Eastern promises

Sumptuous curries and savoury
seafood at Mai Thai

by MARK SLUTSKY

Montreal’s dearth of decent Thai food has always bothered me. Why, when seemingly every other city in North America was being overrun with joints serving pad thai and red curries over the past decade or so, were we so overlooked? The only Thai place I return to with any regularity in this town is in a food court—that would be Bangkok, which rarely disappoints—and don’t even get me started on the Thai Express franchises that have sprung up everywhere like so many greasy mushrooms.

So I was excited to hear rumblings of a new and authentic-sounding Thai joint opening in Outremont. Mai Thai occupies the space formerly held by La Papaye Vert, on the restaurant-packed block of Bernard between Hutchison and Parc (at last count, there’s an upscale sushi place, a cheap Chinese joint and an Italian restaurant, not to mention Cheskie’s Jewish bakery). It’s a pleasant, white-tablecloth kind of place, relatively unadorned, with comfortable leather chairs and music bubbling quietly in the background. On a recent Tuesday night visit, the restaurant was mostly empty, save for a few scattered couples.

Mai Thai suffers a bit from over-menuing. The two-page spread features something like 97 different dishes, and that’s not including desserts (though there is an entire vegetarian sub-menu broken into appetizers and mains). As such, we relied on the waiter’s advice to make a few of our selections.

Though appetizer platters don’t, as a rule, scream quality, Mai Thai’s ($14) seemed to present a pretty representative selection of their starters. It included two chicken satays ($8 on their own), two spring rolls ($6), two goong, or marinated shrimp, tempura pieces ($6), two fish beignets ($8) and two pork/shrimp dumplings ($6). We were three, and it was evidently a dish made for one less, which required a bit of math on our part to ensure an equal distribution of edibles.

The apps were uniformly good, but not great. The chicken satays were, however, enhanced by a thick and luscious peanut sauce that I basically want to put on everything edible I ever come across again. The fish cakes were oily, but savoury nonetheless, and the dumplings were satisfyingly overstuffed. The spring rolls and tempura shrimp I could take or leave; not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but not offering any surprises either.

We took the waiter up on his suggestion of a fried snapper topped with mango salad ($18). The fish was presented beautifully; it arrived whole, on its side, its tail curving up into the air and heaped with shredded green mango. I had somehow also ordered this salad on its own ($7), where in addition to a light vinaigrette, lime juice and mint leaves, it featured shrimp as well. An excellent salad, and a fine accompaniment to the fish, which was lightly breaded, perfectly tender and flavourful.

We also went for a red curry made with seafood and served inside a hollowed-out coconut ($18). Chunks of octopus, shrimp and calamari bobbed in the rich curry along with slivers of coconut meat; it was a real delight and went well with the bowl of sticky rice ($3.50) we ordered on the side.

It seemed sensible, if a bit predictable, to order a pad thai, but hey, it’s always good to check out the basics. A chicken pad thai ($14) was serviceable but no great shakes, and a little on the sweet side for my tastes—I’d recommend Bangkok’s version, which is half the price, over this any day. I’d stick to the curries if I were you.

Service was warm if not always entirely knowledgeable—our friendly waiter admitted that he was pretty much at sea when it came to recommending a wine, though he was quite helpful when one of my dining companions spilled a glass of water on my lap. All in all, I wasn’t completely blown away, but Mai Thai is a promising addition to our city’s meagre Thai restaurant scene and would probably reward repeated visits.

Tips? Questions? Recipes? E-mail eattothebeat@gmail.com