thai – Elsie Hui

December 22, 2018December 31, 2018

Tuk Tuk Thai – Calgary, Alberta

We were at work and wanted something unique for lunch. All the places that delivered didn’t do it to our area, including Tuk Tuk Thai which she was really craving. So, we decided to hit this place up after work.

We lucked out that we got a parking spot pretty close to the front of the restaurant and the place wasn’t busy. It was a simple menu with fantastic service and great explanation of the menu and food. I decided to try their Cashew Chicken which was a generous portion of crispy chicken, greens, carrots and cashews with sweet & sour chili sauce all over rice. The presentation was extremely beautiful and it opens into a beautiful plate. The food was phenomenal as well.

I also ordered their Thai iced tea, and that was pretty amazing as well. It was a well flavoured tea that wasn’t too sweet or too strong. It was actually just right. We also had an order of Pad Thai which they had a huge portion of rice noodles, with chicken and pad thai sauce. The portions were extremely generous again and the food was hot and tasty.

Overall, it was an extremely enjoyable experience here, with great view outside, great food, and great company. I can imagine this place being crazy busy on a summers night, or a day where everyone just wants to do take out as there’s lot of residential buildings around. I really enjoyed the Thai food from here!

Tuk Tuk Thai

636 17 Avenue SW,
Calgary, AB
403-455-0999

September 15, 2015September 15, 2015

Thai Pagoda – Canmore, Alberta

I was wanting some Thai food, as we recently had some that was quite disappointing. We found Thai Pagoda which is in Canmore on the main avenue of Bow Valley Trail and it’s not a large place and there’s parking outside.

I knew I wanted their hot soup as it was a chilly day, so we order Tom Kha Noodle Soup which is their spicy coconut milk soup, basically like a Tom Yum with coconut milk. We ordered this soup with chicken and it hit the spot. The soup was quite tasty and there was a good amount of noodles too! The broth was really nicely made and the noodles were a little under cooked, but as it socked up the soup, it turned out to be really flavourful.

We also ordered one of my favourite Thai dishes, we got a plate of their Pad Sa Hew and it was pretty delicious here, and it’s quite a simple dish, but it was pretty good! The dish was fresh and it was good! I really love the soft noodles with the sweet soy sauce, and that’s why this item always makes it to the top of my favourite Thai dish list!

We ended with their Sticky Mango and it was amazing! The mango tasted amazing, the rice was nice, and it was just an awesome dessert! Definitely one of our favourite sticky mango dish!

Overall, the food here was amazing! I can’t wait to come back for more dessert! The food tastes quite authentic! We had an amazing experience here!

Thai Pagoda

1306 Bow Valley Trail,
Canmore, AB
(403) 609-8090

January 5, 2015

Chili Island – Calgary, Alberta

This year for Christmas eve, we thought we were so smart and made reservations to a place that didn’t open. So, we were left on a scramble with a lot of other families looking for a place to eat! We found Chili Island that was opened, and luckily we found a good parking spot as it was busy!

We were seated right away and we were expecting service to be really slow as they were very busy with dine in customers as well as take out. They actually did an amazing job getting food to their hungry customers! We started with a soup, their Gar Tom Khars Soup which was their Thai Chicken and Mushroom soup with coconut milk. I like it because the coconut milk helps with the spiciness of Thai soups! It was delicious and extremely fragrant and flavourful!

Then, we got an order of their Peek Kai yod Sai which was Thai Stuffed Chicken Wings which was really quite shocking! The order had 4 wings which were super sized. The middle portion of the wing was deboned and stuffed with minced pork and other goodies, and then deep fried! It was amazing and gigantic and really quite spectacular as it was something we’ve never had before! I would highly recommend this dish/appetizer but make sure you come with a big appetite!

For the main entree, we shared an order of their Cantonese Chow Mein which is really nicely done! The fried noodles were crispy, using the thin egg noodles and topped with really fresh veggies and meat! The entire dish was cooked well, seasoned well, and priced well! We thought for sure we would have left overs for Christmas lunch, but everything tasted so good we decided to enjoy everything fresh. After you take these noodles home, it won’t be crispy, and we didn’t want it to go to waste!

Our overall experience for Chili Island was it was surprisingly delicious and not exactly overpriced for the food you get and the portions! We had a wonderful time and realized what an amazing job they did, even with such a large rush of customers! I am sure we will be back, with no hesitation!

Chili Island

4600 130 Ave SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 726-0733

December 21, 2014

Rose Garden Thai Restaurant – Calgary, Alberta

I really enjoy eating Thai cuisine and we had an chnace to make it to Stephen Avenue one afternoon where Rose Garden was actually opened for lunch! Without hesitation, we went inside and the place is decorated beautifully!

Once we sat down, we we were approached by really friendly staff and they were quick and knowledgeable. We started with an appetizer called Spicy Deep Fried Thai Fish Cakes and they were really delicious! The fish cakes were flavourful and tender while fried to a nice golden brown outside crisp! It’s like no other appetizer we have had before and I enjoyed this thoroughly. It was not fishy at all!

We had an order of their Thai Curries and we decided we would try their Yellow Chicken curry with potatoes and chicken strips. The curry was mild to medium and it came with quite a few pieces of chicken. The presentation was extraordinary which was really nice!

The last dish we tried was their Pineapple Curry with Prawns which was my favourite. I really like prawns and pineapples, so I ate this dish completely! It was spicy, but it was toned down with the crushed pineapples and coconut milk! It was delicious and I would recommend this dish if you enjoy fruits in your savoury dishes!

Of course, a Thai meal wouldn’t be completed with Coconut Rise to soak up all the delicious sauces from the dishes! We ate everything up – thinking there would be leftovers for the following day or dinner. We couldn’t bare the thought of this waiting to get reheated! It was quite an enjoyable lunch!

Overall, the food and service was top-notch! The location can be tricky if you’re not use to parking downtown or don’t like paying for parking. There’s always the option for public transportation as well. The prices seems a little high, but the location is quite exceptional! It was a fantastic experience and we hope to be back again soon!

Rose Garden Thai

112 8 Ave SW
Calgary, AB
(403) 263-1900

April 12, 2014

White Elephant Thai Cuisine – Calgary, Alberta

I’ve been going through some personal things and it’s been making me kind of depressed lately. The few cravings I’ve been wanting lately have been complete fails and so when I had a craving for Thai Chicken Pineapple Fried Rice, I looked for a place with the best reviews and found White Elephant Thai Cuisine inside the hotel. I was kind of low on patience when I got there and they said to me it was cash only and a wait. Good thing my husband decided to do the wait as I was happy with the food! We started our meal with their Hot and Sour Soup with Chicken or what they call Tom Yum Gai which is one of my favourite Thai soups. It’s fragrant and spicy, well balanced.

Of course, with my craving, I ordered their Pineapple Fried Rice with Chicken and it was exceptional. It was spicier than expected but nothing I can’t handle, especially after the tom yum soup. The portion size was large, tons of chicken and pineapples and I was really quite satisfied with this fried rice.

Then, we ordered some Red Curry with Beef and Pineapples as my husband knows I love pineapples. We had an order of coconut rice with it, and I was expecting us to bring some curry home… but we actually ate the entire thing. The beef was tender, tons of slices of beef as well. Again, tons of pineapple and the curry was smooth and delicious. The coconut rice was a great with this dish!

After my visit here, I have no problem returning here for any Thai craving that I may want. It’s not cheap here, but the portions are quite large. It’s great for sharing! The location is a little intersting as it’s located inside a hotel and there’s not much signage to the location, but follow your nose! I really enjoyed my evening here. It is smoky as the ventilation isn’t great, and the service is kind of slow… so, don’t come when you’re on a tight schedule and you’ll enjoy it!

White Elephant Thai Cuisine

1808 19 Street N.E
Calgary, AB
(403) 464-8558