Ottawa Foodies

Went there for lunch last week after having a craving for chili-induced endorphins. Ordered one of the dishes labelled "spicy": Pad Med-Mamoung (Chicken with cashew nuts and dried chili served with steamed rice).

Unfortunately, I was kinda underwhelmed. The sauce was fairly sweet, and the heat was localized to the dried chilies themselves, not from the sauce. Perhaps the chilies was added too close to the end, so it didn't have enough time to infuse into the sauce?

Since I was just eating sweet chicken and cashews, I had to get my ya-yas by eating the dried chilies whole. It worked, but it wasn't the same ;)

This was a work-driven thing; I'd only go back if it were suggested by work. Otherwise, I'd stay with Sukhothai or Siam Bistro if I were in the west end or Centretown, respectively.

Chicken satay appetizer was fine as was the accompanying peanut sauce. The gang goree was delicious. I agree the pad thai was pretty ordinary. all in all I think I will drive the extra distance to the Sukothai restaurant in Bells Corners in future given that prices were about the same.

It's bonus season and I've been on a major Thai kick lately, so I decided to get some takeout again. I have been meaning to try Singha Thai since it opened in the same strip mall as Mellos Coffee Shop on Merivale (across from MHK Sushi) just a few months ago. The restaurant bills itself as 'Fine Thai Cuisine' - they have a fairly nice decor, lots of art and wooden artifacts strewn about the restaurant, and play soft Pan-Asian background music. Looks can be deceiving...read on.

I had an order of spring rolls to start. Unfortunately, they ended up being those rolls that are just whole pieces of shrimp wrapped in spring roll paper and deep fried. To add insult to injury some them weren't fully cooked and the sauce was eerily similar to a President's Choice bottled product I've tried before.

After being severely let down by the spring rolls I had high hopes for the Pad Thai. After all this is 'Fine Thai Cuisine' and what better measuring stick to use than the famous old standby? Singha Thai's version was lacking any real flavour and required a healthy dose of sriracha to what otherwise was a lifeless dish.

Moral of the story: don't judge a book by it's cover.

Verbatim from the menu "Soa Noy Horm Pha - 5 Shrimp Spring Rolls". I too thought I had ordered shrimp rolls by accident. They don't have shrimp rolls listed anywhere else on the menu, and right below the item I ordered was "Pak Horm Pha - Spring Rolls stuffed with vegetables". Bad assumption on my part.

Are you sure these were marketed as spring rolls? They are normally listed as "shrimp rolls" on Thai menus, and they're supposed to be like that (well, except they should be fully cooked).

Singha Thai's version are whole pieces of shrimp wrapped in spring roll paper and deep fried. To add insult to injury some them weren't fully cooked and the sauce was eerily similar to a President's Choice bottled product I've tried before.

What better measuring stick to use for a Thai restaurant than the famous old standby? This restaurant's version was lacking any real flavour and required a healthy dose of sriracha to what otherwise was a lifeless dish. A big disappointment.