Siri, Where Is Flavour Country?

 Starving Artist and Boom Diner have been serving brunch side-by-side around College and Ossington. But despite being there for more than a decade, the elder Boom closed up shop during the pandemic. I noticed that a Thai restaurant called Siri Kitchen took over recently. I'm fond of that location because in the early 2000's, a cool Jamaican bar was there. It served food I have rarely found elsewhere including Jerk Salmon and a refreshing house-made pink fruit punch. At a time when that block was all local Portuguese businesses, that bar was ahead of its time.

Thursday night, I dropped by to order some Tom Yum soup ($7.99) and Gang Keaw Wan ($15.99). The former was a bright red, rich soup with tasty chunks of king oyster mushrooms (which I thought was tofu at first glance) and shrimp. It had a nice heat that slowly builds instead of being too spicy. Meanwhile, judicious bites of the cherry tomatoes help cleanse the palate. The broth was thicker than typical and I was spitting out kaffir lime leaves and galangal all night. But that was a small price for the added flavour.

The green curry was also thick and fragrant in comparison to other restaurants that serve watery curry. It also had big pieces of crunchy bamboo, soft winter melon, and toothsome chicken. The rice was a tad mushy but it still had enough texture to absorb the delicious curry. Overall, Siri is a welcomed new contender for best Thai restaurant in the area.