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Khao San Thai Kitchen

We actually came across this restaurant on Uptown 17th Ave by luck – the place I was wanting to eat didn’t do what we wanted them to… so, we walked around the block and came across Khao San Thai Restaurant and I’m so happy I did!

It was an odd hour for lunch as it was kind of late, but they still had quite a bit of tables out on the patio and inside as well. The service was excellent and the atmosphere was really nice. It smelled a lot like incense inside, but that smell doesn’t bother me at all.

When I finally figured out that I wanted to try their Khao Soi Gai, I ordered it and it came relative quickly! It not only looked amazing, but it tasted really good too! It’s a soup noodle dish with egg noodles, chicken thigh and had coconut milk in the soup.

We also ordered their Red Curry with Beef and the portions was fairly big! It was one of the tastier Thai curries we’ve had, so we were really excited!

Overall, the food was just amazing, the service was friendly and the bill wasn’t too damaging either! We loved it and I’m sure I’ll be back when I’m in the area! I’ve even started recommending this location to people – so hopefully it remains just as amazing!

Khao San Thai Kitchen on Urbanspoon

Khao San Thai Kitchen

1314 17th Avenue SW
Calgary, AB
(587) 353-2668

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Pad Thai – Banff

I never really make reservations while I’m in Banff as I never know where and when I am going to be anywhere. We stumbled into the Clock Tower Mall right on Banff Ave and found this Thai food place called Pad Thai. There were tables inside and outside of the restaurant (all indoors of the clock tower mall) which is kind of dingy, but that’s okay with me!

We were one of the first tables to arrive and we were allowed to sit anywhere. We chose a corner inside and by the window and it was nice! You are still “in” the restaurant and you can watch people go by and other customers! We started our lunch with a plate of their Thai Dumplings which they call “Saw Moing”. It came on a plate with 4 purple flowers. It tasted a lot like some other Vietnamese “snacks” I’ve had as it has minced pork inside and you dip it in a sauce which is kind of a mix of plum sauce and Nước chấm.

In Las Vegas, I fell in love with a dish of curry with BBQ Duck, so to my excitement, they had Red Curry with BBQ Duck and I knew immediately that it was what I wanted, with coconut rice! The portions was quite large for a lunch but it was jammed pack with thinly sliced BBQ duck in this great Thai curry sauce. Over the coconut rice, I was really satisfied.

To top everything off, I ordered one of my favourite fried dishes, which is Pad Sa Hew which has tons of different spelling for. I commonly see it spelled as “Pad Si Ew”, but regardless, it’s the same thing – my favourite thing! Basically it’s fried rice noodles with soy sauce and they make it exceptionally good here. They use nice high heat in a wok – you can taste it (there’s actually a Chinese term to describe this) but it’s one of the reasons why I love this dish from here. Tons of smoke flavour, tons of seasoning flavour, tons of goodness and the noodles weren’t all broken into little pieces.

Thai food has always had a special place in my heart as it’s food I just love as regular daily food. This little place make it quite accessible and it’s delicious! The portions are huge and the price is a tad on the high side but it sure is delicious. This make it totally worth it in my books! I’m sure I will be back sometime soon!

Pad Thai

110 banff av
Banff, AB
(403) 762-4911

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Viet Thai Bistro – Calgary, Alberta

I love looking for little places to eat, especially ethnic food cuisine that I can go to on random lazy days! I’ve found Viet Thai Bistro just off 52nd Ave SE, and I must say, I really like eating here and I look forward to the next time I return.

We’ve dined here twice already, so I’ll put the 2 dining experiences together. The restaurant is a small and intimate place that offers a few tables and mostly caters to the take-out crowd. The prices here are amazing, and I loved their appetizers! I’ve tried their Coconut Shrimp which comes in a plate of 4 shrimps for $3.00, and the shrimps were quite fresh and fried to perfection!

Another appetizer that we tried is their Chicken Wings which comes in a plate of 10 wings, and the wings are perfectly fried. The actual wings doesn’t have much flavour, but they put sweet chili sauce on top which is delicious! They don’t put so much on such that the wings are soggy, and they don’t skimp out by keeping the wings lacking in flavour – so it’s a great balance they do for the wings!

Then, during our first visit, we had more Thai style food, and we loved it! We tried Kaprow Beef which is the Spicy Basil Beef with rice. This was delicious and spicier than I first anticipated! But, as I continued eating, it made me want to order more!

The other dish we tired was the Pad Siew which is made with wide rice noodles, and fried with beef and vegetables. Again, the plate of pad siew was really generous, and the noodles were delicious! Nothing was over cooked and everything was seasoned perfectly!

The last time we went, we tried their Vietnamese cuisine, and we ordered one of their popular dishes, the Beef Pho. The bowl of noodles was quite large, however, I did find the soup noodles was rather bland.

One of my favourite foods in the entire world is Vietnamese Submarines, and I ordered the grilled Lemongrass chicken submarine which unfortunately wasn’t to my expectation. There wasn’t a lot of chicken at all, and the bun was kind of burnt, but cold. It wasn’t bad, however, I’ve had better ones in the area. I’m sure I’ll still order one if I had the craving for a Vietnamese submarine though – they’re very convenient and at this price, it’s almost worth it!

Overall, we loved this place, and the prices are extremely fair – and in fact on the cheaper side, especially with the portion sizes! The flavours are amazing, and I think I like the Thai cuisine more than the Vietnamese cuisine from Viet Thai Bistro! Regardless, I know I will be back, and probably become one of their regulars!

Viet Thai Bistro

Suite 511-15566 McIvor Blvd SE
Calgary, AB T2Z
(403) 453-2222

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Bangkoknoi Thai

I love Thai food, and one of my favourite restaurants to go to for Thai was always Bangkoknoi Thai Restaurant, so when my anniversary came, it was a perfect time to re-visit this place! The location of this restaurant is on the east side of Centre street, and parking is definitely limited in the back. I find street parking much more accessible, and easier actually!

Since it was our anniversary, it was just the 2 of us, and we ordered a lot of food! We started off with Tom Kah Gai which was a delicious soup, and something different for the typical Tom Yum Soup I normally order. It’s not that different from the Tom Yum soup actually, with notes of lemon grass, lime juice, cilantro plus the added taste of coconut milk. The coconut milk adds a whole new dimension to the soup and tones down the spiciness actually – making it quite enjoyable! The soup has slices of chicken, fresh mushrooms, and tomato chunks!

We then ordered some appetizers, and we choose Crunchy Calamari, which of course was battered calamari deep fried sweet chilli sauce

One thing I’ve always loved from Bankoknoi would be their deep fried fish! We always order their Spicy Fried Fish, and I think I had my hopes too high this time. It wasn’t as delicious as it was in the past, but it wasn’t bad at all. The fish was a tad over cooked, and the texture of the fish wasn’t flaky anymore. However, it was still super good!! It was by no means bad, just not as good as it use to be!

We ended with my all time favourite dish, Pad Sie Ew which I know as Pad Sew from other Thai places. Sadly, I can’t say this dish was done to my expectations. I had a small handful of the wide noodles, and just wasn’t seasoned much. I think I would skip this dish next time I go to Bangkoknoi.

At the end of the day, we left very satisfied and quite full! We had a fun night, with great food! It’s still a great restaurant for Thai, so I would definitely return! I’ve been returning for many years, so why stop now?

Bangkoknoi Thai on Urbanspoon

Bangkoknoi Thai

1324 Centre St N
Calgary, AB T2E
(403) 277-8424

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Chili Club Thai House – Calgary, Alberta

Thai food in Calgary is actually not bad at all! I have a few favourite locations, and I can now add Chili Club Thai House to my list of favourites! It’s a small restaurant with an intimate atmosphere. It’s a great idea to make reservations if you want to go – as the line can get long due to the amount of tables.

We started our dinner with Tom Yum Soup and most places make it so spicy it’s ridiculous, but here, they made it with tons of spice and flavour, but it’s not overly spicy! I think it’s my favourite bowl of Tom Yum soup that I’ve had in the city! This delicious hot and sour soup had lots of prawns, mushrooms and tomato in the excellent broth.

I love how rice comes in individual servings in rice cups with a lid. It really helps not only with portion control, but it keeps the rice warm much longer! It’s a great presentation and a wonderful use!

The first dish that came was the Kaeng Chak Som which was a pan fried salmon fillet with coconut, chili, & lime sauce. The lime sauce was phenomenal, as it was quite different, but the lime made it really light and refreshing! The salmon was perfectly cooked with a beautiful crust on the fish with the awesome sauce. This was my favourite dish of the evening!

Then came the Panang Duck Curry which is a decadent dish of boneless roasted duck with eggplant in a thick curry. The duck was tender and juicy with a great sauce with a nice kick of heat! It made the eggplant really enjoyable.

The last dish we ordered was Musamun Beef Curry Beef chunks sauteed in Thai curry with potatoes, onion and peanuts. This was another fantastic dish, but the least favourite of mine out of the 3 dishes. I actually found that it would’ve been nicer if the beef chunks was a tad fattier so it would be more tender. The sauce for the curry was yummy, but nothing too different or spectacular. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad – just it wasn’t as good as the other dishes!

Overall, this was a wonderful place to dine for Thai food. The prices are very reasonable for a Thai place, and the quality of the food is top notch – so it’s okay to pay a little more when it’s worth it. It’s definitely worth it here!

To top off the night, they had a complimentary dessert which tasted good, and it wasn’t too big at all! It was a lovely end to the lovely evening!

Chili Club Thai House

1904 36 St SW
Calgary, AB
(403) 217-8862