Toronto Free Press Restaurant Guide

Bangkok Gardens

A piece of Thailand on Elm Street

Bangkok Gardens

Bangkok Gardens 18 Elm St. Toronto (416) 977-6748 1-877-279-3766 Hours: Monday to Friday Noon: 11:30am - 2pm Evenings: 5pm - 10pm Saturday and Sunday 5:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.

On our arrival, we were warmly greeted and shown to our seats beside the gently flowing river. The dÈcor is unique to the Bangkok Gardens. Many items were custom designed and imported from Thailand. Lushly decorated in teak, the two-storey restaurant is a tropical paradise in the heart of Toronto.

Vath, our waiter, who has been at Bangkok Gardens since 1984, took the time to explain Thai cooking and helped us make our selections. He told us that Thai cooking is based on the principal of balancing the five tastes--sweet, sour, hot, salty and bitter. I thought they were hot, hotter, very hot, really hot and hottest.

Our appetizers were an appetizer assortment for two and Vath recommended some Thai Calamari as well. The appetizers consisted of Curry puffs, Thai spring rolls, Chicken and Beef Satay and our favourite Naughty Little Peppers. On a side note, the menu is annotated with little blue pepper images beside the dishes. One pepper means mildly spicy with little or no sting. As the menu notes five indicates "Can you take it? This level is for addicts, masochists and Thai nationals. Order beer and tissues with these dishes. Management accepts no responsibility for side effects."

Well, our Naughty Little Pepper was rated as five pepper hot. With a great deal of trepidation, we both took a small bite, all went well so we ate the rest of the pepper. Water and beer combined seemed to have no affect when things got hot. Vath came to our rescue with a mouthsaving cranberry and lemon sherbet. He mentioned that for him beer worked well, so after inhaling the sherbet we ordered another beer.

Our main course arrived, we split the dishes of Warrior's beef curry (three pepper rating and quite delicious), Toasted Cashews with Chicken, Basil Shrimp Stir fry, Jade Greens, and Jasmine Rice. It was almost a shame that we had to eat, because we would ruin the display of food. The artistry to which the staff went to prepare and present the food was breathtaking.

Radishes were carved to look like waterlilies. Carrots looked like little crabs, cucumbers had elaborate leaf patterns etched into the back of them.

Needless to say the dishes were all unbelievably good.

We were surprised with a complimentary dessert of Mangos, sweet rice with sesame and coconut and fried bananas. Once again the artistry was spectacular. Vath told us that some of their carvings take up to 20 minutes to do and that they regularly take courses to learn how to carve these masterful creations.

Hot towels finished off this unique dinning experience.

Bangkok Gardens boasts that it is North America's premier Thai restaurants, and that it has won international recognition as one of the top 10 restaurants in Toronto. It would be difficult to find a better establishment.

A dinner for two with beer would average between $70-90.