| I was hesitant to go to the Quality Inn on Banff Trail to review Thai Place. To me, a hotel restaurant (unless visiting a metropolitan city to dine at a world-class establishment) has always meant overpriced and poor in quality. Buffets and hockey-puck steaks come to mind. Pleasantly, this was not the case at Thai Place.
The ambience at Thai Place isn’t the greatest. Our hosts greeted us. The décor is similar to that found in any middle-of-the-road hotel, but the owners have at least taken some effort to offset the beige everything by adorning the room with Thai wall hangings and Thailand’s national flag. While the space may be simple, the food is not. Thai Place takes an enormous amount of pride in premium dishes and top-notch hospitality.
We started our meal off with the Thai fresh spring rolls ($10). The rolls were refreshing and crisp, prepared with lettuce, shrimp, tofu, noodles, cilantro, basil and mint leaves and served alongside a peanut sauce. They were a nice, light beginning to our meal, and the addition of tofu was a good twist to this usually standard appetizer.
Next, we sampled the Matsaman chicken curry ($13). The combination of ingredients struck me as being a little odd so I definitely needed to try it. Served in a Matsaman curry sauce with chicken, potatoes, onions and peanuts, it turned out to be a great little number. The curry was rich in flavour and there were generous chunks of chicken and potatoes making the dish almost stew-like.
Moving on, we tried the always-popular Pad Thai ($11), a dish traditionally made with rice noodles, bean sprouts, prawns, tofu and eggs. The Thai Place version also uses radish and pork, garnished with cilantro and peanuts. The rice noodles were bursting with flavour and we both agreed it was one of the best we had ever had.
We also chose the Panang vegetarian dish ($11). It was another winner. Consisting simply of mixed vegetables (cauliflower, peppers, snow peas), tofu and Panang curry, it was topped with a swirl of coconut milk. It was perfectly spicy and savoury.
For the two curry dishes, we ordered a medium spice level, which is what I would recommend if you are new to eating curries or have a low tolerance for hot food. And when you have Thai food, definitely go with the coconut rice as an accompaniment – not only is it delicious, but it also nicely balances the heat generated by the curry dishes.
It is apparent that the owners of Thai Place are held in high regard by their patrons. Hustling and bustling their way through the evening, they made time to stop and chat with their tables, knowing many of their customers by name.
Thai Place offers a full Thai menu as well as a western-style menu (it is in a Quality Inn after all). They also offer complete Thai meals for two at $38 and meals for four at $78. If you are going on the weekend I would recommend making a reservation – on a cold Friday night the restaurant was nearly full by 7:30 p.m.
For $75 we enjoyed four drinks and four dishes. With incredible food and friendly service, Thai Place is a definite must for Calgarians who enjoy the art and flavor of Thai cuisine.
Thai Place is located at 2359 Banff trail N.W.; phone, 338-4403. |
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