Chao Phraya Thai Restaurant – Montreal, Quebec: A contender for the title of “The Best Thai in Town”, Chao Phraya in Montreal serves popular Thai dishes. Open since 1988, Chao Phraya is named after a river in Thailand. Reservations are recommended as this place is packed on weekends.

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Chao Phraya has an elegant and pleasing décor. In fact, the décor was elegant to the point that we felt a tad underdressed with dress shorts and a nice shirt. Every table in the attractive dining area is laid out neatly with white table linens and orchids. The large bay windows offer a charming view of the fashionable Laurier Avenue.

Every item on the menu is graded in terms of hotness by the one to three hot-pepper symbols underneath each dish. The menu also offers a good selection of vegetarian options. Some of the popular items in this Montreal Thai restaurant are peanut butter chicken and dumplings, shrimp in red curry sauce with coconut milk and a mixed seafood dish made of squid, scallops, shrimp, crab claws and mussels or red snapper. Chao Phraya also offers a wide variety of wine, aperitifs, cocktails, scotches, cognacs and beers.

We started dinner at this Montreal Thai restaurant with Koung Tod or deep fried shrimp. This dish was delicious and had a perfect balance of spices. We moved on to Tom Yum Koung, hot and sour soup with shrimp and it was just as described, hot and sour with two large fresh, delicious shrimps. For our main course, we ordered Kang Ped Gai and Panang Neua. The Kang Ped Gai or red curry with chicken was cooked to perfection. However, the Panang Neua or curry with beef left us disappointed as the beef was fatty and tough and nowhere close to succulent.

For dessert I was planning to have the mango sticky rice, but even though it was on the menu (and mangos were in season) they didn’t have any. Hence I had to finish my dinner with a dish of warm tapioca pudding. This dessert was as good as everything else we had tried in this Montreal Thai restaurant. Service was a bit chaotic though, they had too many servers and we never knew who was actually looking after us. In fact, on more than one occasion we were asked the same thing two times (“do you want something to drink”, to which we would reply “ah, no, your colleague already asked us”).

Overall, this stylish Montreal Thai restaurant serves great quality food at a reasonable price. Reservations are highly recommended since at 6:30 on a Saturday the place was crowded and bustling with activity. While it did not rise to the level of bombastic and gets a rating of Between Bombastic and Not, Chao Phraya is a solid bet for Thai food in Montreal and I am sure is one of the best Montreal Thai restaurants.

What I liked: The great food and the elegant decor

What I didn’t like: The chaotic service

Rating: Between Bombastic and Not

Address and Telephone Number:
Chao Phraya Restaurant
50 Laurier Av. West
Montreal, QC.,
H2T 2N4, Canada
Telephone: (514) 272-5339
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