Tom Yum Thai - 4010 E Hastings Street @ McDonald St.

In search of something new to tickle our palates, B and I did a trusty map search of restaurants in the area. Among the little red markers on the map, we found this thai place - Tom Yum Thai Restaurant. We saw a review that 'described it as a 'hole in the wall', so we knew we had to try it. Unfortunately we did not meet the hole in the wall prices we expected. Although the dinner was delicious, we felt it was too pricey to be a repeat regular Friday date night locale.

Having nursed our craving for Thai food, our mouths were salivating by the time we arrived at the restaurant. We ordered a Large Tom Yum Soup, Pad Prig Khing with Chicken and Panang Curry with Pork.

Tom Yum Soup (L) ($8.99)

The tom yum soup had a nice tang with a subtle spice that tickled the taste buds. We really liked that it was packed with fresh tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, and spices; the flavours were subtle, but distinct and refreshing. We ordered the soup with the shrimp option. Although the shrimp didn't add anything to the with respect to flavour, there was a generous amount of shrimp in the soup. The large was probably too large for an appetizer for two, but I'm not complaining.

Panang Curry with Pork ($8.59)

The curry sauce was a combination of coconut, peanut sauce and curry. There was also a strong lemongrass undertone. The sauce was delicious, rich and thick and went really well with the pork. In fact, once the pork was finished, B and I found ourselves drinking the rest of the sauce.

Pad Prig Khing (with chicken) ($7.99)

The pad prig khing consisted of green beans and chicken stir fried in a sweet chili sauce. Again the flavours in this dish went really well together. The sauce was light enough to showcase the vegetables, but flavourful enough that you knew you were eating thai food.

The only complaint we had about the pad prig khing and the panang curry was the level of sweetness. We felt that, although the dishes were delicious, too much sugar was used to ramp up the richness of these dishes. We were also a little disappointed that we had to purchase a separate dish of rice ($4 for both of us).

B and I really enjoyed this restaurant. It seems like they mostly cater to the takeout crowd, so there was only another table being served in the restaurant. The waiter and waitress were pleasant and prompt. We could smell garlic wafting from the kitchen as we sat down, and it was effective enough to make our tummies rumble loudly.

To sum everything up, the restaurant served some good, wholesome thai food. B and I may have been a little disappointed about the price, but probably because we were expecting a hole in the wall. A menu is available on their website if you want to check out the selection and prices for yourselves. The prices we quoted in this blog are from the online menu, however, I think the in-restaurant menu may be $0.50-$1.00 more than stated online.

Food: 8.5/10
Service: 9/10
Ambience: 7/10
Price: $19 pp

~G