Khao San Road — Restaurant in Toronto

My boyfriend and I recently visited Khao San Road for the first time, and as fans of Thai food, we were excited to try this new spot. Overall, our experience was quite enjoyable, with a few minor drawbacks.

I opted for the Bangkok-style pad thai, and it was absolutely delicious. The dish had a wonderful balance of flavours, thanks to the tamarind, fish sauce, and roasted peanuts. The combination of chicken, egg, tofu, and dried shrimp provided a great variety of textures and tastes, making each bite interesting and satisfying. The noodles were perfectly cooked, and the dish was neither too sweet nor too sour, hitting that ideal spot of authentic pad thai flavour.

My boyfriend chose the pad gra prao, which is known for its spiciness. He selected chicken as his protein, and it was fried with red bell pepper, onions, green chili, and basil, served with a fried egg over rice. He thoroughly enjoyed the dish, noting that the chicken was tender and the spice level was just right for his taste. The combination of the green chili and basil added a fragrant and spicy kick, making it a flavourful and aromatic dish. The fried egg on top was a nice touch, adding a rich and creamy element that complemented the spicy pork.

The ambiance at Khao San Road is well-decorated for a fun yet moody evening dinner. The decor is stylish and vibrant, creating an inviting atmosphere. However, we did find that the music was a little too loud, which led to everyone talking loudly to be heard over it. This made it difficult for my boyfriend and me to hear each other, which detracted slightly from our dining experience.

Despite the noise level, our overall experience at Khao San Road was positive. The food was flavourful and well-prepared, capturing the essence of authentic Thai cuisine. The Bangkok-style pad thai and pad gra prao were both standout dishes that we would definitely recommend. The ambiance, while lively and fun, could benefit from a lower music volume to allow for easier conversation.

If you're looking for delicious Thai food and a vibrant dining atmosphere, Khao San Road is a great choice. Just be prepared for a potentially noisy environment. Overall, we rate our experience 4 out of 5 stars and would definitely consider returning for...

Unimpressed. This restaurant is one of the known places in downtown Toronto for Thai food but I feel like its been overrated. Food here is decent but not the best. I was expecting more from such a high rated restaurant. Customer Service is horrible. You'll spend most of your time waiting for the bill...

I've tried the 3 flavour pad Thai with beef here. The pad Thai was extremely sweet. They overdosed on too much sauce. The beef was really tough. It smelt really good but flavour wise the flavour was not much different from any other Thai place.

I also tried the red curry here. I'm not sure if the curry was supposed to be that watery. But it was like liquid. I just expected the consistency to be a little thicker like other places. Flavour wasn't as strong either and a little on the sweeter side. There was little chicken and it was dry. As for the rice, the rice was undercooked and really hard even when you soak it in the curry.

Lastly, the Thai iced tea is really good. The drink was thick and strong. Full of tea flavour.

Note: if you order the drink with no ice, they give you a smaller cup.

Overall, food was not worth the wait. Decent but could do better.

As for customer service it is horrible. Waiting for a table took a while, then waiting for food, then waiting for the bill. The bill took like 20 minutes to come. I had my credit card out and ready to pay already and the waiter just gives me the bill and walks away to do other stuff. She could clearly tell I was ready to pay too.... like really? I was standing up, all packed and everything too. Didn't cash me out until another 10 minutes.

Now I see why there's always a wait. Because the waiters drag time when cashing out the bills.

P.S. There's a bar upstairs while you wait. They serve different appetizers and drinks. We tried the skewer, they were delicious. The pork skewer, the meat was tender and juicy. The chicken skewers was not overcooked and also really juicy and flavourful. This apparently was made by a different chef. The flavours of the food were strong and not as sweet...

I got the chicken khao soi. There are different levels of spiciness you can get, and I requested Extreme Thai Spicy. When I said this, the waitress told me to read the print above the spiciness level to make sure I know they can’t fix it if it ends up being too spicy for me. However, her attitude wasn’t that she wanted to be helpful, it was more of a “don’t be stupid and ask for a refund later” type of attitude.

The food also took forever to come out. I noticed the lime wedge that I was supposed to use to squeeze lime juice into my bowl was in a spoon filled with soup; how was I supposed to pick it up without getting my hand dirty?

Upon trying 1-2 spoonfuls of the soup, I realized it’s quite bland and unreasonably salty and I drank a whole glass of water because of it. The noodles themselves are also plain and something you’d get in a supermarket. It took a very long time to get anyone’s attention and we were basically ignored.

The first thing the waitress said was “I asked if the wings were good to your friend and she said yes, and you guys didn’t speak up about your own dishes so I assumed you were fine with it.” Well, I didn’t say anything at the time because I didn’t really get a chance to taste my dish yet lmao. She just seemed annoyed and defensive.

She said she needs to take my dish back and have the chef confirm it’s actually salty (lol?). At that point I already knew what the answer was going to be. Then she came back and said this dish was fine (lmao). And said she can’t fix it either because I already ate the fried noodles on top (I don’t get how that has anything to do with not being able to fix it lol). And also said that I ate some chicken pieces already too so she won’t do anything about it.

The one star reviews on Google are accurate. I don’t know how this place even got good reviews (or why it’s popular). It was so bad I just paid for it and asked for it to be taken away. Bad service, bad food, bad...