Thai Senses

This is one of the restaurants that have been on my wish list to try for the longest time; mainly because friends in the area have sworn up and down that this is the place to go for Thai in the Halton region. We were out for a drive one afternoon along the lakeshore and decided to stop in on a whim to see what all the hype was about.

Situated right at the corner of Bronte and Lakeshore, Thai Senses is one of the bigger units in a plaza that faces Lakeshore, so it’s pretty easy to find. I’m not sure if there is a dedicated parking lot for the restaurant, but we found street parking without a problem.

Walking in, the restaurant is decorated with Thai-themed paintings and wall hangings, and there are tables set up in various corners with trinkets for sale: anything from jewellery to chopsticks. Although colourful and interesting to look at, I found it somewhat disruptive to have people lingering over the merchandise close to my table while I was eating. Perhaps if the restaurant centralized its wares into one area away from the dining patrons, it would be a better set-up.

The menu is extensive; and bound into a fairly thick book. We took our time looking through the various options and our server was helpful in answering any questions we had. Deciding to splurge a bit, we decided on two appetizers, two main dishes and a dessert – and we were more than stuffed afterwards.

The Roll Platter ($4.95) came first and consisted of a vegetarian cold roll that was packed with fresh vegetables and tofu, a vegetarian spring roll that had glass noodles, mushrooms and cabbage, and a shrimp roll. I admit I wasn’t blown away by the platter in terms of taste, but the cold roll was cold and fresh, and the hot items were steaming hot.
Mung Bean Noodle Spicy Salad ($9.95) we ordered purely because we had no idea what it was but it sounded interesting. Clear bean noodles are topped with a generous portion of chicken, calamari and shrimp (there were only two in the salad, but they were large) and then tossed with a spicy fish sauce. I liked this dish because of all the different textures and the freshness of it all. The bean noodles are very light – much lighter than a normal glass noodle, so the dish wasn’t as filling as you might think. The flavour was also light and could have used more sauce, but the spice level was impressive considering it was a salad.
I can’t go to a Thai restaurant without trying their Pad Thai ($11.95) and again, I was impressed at the amount of chicken and shrimp that came with the dish. The dish itself was cooked perfectly, the noodles were not overdone and there was no mushiness to be seen at all. The flavour leaned towards the sweet side with a healthy dash of tamarind to give it a tart taste. There were plenty of peanuts that came with the dish, and the crunchiness of the nuts added a nice texture to it all.
Ginger Beef ($10.95) was one of the best ginger beefs I have ever tried. Swimming in a sea of three kinds of mushrooms and vegetables, the beef was extremely tender and melted in my mouth. The ginger was generous and julienned into the dish, giving it an extra little spice with every bite. Though found under the “stir fry” section of the menu, the dish itself tasted light and not overly greasy. 
To soak up the sauce from the beef, we ordered a single portion of Coconut Rice ($2.50) which was incredibly fragrant and fluffy. The creaminess of the coconut milk is absorbed into the grains of rice and made a perfect accompaniment to our dishes.
Lastly, for dessert we ordered Sticky Rice with Ice Cream ($6.95) which was a mound of sticky rice covered in coconut milk, topped with sesame seeds and cashews. We had a choice of ice cream and decided to stay with the coconut theme and asked for a scoop of coconut. Oh my goodness. If I could eat this all day, I absolutely would. Such simple individual elements come together in a fantastic combination of texture and flavour. The sticky rice was sweet with the creamy coconut milk that lent a touch of saltiness. The ice cream was creamy, coconut-y and made the whole dessert complete. So so good.
Overall, Thai Senses was good and we would come back again. The portions are generous, the ingredients are fresh and they know how to cook things properly. Service is attentive without being disruptive, and there are some amazing dishes to be had here.

One of the daily group buy sites has a deal on for Thai Senses until the end of today: $5 for $15 worth of food. If you’ve been meaning to try it, this would be a good chance to get some good eats at a good price. I bought a couple myself; anything to give me an excuse for more of that dessert. If you’re interested, here’s the link to the deal – expiring in 11 hours!

Thai Senses on Urbanspoon
Thai Senses
2450 Lakeshore Rd. W, Oakville
www.thaisenses.ca

0 comments:

Post a Comment