ottawa foodies

an enticing mix of rice noodles, various meats and veggies, mildly to wildly spiced, floral with Thai basil and abit of vinegar/lime juice to balance the heat and a nice blend of oyster sauce/soy sauce/fish sauce to get one addicted

I make this frequently at home and never tire of it like I do with most dishes

I went with Spicy heat level this time and it was awesome. In addition to the sliced chilis they added a bit of chili sauce too. Every mouthful was an escapade! I also really appreciated the presence of broccoli and gai lan along with the more usual peppers and onions, making this more of a balanced lunch option. The beef was tender and tasty.

Another nice thing about the lunch menu is that you get a small starter bowl of sweet-salty-sour vegetable broth. It is simultaneously bland and not bland in a most addictive way, much like good tea.

The Pad Kee Mao (˜$13) is offered in three spice levels: mild, medium, and hot. I went for medium and was pleased with the depth of flavour and the lively sliced chilis. I'd risk the hot level next time, but may regret it. So far, this is the best option for Thai food I've experienced in the ByWard Market.

Here's a picture. Sorry about the quality of these -- I used my cellphone's camera in very dim lighting with no flash. The photos were just brown/grey blobs before extensive photoshopping (crop, levels, shadows, color balance, blur, sharpen, saturation, resize). hehe.. maybe i should have sketched them instead! :P

Sweet Basil has the best Pad Ki Mow that I have ever had and I have tried this dish at almost every Thai restaurant that I have ever been to. The Sweet Basil Pad Ki Mow is made using thin vermicelli type noodles, instead of the wider rice noodles that are typically used for this dish. Very flavourful and spicy - sometimes extremely spicy, depending on who is in the kitchen!

Chicken Pad Kee Mao ($14.95) was delicious and pleasantly filling. This place is my current go-to for Thai food—partly because it's tasty and partly because it's not far from where I live.

For Pad Kee Mao afficionados, I should mention that the heat in this dish comes from dried powder chili peppers rather than fresh Thai chili. If you prefer the flavour and stronger sting of fresh chilis then you might not be thrilled with the version here.

Thrilled at the quality of the "Drunken Noodle" dish here! For $10 you get a delicious one-dish meal in a takeout container. Satisfying noodles, lots of veggies (bean sprouts, peppers, green beans, onions), and a perfect quantity of meat. Choice of beef, chicken, or tofu. Shrimp for $2 more.

I found the regular spice level to be perfect. This is restaurant quality food. It took about 10 minutes to prepare, so if the weather is cold it's a good idea to call ahead or have a car in which to wait for your order.

Here is a picture of the lunch special: choice of hot and sour soup or 2 deep fried dumplings and pad kee mow.

I am surprised no one has commented on this yet. One of their best dishes! There is a lunch special with 2 dumplings appie and pad sew with beef for $10.95. A good portion of stir fry rice noodles with beef, dark soy sauce and basil leaves. It's the kind of stir fry you can taste the slightly burnt food (in a positive way), i.e., that the wok is hot enough as stir fry should be done!

Another lunch deal in downtown Ottawa.

Very good Thai delivery.

The Pad Ki Mow is excellent.

I had a platter of “Ki Mau” with pork for lunch last week. The price was around $12 and it was a significantly more generous portion than I've seen at Thai restaurants. The flavour was pretty good and the spice level was okay but on the low end. Unfortunately, the pork had the distinct flavour of rancid oil and the noodles were overly greasy (much like I've experienced at Thai Express).

It was a filling meal and mostly quite enjoyable but I don't think I'd get it again. The lunch special combos (Thai and Chinese) are excellent value but concensus with my lunch group was that the story here is mostly one of quantity over quality.

The pad ki mow at Royal Thai is a hearty, pleasantly sauced and spiced affair that's absolutely delicious. Highly recommended.

My friend had the stir fried rice noodles with beef, basil and chilies. It looked very satisfying. i am trying that next.