Smile Though Your Heart Is Aching

Wednesday day after work, I was planning on heading to Ici Bistro for dinner. Unfortunately, several reviews made it clear that you had to make reservations weeks in advance for this hot spot. Having seen a Friendly Thai recently opened at Bloor and Shaw near Christie Pits Park, I decided to try some Thai instead.

The glass front opened onto a minimal, modern space that signals Asian chic over the last several years: dark wood walls, wooden tables, long leather benches and so on. This restaurant also went with the recent trend of elevated tables and seats for one side of the room. There was only 1 couple when I came in and I was the only diner by the time I left, which made me felt conspicuous in that space.

I ordered a Thai spring roll appetizer ($3.99), Thai style stir-fried eggplant ($9.99), and a Malaysian lamb curry ($12.99). The waitress asked me if I wanted rice or noodles with my eggplant so I chose the noodles. Things didn't start well and it just got worse. The water tasted of that metallic chlorinated flavour that comes out of old taps. Given that other restaurants are now serving regular water in refillable glass bottles, you'd think they would at least use a water filter. The spring rolls came down nice and crispy. The vegetarian filling reminded me too much of those tired Cantonese spring rolls in 20-year-old joints but it did taste fresh. Unfortunately, I ordered the chicken spring rolls. D'oh! How does a kitchen screw up an order when they have only 1 customer?

The eggplant dish is described as "stir-fried spicy eggplant with sweet basil and chili". But it was more than 2/3 regular vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, red peppers, and such. A bit much on the cheap filler! The veggies were lightly stir-fried and still retained a nice crunch. But that quick action didn't do the eggplant much good: none of the flavour of well-cooked eggplant was present, and the skin was fibrous and hard. It did much better the next day, having softened overnight and additionally nuked by the microwave.

I'm not sure who thought serving steamed noodles as a side dish is a good idea. A clump of unappetizing bland noodles not improved by either the stir-fry or the curry. To add insult to injury, it wasn't free as was implied by the waitress's casual offer but cost $2.25. It should have also occurred to the waitress that the dish was also redundant since the curry came with rice and salad. The takeaway is when in doubt, ask about the cost of any offers, even if you feel like a hick. (For example, I hear that some restaurants are charging for bread now).

The Malaysian curry came out in a big bowl filled with a viscous, chocolate-brown liquid. There was a hint of peanut sauce. But the curry flavour overwhelmed all the other ingredients which can only be guessed at by their shape and texture: cauliflower, mango shoots, maybe a carrot. You could tell it was lamb you're eating though because it was tough and gamey. I didn't even bother packing the left-over. The salad was lettuce covered with an orange dressing which I'm positive came out of a Kraft bottle.

The bill came to about $30 before tax and tip. They say that Thailand is the Land Of Smiles because the irony is that people always behave amicably toward visitors, even when they are unhappy. I certainly felt a rueful grin when I left the restaurant when I considered that I had also thought about eating at Mother Home, the Myamar place at Bloor and Dufferin. The food there might be under heat lamp (though you can get a fresh made to order dish), but  it packs more flavour and taste than this meal. At $6 a combination plate all-in, it's also less than 1/5 the price, too.