The King Is (Mostly) Dead

Even the Globe and Mail food critic lamented the dearth of good Thai food in Toronto in his review of Pai (though it still received a good rating). After some live music at Yonge Dundas Square on Saturday, I decided to try Salad King. I realized this long-time Ryerson spot was unlikely to excel, even with its move and renovation a block north from its old location, but one can hope.

Though it was all trendy metal tables and glowing walls, this was essentially a cafeteria as you are sitting cheeks to jowl with many other people. The predominantly student population didn't seem to mind. The service was fast and efficient. My satay beef skewers ($5) and green curry ($9) came out in under 10 minutes. I will say that everything tasted fresh, no doubt because of the large volume of orders. The food itself was ... Thai-ish. The peanut sauce of the beef had peanuts. You could taste the coconut milk in the curry, though none of the other flavours were present. The sauce was little runny but still curry-like. But the overall impression was Thai food made mainstream bland.

The chilies setting was illustrative. The most a dish would have is 2 chilies and marked as quite spicy. However, you can specify a heat index of up to 20 chilies accompanied by increasingly breathless warnings on the menu. Well, my 10 chilies curry only had a slight kick, equivalent to medium spiciness elsewhere. Thai doesn't have to always mean fire-breathing hot, but it should be honest with regards to its origins.