PhayaThai

Top Left (clockwise): Tom Ka Het and vegetable Tom Yum soup, Thai Green Curry with Vegetables and sticky rice, close up of whole fried fish in spicy sauce,
Whole fried fish in spicy sauce with sticky rice

A friday night with my girl Rachelle (Kev calls her my second BF), we signed up for a French macarons class at Europea and then a fabulous dinner at Phayathai. I haven't been to this restaurant in years, and to be honest, I don't have a clue why. It is quite possibly the best Thai food I have had in Montreal. This little restaurant is tucked away on a big street in downtown, corner Ste-Catherine and Guy. You can easily walk past it on your way to Bar-B-Barns.

Rachelle and I were famished by the time we got there. We were both weat from the drizzling rain and huffing and puffing because we were 15 minutes late for our reservation. It's a small restaurant, but seems well known online. Online reviews recommended reservation. Everything looked fantastic and we wished we had 5 stomachs.

R and I love Thai food, but we often settle for fast food Thai. I can't remember when was the last time I went to a Thai restaurant. We started our dinner with some appetizers, which we devoured before we remembered to take a picture. I ordered the mango salad ($7.75) and R ordered the fried tofu with peanut sauce ($3.75). Both were good, but I think what I wanted was the papaya salad. Mango salad was spicy and big enough to share between 2-3 people. We couldn't resist ordering soups since we were cold from the rain. R ordered the vegetable tom yum soup ($3.50), which was packed with tons of veggies. I wanted a soup with coconut in it, but didn't want to pay $7 for a seafood or chicken soup, so I ordered the Tom Kha Het, which is with mushrooms...a lot of them. For the main course, Rachelle ordered the thai green curry with vegetables ($10.95) and I had the whole fried fish in spicy sauce ($16.50), quite possibly the most expensive dish on their menu, but it was worth every penny. I remembered having this dish with my friends one time and loved it. The fish dish was big too. There are about 8 pieces of fish on the plate. It also wasn't as spicy as I thought it was going to be. We both asked for the sticky rice, which was great with out main dish.

We left there with a full stomach and very happy.

The restaurant is a great place for a romantic dinner. It's quiet and dim. However, if there's a big table of rowdy customers, then it might not be as quiet. I also would not recommend this place if you are in a rush. The service is good, but chill. And you really can't rush such yummy food. You have to enjoy and savour.

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Top left (clock wise): Fried fish cakes, Sweet & sour fried fish, Papaya salad, Fried fish in 3 flavor.

Rachelle and I went back a week later with a friend for lunch time. They had a lunch menu, but I found it to be a little boring. They didn't have the sticky rice for lunch time, which was a disappointment. To start, I finally ordered the papaya salad ($6.75) I wanted and it was so spicy and delicious! Rachelle ordered fried fish cakes ($7.50). Karenne ordered from the lunch menu and quickly regretted it. She ordered a stir fry chicken...quite regular, and I bet she felt cheated. I ordered whole fried fish in 3 flavors ($16.50). I don't know what the 3 flavors are, but it was good. It was a bit milder than the spicy sauce version, but still good. Rachelle also indulged and ordered the sweet & sour whole fried fish ($16.50), which she liked better than my fish, but I disagree.

Since we had to get back to work and were already taking a longer lunch, we ended up having to eat fast. It was an expensive lunch, but it was very good. However, I think i'll stick to going to Phayathai in the evenings.

PhayaThai/ 1235 Guy (corner St-Catherine)/ 514.933.9949