to find the best Pad Thai in Toronto. I’ll try the place out and give you all a yea or nay on whether to head over and try it for yourselves.
First up is Thai Princess, located just East of Spedina on King St. West. From the outside, it isn’t the nicest place to look at, and sort of fades into the background of the surrounding buildings. Don’t let this deceive you though, from my experience the best authentic food comes from the “hole in the wall” places.
Walking inside you can tell the décor is outdated, but it isn’t worn down. It is very cozy and the staff are extremely welcoming. Probably one of the best and nicest servers I have ever had in Toronto. This all makes the atmosphere pleasing, but now down the important part…the food.
I was very hungry when I arrived here, so I ordered the spring rolls as an appetizer. My waitress recommended them as she informed me that they were homemade in house. As a Pad Thai lover as well, naturally I ordered the house Pad Thai. The spring rolls came to my table very hot, and were nicely presented on top of a bed of bean sprouts. Taking the first bite, the edges crunched nicely, and the flavours exploded in my mouth. The filling was nicely seasoned, and there were no strings of bean sprouts that got dragged out of the inside on each bite. This was probably the best spring roll I have ever had! (Keep in mind this is the first Thai restaurant I’ve tried in Toronto, besides Thai Express, so these spring rolls might be overtaken soon). It was very well put together, and put me in a generally good mood as I anticipated my main dish coming out soon.
The Pad Thai had your traditional ingredients: chicken, shrimp, tofu, and egg, with the rice noodles and sauce. I find that most Pad Thai’s I’ve tried have similar ingredients, but what really makes the dish is the sauce. As more and more restaurants in the Toronto area are using a mostly ketchup based sauce nowadays (yes I said ketchup based), it is becoming increasingly harder to find the authentic cuisine with authentic sauce. Thai Princess had an authentic tasting sauce, however I could not put it on the same level as the spring rolls. The noodles were cooked correctly, and there were hardly any that stuck together. (This is a big deal to me. You don’t realize how much you appreciate unstuck noodles until you get a dish with them all stuck together). Don’t get me wrong, it was very good, however I have had better. The dish had a classic Thai smell and taste, but there wasn’t that…pazow I was looking to get. Good food for a fair price if you aren’t too picky and want a little taste of real Thai food.
Thai Princess is a great little restaurant, however I wouldn’t recommend making special arrangements to try it out. If you’re in the area, or looking for a good place to eat downtown, definitely try it, and order the spring rolls!
Until next time, I’m Josh, Toronto’s newest and fastest up and coming food critic. Leave a comment or follow me on Twitter at: @thefoodfiles, and let me know some other restaurants you’d like me to review!
P.S. They also offer a Pad Thai that has gluten free sauce. As more and more people are becoming celiac these days, I’m gonna do my best to point those Gluten affected people towards some great food alternatives. Unfortunately for Thai Princess, the gluten free sauce was very bland, almost tasting like plain rice noodles. I would not recommend this plate here, but it is my goal to find the best one!
