Isaan Der - Thai Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in Toronto

As a Chef, Having others to cook for me is always amazing, especially when your retire your own knives for the night. Isaan Der has great food and was our hidden little Jem that we shared with our clients. Yet, one night we decided to offer in from Isaan Der and this is when we unfortunately have to share our thoughts. Could you imagine leaving work and ordering food from Isaan Der via Über Eats and exciting that you get to settle in with your family for a meal! Now, living not more than 5 minutes away from this restaurant and 48 min from ordering we were watching the driver on the Über App just sitting at the Isaan Der restaurant for over 28 min. Confused, as the Über App indicated the food was picked up 26 min ago! We tried to contact the driver and unfortunately no success as he sat there at the restaurant with his Über App confirming our food has been picked up. So we called the restaurant and inquired why our food was now over one hour from being delivered! After a few calls and speaking with several people from the restaurant all to which gave us different stories! Confused, to all their different stories that didn’t add up, I wanted the truth! It’s fine, when you can indicate to your client that “we are behind and sorry” but in speaking with the manager/owner and to hear the 3rd different story as to why the food was sitting there still after 65 min was ridiculous! #1st call after the 1hr -Has our food left? •Thanks Sir, driver has left! “Ok”! Then Über App sends us a indication 🚨 alert “Your order has been picked up and is awaiting another order to same on Costs”!! #2 call to restaurant -We asked why the drivers Über App indicates that our food has been picked up but, yet our Über App states that it’s still there at the restaurant waiting for another order to be combined for the same driver to deliver. •on the phone with the girl from Isaan Der tells us the food has left!, yet the Über App says differently! Not knowing to them, we hear another voice in the background talking to her at the restaurant and telling the girl on the phone, that “we had to re-cook the order because we gave the order to another customer”! We politely hung up and hoped for the best since we were 5 min away from the restaurant! #3 call to the restaurant -after identifying myself as a customer that enjoys coming in and ordering takeout from them, we asked one more time has our food left? This time a rude man claiming to be the Boss •Tells us that it’s the Über Driver and the driver has left 30 min ago. Also, telling us he has no idea what our Problem is and to call Über customer service! Then he had the nerve not to admit their mistake but try to convince we were wrong about blaming the restaurant as the App is wrong and we don’t understand how it works! -Unfortunately I had to tell this Boss guy that the Über App doesn’t lie and it tracks our paid food orders at the restaurant before delivery and when it leaves the restaurant to be delivered -Über diver pulls up to our house and was so friendly, we asked politely what happened?! •He told us exactly what we heard on the phone in the background while talking to the restaurant. •The Drivers own words “Their order was mistakenly given to another customer and the driver was to wait for our order to be completed as he was holding another customers order in his delivery hot Bag”! He then told us the customers food that he had with ours was canceled as he was on his way to us and asked us if we wanted it?! Wow, great no problem , thanks! -As we opened the bags of food the incredible smell filled our lungs. ••••••please continue reading the next review as we are limited on how mush we can...

Isaan Der is at the junction area on Dundas St W.

The restaurant is pretty easy to find and is easily accessible via the ttc.

I went on a Sunday around 3pm without a reservation, the restaurant was full of people but there were still some open seating.

Ordering: there are 2 different menus (food menu, and drink menu) given to you when you sit down, as well as a picture of the monthly special.

Cost: I paid $65 not including tax for my meal. I got the lamb shank curry ($28), starter platter ($24)*, and a Isaan Iced Tea ($13). I went with a friend and the starter platters full price was charged to both of us (instead of being split). So if you do go to Isaan Der please double check your bill and your friend's bill before paying. I had originally thought that the waitress had given me the starter to pay for instead of my friend (which was fine) but once conferring after leaving the restaurant we realized we both were charged for the full price of the starter. As we both did not get receipts and had already gotten on the TTC we decided not to go contend the cost back at the restaurant.

Wait Time: Really slow, about 45mins - 1 hour to get food. There was one chef working that Sunday so the wait time was really long to get drinks and food.

The starter platter was alright, the best tasting item on it in my opinion was the thai fishcakes. The fishcakes were juicy, served hot and had a great crunch to them with the breading fried just right. The calamari was tasty as well, it was breaded and served hot. The other starter items were just okay. I got the lamb shank curry and was pretty disappointed in it. I had requested it to be spicy. The spice was not really there it felt like it might've been medium or mild spice level. The lamb shank itself had a mild taste and was not fall off the bone. It was kind of tough in some places but soft in others. The curry had a mild taste as well. I didn't really think it complemented the lamb at all. The vegetables in the lamb shank were really tough to chew and not soft at all. It felt like the vegetables needed to be cooked longer. The jasmine rice was cooked really well, but I found it didn't really fit the meal texturally (hard vegetables, and soft and hard pieces of lamb shank, and soft rice). The drink was aesthetically pleasing and had a very refreshing taste. It did get watery really quickly so if you do get it be sure to drink it quickly.

Overall: the seating area is alright, and the colours and atmosphere of the restaurant are great. The food was pretty hit or miss which is surprising given all the high reviews. Also please double check the bill with your friends if you are...

I recently ate at Isaan Der and had the pleasure of meeting the proprietor, Chef Ko. She is a very lovely woman from Thailand who strives to provide an authentic Thai experience through the décor, service and food. The dining room was very clean and modern with Thai accents and flair. Our servers checked up on us often and cleared our tables very quickly. My table ordered a variety of items. For the app, we had the Golden Bags which I'll describe as a soup dumpling with curry. Delicious! For the main entrees, we had the Fresh Noodles Pad Thai Soft-shell Crab. The crab was both tender and a really light crispiness. It was amazing! We also had the Duck Red Curry. The curry sauce mixed with the perfectly tender duck was superb. We were also treated to a Chef special Thai Peanut Lettuce Wrap with crispy fish. The flavors complimented each other so well and you can distinctly taste every element of the dish! Our last entrée was the BBQ Pork Jowl. The texture of the pork was perfect. Light crispiness with tender pork meat for every bite. It was definitely my favorite. Lastly for desert, we had a classic mango coconut sticky rice. The presentation was great with all the ingredients forming a heart. I wish I took more pictures but my party dove right into the food. Overall I had an amazing dining experience and hope to come back soon. The food was great and reminds me of my trip to Thailand when I was younger. Chef Ko told me that she has 3 restaurants in the GTA area. I visited the Dundas location which she says is her original and first restaurant in Canada. I encourage anyone whose curious or craving Thai fine dining to give it a shot, you will not be...