TASTE OF THAI SELECT: Jatujak

If you travel east to Scarborough on Kingston road, past the hustle and bustle the more built-up commercial areas, you will come upon Jatujak Thai Street Style Food, located at 1466 Kingston Road. Nestled in amongst the more typical types of shops for this kind of area is this unique restaurant. Purposely situated in a quieter area hoping to appeal to the tastes of locals, Jatujak offers a small menu of high quality Thai food made completely from scratch. With a small diningroom and an obvious focus on take-out orders, this place will surprise and impress you!

I went at a quieter time so I could have a chat with Patrick Suksaen who is one of the owners. He explained that he and his friend (who is the chef) came to Canada from Thailand about six years ago. After starting several restaurants in downtown Toronto serving Western versions of Thai favourites like Pad Thai, they decided to try something completely different. About three years ago they chose an unlikely location, picked their favourite street foods from their youth in Thailand and built a simple menu where they could focus on quality and great taste. Their Kingston location is unique in that it doesn't serve alcohol and features Halal meat.

Gaeng Kiew Whan

Green curry is a lot of peoples' favourite dish, but the rich flavour of this dish was completely off the charts. Made with fresh vegetables, bamboo shoots, basil and lime leaf this dish had an incredible blend of flavours. Available with tofu and veggies, chicken, beef, fish or shrimp.

Spicy Crispy Chicken

Served with rice, this dish has a unique flavour and is not too spicy. The chicken is crispy yet tender inside. Large fresh veggies complement the quality meat.

Pad Kee Mao

If you are looking for something on the hotter side, Pad Kee Mao blends stir-fried noodles with either tofu and veggies, chicken, beef or shrimp. The large rice noodles add a great texture, and the fresh peppercorns add more flavour, if you decide to try them.

Tapioca Coconut Pudding

For desert we tried the tapioca coconut pudding. It looks complicated but the medley of flavour and texture is unique and appealing. Coconut meat mixed with corn, tapioca, jackfruit and mint leaves gives this dish a refreshing flavour.

A second Jatujak location recently opened on Victoria Park north of Eglinton with the same meanu, but featuring a larger licensed diningroom for a more relaxed dining experence.

Visit Jatujak online: www.jatujak.ca