Nursing a cold with spicy Thai food from Jatujak
Restaurant serves up the street food of Bangkok with zing
It is, as far as opening acts go, pretty muted.
The spring roll included in Jatujak’s lunch combo is hot but mushy. The salad of iceberg lettuce and mango strips is so-so.
But there’s nothing subdued about the main course of noodles, pad kee Mao ($7.95).
Jatujak serves the street food of Bangkok, named as it is after that city’s enormous weekend market. Thai owners Phanom “Patrick” Suksaen and Suwaree “Aon” Sakoonpham opened their first location on Kingston Rd. two years ago. They opened another location three months ago at Victoria Park and Lawrence Aves.
The rice noodles are thick and wide, like an Asian pappardelle. They are nicely charred from the wok and come laced with fresh lime leaves, threads of scrambled egg and crumpled Thai basil, its in- herent anise flavour enhanced by heat and friction.
Good timing shows in the sweet crunch of soft but still resistant bell peppers and in the firmness of bright green beans. Chicken comes in tender chunks.
The heat, supplied by chopped green bird’s eye chilies, builds inevitably to a volcanic eruption. A string of fresh Thai peppercorns, called “phrik Thai on,” resembles a miniature bunch of grapes, if grapes were tonsil scorching. A squeeze of lime juice helps tone it down. So do sips of creamy orange Thai iced tea ($2.50).
Chef Sakoonpham was a nurse in Thailand, as was fellow chef Nuit Regular, co-owner of Sukhothai restaurants.
“Maybe they know healthy food,” guesses Suksaen of the career change.
They certainly know tasty food. Jatujak, 1744 Victoria Park Ave. (at Lawrence Ave. E.), 647-352-1744, jatujak.ca plus one other location on Kingston Rd. Open seven days, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. apataki@thestar.ca