Salad King
335 Yonge Street
(416) 971-7041‎

Don’t be fooled by the seemingly healthy sounding name. Salad King serves up some of the best, Thai food in the entire city.

Located across the street from Sam the Record Man and the Ryerson Campus, this mainly, university student hangout works more like a cafeteria than a restaurant. If you are looking for a drawn out, sit down meal this is not the place. However, if you want good food and do not mind getting used to the methods I guarantee you will be more than satisfied.

To order, one stands in line winding its way around the tables in front. This can make for a rather unpleasant experience for the people sitting there, something to take note of when deciding where to sit. Be sure to figure out what you want to order before reaching the cashier or you may find yourself on the hotseat with several hungry regular patrons breathing down your neck. It is best that on first visit you go with a seasoned veteran who knows what to order and how. This is especially true when it comes to deciding what level of spice to order. Salad King has a 1-10 rating for their spicing with 1 being the mildest and 10 something that no sane person should try. I always order a level 3 and I am a fan of spicy food. I’ve only known one person to order a level 4 and she had just returned from a year in India!

If ordering your meal seems like an uneeded pressure at lunch, picking up your meal can be equally as strenuous. After ordering, you are provided with a number which is eventually announced over a loudspeaker when your meal is ready. Hearing your number over the din of the crowd and the thick accent of the speaker requires intense concentration. Don’t worry, after a few visits you will get the hang of it.

Now to the good part. My favourite dish is not even listed on the menu but is out of this world. It is called Thai Islamic Noodles and comes piping hot in a coconut red curry sauce with shrimp and chicken. It is very filling and almost always scrumptious. Salad King also offers

If the negatives seem to outweigh the positives from this review then you are obviously not as interested in the food aspect of a restaurant as I am. What initially may seem like a hassle eventually becomes a tradition upon repeated visits to this most excellent establishment.