Salad King
For this review of Salad King, I've invited one part of the wonderful couple (and fellow bloggers) I dined with at SK, to contribute her take on this restaurant which will be up soon.
~~
A couple of the neon lights in the "Salad King" sign were out when we went - so it read "SAD KING" ...which is absolutely APT for this dump of a restaurant that 275 of you on Urbanspoon claim is the best Thai resto in Toronto.
Are you kidding me? Where else are you people eating that this has become the place to go for Thai??!
To start, we ordered the Papaya Salad (which boasted "dried shrimps"...the salad that came to our table had non-existent dried shrimp (must have been so dry that it shriveled away?) and a garnish that had black spots on it. Good start, right?
Our "medium" heat Shrimp Delight ($8.95 - Shrimps, bell peppers, onions, yellow bean sauce, chilli sauce, lime juice, steamed rice) arrived with neither heat NOR shrimp (nor delight for that matter!) and plenty of accompanying liquid "spicy" water. We weren't aware we'd ordered soups?
The Spicy Fish dish ($8.95 - Red cod fillet, lime leaf, carrots, onions, bell peppers chilli, garlic, shallots, palm sugar, steamed rice) came with hardly any fish although what was there certainly was still swimming..in a pool of oily liquid!
And the Evil Jungle Prince ($6.75 - Egg plant, baby corn, peas, carrots, onions, chilli sauce, lemon grass, bamboo shoots and steam rice) which was supposed to contain eggplant and veggies came with one tiny piece of eggplant, plenty of frozen peas and a generous portion of WATER!
How disgusting.
I asked the server whether the dishes were always that watery - to which she replied 'yes that's how they are made'. I told her it was a disappointing meal to which she shrugged and moved along to serve the next table of assembly line patrons.
Salad King will forever be SAD KING to me - it's the worst thai food I've ever had and I'm really sorry that so many of you think that that's what Thai is supposed to taste like! I'd really love to see where else the 275 of you are eating and stay the hell away from those places!
15 Comments | Share Article | tagged King, Salad, Salad King, Shrimps, Thai, Toronto | in Thai, Toronto | Thursday, June 18, 2009 at 4:35PM
Reader Comments (15)
Great Review and thanks for the heads up Foodhogger. I always wondered what it would be like to dine at Salad King because I had heard people rave about it. I did go in once with someone but decided not to dine in because I did not like the seating arrangement or the air in the restaurant. I don't want to sit in a canteen elbow to elbow with people I don't know.....just not relaxing or pleasant. And now that I hear that the food is so crappy there...I am so glad I did not waste my time or money at such a place. Sad King is a very appropriate name for this place...I so agree!
If you ever get a chance to check out Mengrai Gourmet Thai, I don't think you'll be dissapointed. It is my favorite thai place and probably the best in the city with authentic pad thai and a signature dish (red curry chicken with lycee) that will make you come back for more. SAD KING definitely has sad looking dishes. I will make sure I stay clear away from that place. Great review by the way. Would love to see your review for Mengrai. :D
Coat, what was even worse is that the friends I took here had just moved from Calgary and I'd told them, "This is supposed to THE best Thai place in Toronto". OMG, how embarrassing! Note to self; never take anyone anywhere you've never been before!
Thanks Alicia - I'd definitely give Mengrai a shot - sounds good to me!
i agree with you!! i have never really understood why people rave about their food - the only thing that i like there is one of the soups, which is meant to be watery. bang on review!
Hahaha, thanks for the comment Anne!
WOW! That's surprising! The chef must be on vacation or something. I use to go there and it was pretty good! Interesting...
... Well I suppose this is one of the worst food blogs on the web because, as long as you're not a stuck up yuppie, Salad king fits the bill quite nicely as one of the top Thai food places in the city. Many native Thai people have recommended Salad King as VERY authentic as have 80% of Urban spooners. So, I'm not sure what this says about the authors review... Perhaps if you did not act like a stuck up cowboy donkey banger when you walked in you may have received a good dish.
If you like spice and can handle spice (as Thai people do) Salad King can suit you nicely with a 20 level Thai Chili rating with anything over 15 leaving one with a satisfactory endorphin rush!!! Salad King is also one of the few Thai Places in the city that will cater to those with peanut Allergies, allowing them to safely enjoy a good Thai meal. (a fact lost on the author... good job!!) Not many other Thai places in down-town TO even comes close to good/spicy Thai food with the exception of The Restaurant at Sasi on Jarvis / Gerard...
Hey Michael,
Thanks for your comment! I'm glad you found the time to comment away from your studies at Ryerson?
I'm also really happy that you've found your favourite Thai restaurant.
I do like spice and can handle spice, probably more so than you, but I'll leave you to enjoy your mediocre watered down 15 level while I go on in search of better tasting Thai fare.
If you were to do the same, I think you'll discover far superior "endorphin rushes" and you'll also find that there are other Thai restaurants that cater to peanut allergies (ie. Flip, Toss & Thai). But no matter, you seem to be doing just fine scarfing down the grub at Sad King, so please, enjoy! More for you and your fellow classmates.
Also, I'm not quite sure what a "stuck up cowboy donkey banger" is exactly, but I appreciate your enthusiasm; I certainly got a good chuckle out of it!
I think I'm going to start a new blog called "stuck up cowboy donkey bangers and the food they eat" and review crappy restaurants that 'connoisseurs' like Michael love so much.
I was the victim here. Foodhogger took me and my girlfriend there promising the best Thai that Toronto had to offer. I'm still plotting revenge.
"I’m really sorry that so many of you think that that’s what Thai is supposed to taste like!"
Wow, so your the authority on authentic Thai food now? Based on all the Thai food you've eaten in Thailand right?
I lived, worked and traveled across Thailand for 2 years from Chiang Mai all the way down to Pattani. I hate to break it to you but a lot of the food across most of the country is watery. Salad King is as close as your going to get to authentic Thai food.
Hi James,
Thanks for your comment. Firstly, it's "you're" not "your" and secondly, I don't consider myself an authority on authentic Thai food, but I just know what tastes good and in my opinion "spice water" doesn't fit the bill.
[...] had from the street! Forget morning breakfasts and brunches, you can pick up a tasty hot waffle after a horrible dinner at Salad King and be totally [...]
[...] was in the company of like-minded gourmands (including A&M who we met back in my “SAD” King review) and we all agreed that the dishes were excellent in flavour and presentation. Those spicy fries [...]
[...] in December on Yonge street above the Foot Locker. I never was a fan of Salad King (see review here), but I’m sure the Ryerson students are ecstatic to hear that they are [...]