Restaurant Review – SukhoThai

SukhoThai is what I consider a rare gem – a modern dine-in halal Thai restaurant with excellent food at a very reasonable price. They have several locations across downtown Toronto that are usually open for lunch hours, then closed again until dinnertime. You have to be there a little before rush hour hits, because they don’t take reservations and they usually get packed.

The Wellington location is closest to my work, so that’s the one I discuss here. Note: SukhoThai is not to be mistaken for Suko Thai. The latter is located in the Winston Park area of Mississauga/Oakville, and is not halal!

The first time I visited SukhoThai, it was because hubby’s mutual friend had raved to him about it. I was never a big fan of Thai food, so I wasn’t expecting much, but I was excited to finally try something other than seafood at a Thai restaurant.

Alas, I looked at the menu and I floundered. I had no idea what was what. The descriptions and pictures didn’t help much, and the enthusiastic server just praised everything so that didn’t help me narrow down my choices either either. In the end, I still didn’t know what tasted good and what didn’t. So, not feeling very adventurous, I went with the tried and tested Plau Taud ($16). You don’t have to look at the menu, let me tell you what it is – breaded fish with rice. That’s right, I went to a halal restaurant and still stuck with fish. It wasn’t bad, but nothing to rave about either. Just your basic crispy  fish. The serving size was huge, though.

I was glad I ordered that though, because hubby ordered the Khao Soi ($15) and he had no idea how he was supposed to eat it. Perhaps a little too authentic for his taste? It looked like beef curry, garnished with crispy noodles. Apparently it’s the most popular item on the menu, but he didn’t like it. I wish I had taken a picture of his expression when he tried it out. It was hilarious. Definitely not his thing. It dissuaded me from trying it too, and we just ended up splitting my food.

As you can imagine, it was a long time before we visited Sukho Thai again. This time though, we went prepared. We had read Yelp reviews, asked around, and had a better understanding of the menu items and what we would/wouldn’t enjoy eating.

This time, hubz ordered the Cashew Chicken ($15) and I ordered the Nua Gra Teaum ($14) which is stir fried beef with rice and a fried egg, and oh my God. This must be why people rave about this place so much! I finally saw the light.

It was really, really good! Freshly made, sizzling hot, with a hint of spice, and so filling that neither of us had any room for dessert. For less than $20 per entree, that’s some solid bang for your buck!

I’ve been to Sukho Thai many more times since then, and placed many takeout orders too. Each time, I’ve stuck to the Nua Gra Teaum as my entree, because hot damn.

Fyi, they partner with services that offer takeout (if you sign up for the Ritual app using my referral link, you can get $10 off!) and even delivery (UberEats gives you $5 off for signing up with my code: eats-maryamm166ue). So if there is a long wait list, or you just don’t have the time for the full dine-in experience, you can always get it to go.

Depending on who I’ve gone there with, I’ve gotten various appetizers to share as well. I’ve tried the crispy shrimp/spring rolls, the shrimp chips, the garlic chicken/shrimp nuggets and I can vouch for all of them – they are delicious.

Unfortunately I can’t really comment on their dessert, because I’ve always been too bloated by the time I’ve finished my entree. Which is a good thing, I can’t fault them for that at all. A full Maryam is a happy Maryam.