Eating Thai in Calgary

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Hey guys....I'm in search of Calgary's BEST Thai restaurant(s). I don't need anything fancy. Just authentic and GOOD.

Any recommendations?

[Delphinus]

Two down in the south that I've tried, Thai Nongkhai (right next door to Elite aquarium), and Royal Thai in Avenida mall.

There's the King & I on 11th, but it's pretty swanky and pricey.

Heard good things about the Chili Club and the Spicy Hut but haven't been to them myself yet.

Another one I want to try the Ruan Thai.

HTH!

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Thanks Tony! I actually have been to Thai Nongkhai, and thought it was pretty good! Same with Royal Thai (I live right across the street )

[Delphinus]

Here's a list I just stumbled across:
http://www.where.ca/calgary/subcateg...itle_id~82.htm

[Delphinus]

So were those two, fairly comparable to what you had when you lived in Thailand? All I know is that I thought they were good, but wasn't sure how they'd compare to the real stuff...

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Thanks for the link, Tony!

I'd say that Royal Thai was delicious, but not as authentic, per se, as Thai Nongkhai. The latter was really really good. At least the one dish I had (laab naamtok)!

[Delphinus]

Dang it... for some reason now I'm hungry.

[Delphinus]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Another one I want to try the Ruan Thai.

Going to nominate myself for dumbest person ever. There's this Thai restaurant I've been going to, from time to time, for a lunch buffet, that I've always thought was good but never knew the name. Always referred to it as "that little Thai restaurant we go to with the lunch buffet." Meanwhile "Geez one day I really want to try the Ruan Thai because I've heard such good things about it."

I finally decided to look up the address. Geeeeeeeeeez one and the same!

I swear I'm getting dumber and dumber as the years go on.

Anyhow I'll throw my two bits in for Ruan Thai - "yum" and "yum". My *only* complaint is that they don't serve coffee at lunchtime "because people weren't ordering enough of it to make it worthwhile." I'm no business or restaurant expert but it seems to me if having a pot of coffee going is going to bankrupt a business then there might be something wrong with the business plan. That's just me though - I'm just sayin' .. is all. Fine, no coffee then. But the food is awesome and inexpensive and there's this one chutney/sambal type condiment they make with cilantro that is just divine (and super hot - I may suck at just about everything I do - but one thing I can out-do anyone on - is eating hot food. Not trying to be competitive or anything - just stating it. I can eat hot food like it's nobody's business and I can out-hot anyone. I suck at everything else, so if you're getting your hackles up and thinking "them's fighting words" - no they are not - and please don't try taking this *one thing* away from me, because everything else I've valued and cherished and ever thought I was good at - I wasn't. But hot food? ooooh yes and yes).

Anyhow, I digress. I'm going to see if I can get into Thai Sa On this week, or maybe Chili Club or the Spicy Hut. (I have a hankerin' for Thai food, and it sucks that my favourite restaurant of all time, Restaurant Indonesia, finally went under. The folks who ran it originally needed a break and retired and sold it to a Malaysian family, who promptly realized it's a lot of work to run a restaurant, decided to no longer be open for lunch, thus shutting out their steady regulars... and gee, lo and behold, went bankrupt. Now there's no decent Indonesian restaurant in this city. A city of one million? Surely we could have an Indonesian restaurant be viable? I tried Bali downtown but it was terrible. I won't go back. It also wasn't anything close to Indonesian cuisine as I've come to learn what that is. My dad was born in Indonesia - I may be a whitey but I do know Indonesian cuisine. In fact, as long as the conversation is limited to food dish names, I could possibly carry on a conversation in Indonesian. "<telephone ring ring> Nasi goreng? Dengdeng padang. Udang pedas? Gado gado!").

So um ... yeah. Hopefully I can try one of these other places and let you know what I think. Anyone else have any new Thai restaurant recommendations for Calgary?

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Think you can out-hot me, eh? Hmmm. Well, maybe I will say, though, I have eaten a whole habanero pepper before. I was really doing alright with it until I rubbed my eye. BAD idea to rub eye when you have just been touching a habanero. I looked like a crack whore (which was only half true...huh?).

I'll have to check out Ruan Thai! Oh, and also...I did eat at a Malaysian restaurant here in town once (maybe 10 years ago!) that was pretty excellent. And having lived in Malaysia for several years, I felt I was "sort of" qualified to make such a judgment. I'll have to see if it's still there.

[Delphinus]

Ha ha, I hear ya! I do that all the time too. You'd think one would either learn not to touch their eyes, or the eyes would eventually get desensitized.

Anyhow, I'll settle for a tie on the competition.. (A Thai?) One life lesson I've learned is that I can ingest far more than I can digest. It's like the body says "Ok, obviously you aren't listening when I say this is too dang hot! So I'll try to find a different way to drive home the message." Ie., I've found myself about 6 hours after the fact saying "Ok. So although I didn't realize it at the time, but that particular hot sauce {or whatever} was, in fact, too hot. BUT I HAD TO MAKE A POINT!! Given the option, I would do it all over again!! There's honour among hotness aficionados, they would understand!"

Sizzling Wok maybe (for the Malaysian cuisine)? I haven't been in years though, I wonder if they're still around? Hmmm I feel some more web surfing coming on this afternoon.