Khao San Road

Food is wholesome and I like the atmosphere. Always a wait to get in though (but worth it, in the not-​so-​cold months, at least imo).
I am completely ignorant on what constitutes good Thai cuisine, but man, the noodles are well-​portioned (not too much), and I like that the sauce is not over-​spiced (some places, I find myself reaching for more water than usual, because of the salty, over-​spiced meal I had enjoyed haha).
I suggest going with a friend or more and sharing plates, or venture out and experiment with a menu item (have yet to eat a miss meal, but I’ve gone 3 times so I have not had every dish).

Average food, small portions, way too noisy, and quite simply HORRIBLE customer service. Every time. Like a masochist I kept going back.
Most recently I ordered a small lunch using Ritual. I ordered the cup of soup and roll and selected the «vegan option» button.
Ritual said it would be ready in 25 minutes. I got caught up in work so I arrived after around 40 minutes and it wasn’t ready, they hadn’t even started it, so I waited.
I took my food back to the office and ate half the roll before I realized that it had chicken in it. First time I’ve eaten chicken in 20 years, thanks for that Khao San.
I took it back and as completely expected the service was terrible. They blamed Ritual for the mistake!!! They said something about you’re not supposed to be able to order that combo without a main. Well, I *was* able to order it, and what exactly does that have to do with it being late and not being vegan as requested? They refused to give me my $ back and told me to contact Ritual. I did contact Ritual and felt silly doing so because it’s not their fault but they kindly gave me a $ 5 credit.
I have other examples of terrible service there but don’t want to waste another minute thinking about the place. I will never go back and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. Go to Pai instead.

I went to this place many times. I love its lunch special, the noodles, the spring rolls and the thai ice teas. This place got very busy during the nights and weekends. The line is usually long every time I passed by. However, I had my best thai pad here.
I remembered I first came here, I ordered extreme spicy. I can eat spicy good, but OMG, it is REALLY spicy. No kidding. I finished the food and drank 2 glasses of water.
It is good place to try, but it would get noisy and random people would sit beside you.

Khao San Road is one of the best Thai restaurants in the city.
Their Khao Soi and Thai Iced Tea combo is to die for.

I hope you’re not claustrophobic. I’m a tourist from NYC and I can’t figure out why there’s always a pandemonium at this joint every day and night. Where I come from, these flavors are pretty much the norm. I guess Canadians never had such flavors, I’ll never know…
I’ve never quite experienced such average food in such jam packed place with such great noise level. I hate when people are too close to me where they can hear my conversation. It’s like sitting next to an annoying stranger in a tight subway cart. No thanks. At approximately 6:15pm, this place turns into a zoo and the BATTLE OF WHO CAN TALK THE LOUDEST commences. Just sitting there hearing their stupid conversation made me very annoyed. Especially when the person won’t stop looking over at you.
Previous Unilocaler mentioned how the khao soi tasted like Hot Golden Curry and coconut milk. HAHAHAHA. Funny because that’s actually true.
The only bold move this place does is season the food right and is not afraid to pack on heat. Hint: lots of MSG in that fish sauce & those tiny fermented shrimps.
Not sure if you’ve noticed but their heat level goes from 0, 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 11. I tried to order level 6 (Thai spicy) and the waitress didn’t recommend it for me. Hmm, then why even have 8 or for heaven’s sake, 11? Unless they wanna put somebody in a hospital! So, reluctantly, I had to settle for 3. But holy cow, even level 3 was pretty spicy! I can’t imagine what 6 must’ve tasted like. That’s why there’s the disclaimer saying once you go hot, you can’t go bok. I almost choked when the chilis went down the wrong pipe, I swear I thought I was gonna die, my eyes welled up with tears and my throat felt like hell on fire. My fault.
The garlic chicken is SUPER garlicky by the way. So don’t order this when you wanna get your sexy on afterwards on a first date. Otherwise, it was fried to crisp and served with a nice fishy vinegary dipping sauce.
I ordered the tofu pad thai and I guess if you’re a vegan or a vegetarian, you must warn them first because it had tiny fermented shrimps and fish sauce in it.
Thai iced tea was like any other standard Thai iced tea anywhere else. And when you’re finished, you pay by the register down by the restroom area. Restroom was a little smelly, super super tight stalls (you know, where your face hits the door when you try to crouch), and unkept with paper garbage overflowing and all over the floor. Yuck.
I wouldn’t come again. I hate tight communal tables (unless I’m hitting on a guy) and it was too loud for my enjoyment. But if you enjoy dining in super tight space and like to eavesdrop with a little bit of MSG love, this is your spot!

We got a table pretty quickly. They said it would be a 25 minute wait, but I think it was about 15 minutes! Service was great. I had the Thai iced tea, which was delicious. I also had the Bangkok pad thai with tofu and veggies. It was excellent and a decent sized portion as I couldn’t finish it all! I ordered it spicy-​3 and at first I thought that was perfect for me, but eventually realized it was a tad too spicy! I guess I cannot tolerate the spicy foods as well as I could in my younger days! ;) Still a great meal, and close to home so I know we’ll be back.

So I went with the hype and checked this restaurant out… and I think I found my favourite. This place serves up MY kind of flavour. Kudos to the chef! For starters, we had the garlic shrimp (which was really good, you cant go wrong with anything fried with the right dipping sauce) and I got the red curry with chicken (spicy) with the thai iced tea while my spouse got the pad gra prao with a regular mango juice.
Dude, everything was REALLY good. I swear. And this is coming from someone barely impressed by thai food so this was WORTH the long wait we had to endure in the cold when we got there. 30 minutes like you cant believe. We just stuck it out because we walked too far already and looking for another place was just too much of a bother. So probably call in to reserve or just line up early before they open.
The staff was very attentive and as usual from the pictures this place is really busy .so if your lucky, you can be one of those people who get seated right away.
Anyway, I cant wait to try some of their other stuff on their menu when I go back in the future. Am a repeat customer for sure.

Khao San Road is a typical hip hot-​spot in town. For a weekday lunch, the crowd was mainly suited-​up professionals. The décor is modern. Service was friendly, not pushy but not super attentive either. We ordered the Khao Soi, Bangkok pad thai, and Panang Curry. My boyfriend ordered the top spicy (highest spicy level) Khao soi and he thoroughly enjoyed it. All the flavours in the curry meshed together perfectly with the heat so I think his was ⁵⁄₅.
I ordered a Pad Thai and it was a tad too sour and maybe on par with what you would get at any sit-​down Thai restaurant in Toronto. I ordered it at a medium level of spiciness but it actually wasn’t that spicy to me and I’d give it ³⁄₅. I also got a Thai iced tea which was pretty good– it had a nice blend of strong tea flavour and sweetness.

Ambiance/​décor-​5
Service-​4
Food-​4
Strikeouts-​0/​3
I came here with super low expectations. I was thinking it was some sort of ghetto place, but it’s definitely not. Kind of reminds me of a sailor restaurant with all those stools at the bar. If you’re not here right at opening, there’s always line ups approximating up to 30 minutes.
Once we were seated, it was prompt service with the water. The food also came really quickly after ordering which is really unexpected. We ordered the Thai ice tea, fresh rolls, green curry fried rice, and khao Soi. Each item was impressive in it’s own right. The ice tea was definitely unexpected in terms of sweetness probably due to the condensed milk. This drink looks very unique and taste great! The khao Soi was done soooo well! Most unique and sweet thing I’ve ever tried. You would have to try to know what you’re missing out. I Definitely would like to come back again in the future and try the rest of their menu!

«We decided to be social and dine at the stainless steel bar counter, on highchairs.»
«Our plates for sharing were small and flat. It proved particularly difficult to share the Khai Soi.» «This lovely dish consisted of egg noodles and chinks of beef submerged in a bowl of golden curry and coconut milk.»
Just a few bites from our full review

I’ve been here numerous times and every time I’m pleased with the service and quality of dishes. It’s better these days with a smaller line, so just make sure to go at a fairly earlier time.
It usually takes only a minute or two for the hostess to seat us down and a waitress to approach us with menus upon seating. The servers are generally well acquainted with the menu and are open to recommend dishes if you’re unfamiliar with thai food. My personal favourite is the khao soi and green curry (the spicier the better!), washed down with some thai iced tea.
Overall, can’t go wrong with any items on the menu!

Wow. I am writing this while my insides are still feeling the spice. It is a good thing, especially when it is cold outside.
Went originally to Pai and they had a huge wait so we came here for the first time and they gave us the patio. Was a bit of a wait for the food but once it came, it was worth it. I had the Khao Soi with medium spice and it was great. The curry sauce mixed with the meat and noodles perfectly. The portions were perfect too. We all greatly enjoyed out meal there.
If you like spicy food at all, grab a bite here. If you come during mealtime, might be a bit of a wait.

I’ve been to Khao San Road a few more time since my previous review and le sigh… it’s always worse and worse. The tables are shared and extremely squished (as before) but now the guy at the door always seems to try to squish you in the smallest space possible — not comfortable at all. You also feel super rushed and in the winter there is a really tiny hook under the table for both your jacket and your purse (and if your jacket is long, it is likely going to be partly on the floor). Before when Chef Nuit was there, it was really good but now it’s gone downhill –_​-​” I would much rather walk a block down and go to Pai.

I am definitely going to have to agree with the mass majority on this one.
My friends and I came here on a whim after a holiday party, searching for some good thai food. After being turned away from a couple of other restaurants, who were about 30 minute+ wait. We decided to trek a little farther to Khao San Road.
Upon arrival we were told that it would be about a 10 minute wait, tired and hungry at that point we happily accepted. About 2 minutes later, we were seated!
Khao San Road is about the size of a one bedroom condo in liberty village, but our party of 4 was seated in the corner, so it didn’t feel squishy at all.
For apps we had the «som tam» aka, papaya salad, and the squash fritters (can’t remember the thai name for that, shame on me as I was just in Thailand this summer). Both were excellent, the som tam was just enough spicy with more spice on the side, if you like, that is. It was fresh and enough to split between 4 people. The fritters were also very good, light and tasty.
For our entrees, we each ordered a different type of curry. There were two panangs, and one massaman, my other friend ordered the pad grao pao. All of which were excellent! Although each dish appeared small, it ended up being VERY filling. All the dishes were really authentic and service was quick and helpful as well. This is the first Asian place where I’ve felt like my 15% tip was well deserved.
At this point, dessert was a must. They only have ONE available, and I know why… its because its so delicious! It was a coconut tapioca hot pudding. In Chinese also known as «siye mi lo», excuse my for my horrible chinglish. This was definitely an elevated version of the traditional dessert that I’m used to having at home. The coconut milk was really packed with flavour, and I liked the chunks of coconut they included. My friends thought it was too sweet, but I’m never a stranger to sugar, so I embraced the sweetness full on.
Khao San Road has earned their 5 stars, and I can’t wait to bring my husband here to try again :)

Incredible food. This must be some of the best Thai food in North America and there are 1000 other reviews of what to order.
Strategy:
I like walking by at odd hours and seeing if the line is short.
Otherwise it’s too unpredictable.

Being Thai, I get pretty snobby sometimes in regards to my standards of Thai food. Knowing that this place caters to non-Thai’s and that it’s pretty trendy, I was surprised to find that their food is pretty damn close to tasting authentic. It wasn’t overly sweet and everything had a nice balance of what I call the «4 S’s» — Salty, Sour, Sweet, and Spicy. The balance of these 4 components make up many Thai dishes and when it’s done well, it tastes amazing!
My friend and I came here shortly after they opened. She lives here and told me there’s always a line so we made it a point to try and beat the rush. We arrived and got seated right away. We ordered Khao Soi and Bangkok Pad Thai and added on fresh rolls and a soup.
I was really impressed with the soup. It was white but tasted just like Tom Kha soup which is typically a more orange/​yellow color. We couldn’t get enough of this! The fresh rolls were indeed fresh and i enjoyed those too. The khao soi and pad thai were both good, not the best i ever had, but good enough to understand why there was a line of people at the door.
The menu is relatively small compared to most Thai places but I consider this to be a good thing so that they can focus on what they do well. Overall, I enjoyed the experience. It is a very busy restaurant and be prepared to wait unless you go at off-​peak times.

In Toronto for a weekend, and my friend and I were looking up dinner places near our Airbnb. Khao San Road popped up, and as we had only an hour before our comedy show, we opted for take out (as the wait to sit down was half an hour!). It’s a cute, but small place. I ordered the beef pad see ew, which was really good. It heated up really well too the next day. They ask what spice level you want, which I appreciated, since I’m not a fan of spicy food.
If i’m ever in Toronto, in the area again, I’ll definitely stop by here for my Thai fix!

This is probably my 5^th time at Khao San Road. I decided to bring my SO here to try their dishes since he has never had a decent Thai experience. They open at 5pm for dinner on Saturdays. When we arrived at 5:05 the restaurant was already filled with people. Couldn’t believe it! I was seated at a table a few minutes later. I’ve always enjoyed their dishes every time I’ve been here. The portions are generous so I always have food left over. I based my 4 stars for these reasons:
Atmosphere: like the atmosphere. Pretty trendy and hip like what other reviewers have said. I don’t like sitting in the front because you get squished like sardines with other people. When you’re at a table it’s nice. The music was good too. They played some 90s R&B hits. Heard maybe the same song 3 times but they switched it up to alternative rock which was a lot better.
Service: Mediocre. Server came by, got us our water and drinks. Checked up on us a few times. Typical decent service you would get anywhere.
Food: I ordered the Massamam Curry. It was my first time trying it. I usually have the Khao Soi but I felt like changing it up. I can’t handle spice so I had mild and I thought it had a great flavor. Good amount of chicken (couldn’t even finish it of course), lots of potatoes, peanuts and shallots. My SO doesn’t usually like curry and he thought it was really good and said he would order this next time. He had the 3 flavor pad Thai. He thought it was pretty good compared to the other pad Thai he has had. He got number 3 spicy and we both thought it was really spicy for such a low scale. But I guess their spice scale did fool us! We also had the squash fritters which is always a delicious app to start with.
Overall I haven’t had a bad meal or experience at KSR so I’ll definitely be back again. I would always recommend coming early because the wait is usually long if you come during dinner hours.

Quick thoughts on Khao San Road restaurant experience: Completely over packed with disorganized and rude staff. When ordering takeout they ask people to wait outside in the cold, rain, snow.
Longer explanation: We (my coworkers and I) used to call this the «tender beef» place because whenever we had a corporate event we’d order a bunch of dishes and the favourite was the Khao Soi with beef. The beef always came so tender and amazing that every week we’d order our event food from the restaurant. We looked forward to it.
However, during our last event (three weeks ago) the people who ate the Khao Soi got food poisoning. At first we were shocked and tried to find another explanation… but, everyone kept pointing out that it was only the people who ate the beef that got sick.
Skip to recently, when I decided to give them another try for dinner (by myself)… because I really missed the «tender beef.» So, I went to the restaurant to order take-​out. The experience was completely terrible. The restaurant packed was beyond capacity, I stood in THREE lines before I could to get to the point where I could order food, and I’m sad to say that the «tender beef» was a lump of rock hard meat that I couldn’t even chew through. It was inedible.
On top of all of this, the noodles that came with the Khao Soi smelled rancid. And unfortunately, I discovered this only after taking a few bites… and spent the rest of the evening hovering over a toilet.
As such we’ve officially decided to completely cross this restaurant off our event list; and I’ve removed it from my own «foodie» recommendation list for people who are visiting Toronto. Avoid it!

Hippest Thai spot I have been to.
Limited seating inside. Very crowded at lunch. Ordered to go and took about 30 minutes to make.
Pad Thai Sam Roas, chicken — $ 12 — Had all the normal Pad Thai ingredients but there was something that changed up that gave it a unique flavor. Lunch portion was pretty big.
Pad See Ew — $ 12 — Good Pad See Ew. Was everything I expected and wanted.

C’est bon!