Thai Express

Best dish is pad Thai! It’s always been one of my favourites even compared to actual sit in restaurants. Tip: their soups come in small sizes (still a hefty portion) for half the cost!

Scotia Plaza Food Court — I came here during prime time lunch hour (12:30pm) and Thai Express had the longest line out of all the other restaurants in this food court. Unfortunately, the length of the line is not proportionate to the quality of the food being served. Did I order the wrong thing?
I went with the basic Thai fried rice with chicken (has pineapple and tomatoes) for about $ 8. You can specify the spicy level, so I went with medium. The portion was large (came in a large sized Chinese takeout box), but it contained bland food. The rice was kinda gross (not your high end jasmine rice) and it was seriously lacking in flavor, even though it had a mild spicy hotness to it. The onion and carrots were hard, which would have been ok if the dish itself had some flavor to go with the vegetables. I could have drowned it with soy sauce to save it, but I didn’t’ have any when I was eating. I will not be ordering this again. My friend had the pad thai, and it looked good and he said it tasted good, so I would try this instead of the fried rice next time.
The service was fast and they take credit card (both master and visa).

This spot is basically nothing special, particularly for the noodle and rice dishes.
However! I think I’ve come upon a little gem since discovering the small-​sized soups. It’s not on the menu, but they definitely do them. They are the perfect size for lunch. The normal soup is about $ 3.75 and the tom yum is about $ 4.07 or so and the flavours are great. The tom yum is usually fine as-​is but I like to jazz up the normal soup with a squeeze of hoisin, hot sauce, lime, peanuts and the like from the other end of the counter. And because it’s the small size, you don’t end up feeling bloated from over-​eating noodles and fried rice.
Just a tip!

Conveniently located in the finanical district. Though it is not easy to find as it is tucked around the corner.
Thai express has been expanding across Toronto, gaining popularity in its convenient way of offering quick thai food in minutes. Food is decent and cooked on the spot, under the blazing fire on the wok.
I also like the fact that you can add your own hot sauce, hoi sin sauce, peanuts or lime into your dish, located on the other end of the counter.
I’ve had my share of food of Thai Express. The pad thai/​sew and general tao chicken are decent choices, but it often leaves me feeling bloated as it is completely soaked in sauce. A bit too much for my liking.

Restaurant: Thai Express
Cuisine: Thai
Location: Downtown Core/​Financial District
Address: 40 King St W
Price Range: $ 10 – 15
1: Poor
2: OK
3: Good
4: Very Good
5: Excellent
Food: 3
Service: 3
Ambiance: 2
Overall: 3
Extra information:
*Food-​court style
*Specializes in Pick Up
*Limited Menu
Felt like staying in one day and decided to do pick up from Thai Express with my sister. They only have 5 – 7 main dishes avail so we didn’t get much choice. We went with Shrimp Pad Thai and Chicken Green Curry + 2 Spring Rolls. The bill came to around $ 21.00 and tip was not necessary because it was a pick up. Pad Thai was alright with 4 – 5 medium sized shrimp but a little too ketchupy tasting. Green curry was creamy with the coconut milk base but because of the way take out box is made, rice was all mushy on the bottom. However, it is located just across from my house and if I wanted a quick meal, I wouldn’t mind trying something else again.

I decided to try it. Just because the lines at this place are INCREDIBLY wrong so it makes me think they must be doing SOMETHING right. I hate foodcourt food, I truly do. But in a bit of a food (that is fast) desert (not a fast-​food desert– because there is lots of that) — I needed something quick and the line had yet to form.
I got the pad thai because that’s just what you do when you come to a standard place like thai express.
The food was so bleh, the veggies didn’t look fresh– especially since they just fry them up, and i’m fairly sure a lunch to-​go– portion comes up to my daily caloric intake– which isn’t necessarily a terrible thing if the TASTE was commensurate with how BAD it is for you. it wasn’t.
Don’t let the long lines trick you– they are NOT good. It merely has a long line because desk-​job office workers who didn’t bring their lunch also happen to be people with no taste buds.

This place is all hype.
During the lunch hour, the line up is insanely long but to try them out, I waited patiently like everyone else to see what the hype was about. After eating their food, I still don’t understand why they’re so popular.
Because they’re express, you get your food in under two minutes. All of the meat and shrimp are pre-​cooked. To prepare for your dish, they heat up your meat either by tossing them in the wok or plopping them into a vat of hot water. Personally, I don’t like this process. Cooking raw meat at a high temperature doesn’t have to take a long time but anyway…
I ordered my chicken Pad Thai ($ 6.99) medium spicy. It’s a generous portion of noodles, meat and veggies but it tasted OK. Their version of medium spicy is mild. You can also add toppings separately like chopped peanuts and slices of lime.
Thai Express has a lot of noodle dishes, soups and curries, but frankly, I don’t think I’ll come back to try them.

The Thai Express at Eaton centre’s foodcourt is overpriced. Why would you want to pay $ 8 for fast food that lacks authenticity and flavor. I ordered the red curry chicken and the food was watery and bland. It lacked any flavor whatsoever. I went back and informed the manager who said «oh we can re-​cook it for you.» I wasn’t sure what that meant but I understood that they would add some flavor to their food. All I got back was the same curry chicken only hotter (warmer). Big waste of $ 8.

The pad sew (thick rice noodles) is so yummy here I have random cravings for it!
Yes, the line-​ups are long and the prices are typically overpriced for downtown toronto foodcourts. Still, this is as good as it gets for a quick fast lunch.

I was visiting from Northern Virginia to the Toronto area. This was my third meal of my trip. On my first day, a coworker of mine took me to the food court, and we passed Thai Express, which had a line around the block. I figured that such a long line would indicate good food. To give some reference, I was looking for vegetarian food, and I don’t like Chinese style food.
The line was so long that an employee was walking through the line, asking each of us for our orders so that he could put it on a piece of paper to hand to the counter that would prepare the order. I asked him what he would recommend, since I wanted vegetarian. Somehow we chose the yellow curry. He told me that Red curry was spicy, Yellow was medium, and Green was mild. I’m a south indian that has grown up in the U.S., so I can handle some spice, but I don’t want my mouth on fire. I figured that they could substitute tofu instead of meat. This in my opinion should have been cheaper than meat. Instead it appeared to be more difficult for them, and they charged me extra for the tofu.
I also ordered some water. This seemed to be a simple order. Instead it required two employees how to figure out how to ring up my order, somehow I was charged 1.99 for the flavored water, although I just wanted plain water. We waited a few minutes for the food, and then I wasn’t even 100% sure it was my order, but he seemed to confirm that it was my order.
I tried the food in the seating area, which was surrounded by a line around the corner. This food was mediocre at best, which was disappointing consider this lunch was over $ 11. Additionally, the tofu seemed to just be thrown on the side, I would hope they would have cooked it into the meal. Overall, I couldn’t understand why there was such a long line. Toronto has been surprising me all week.

I try to avoid the food court where possible, but there are some decent options to be had. Thai Express is just what you’d expect — fast (if you get there at 11.30 before the line starts), and, well, Thai… the offering includes noodles, rice, soups and something akin to a spring roll temptingly named the Imperial Roll.
I had the chicken fried basil rice. A good size, it filled me up and kept me happy on a cold day when I needed something that qualifies as a once a week treat only.
If you’re in the hood, give it a go — but get their pre or post the lunch rush. Even though they are fast, there are a LOT of people in line for their delicious noodles…

Hrmm. well I need to put in my own two cents here. I’ve never had the curry at Thai Express — because I am in love with their Pad Thai and will order it everytime — making special care to duck out of work early so I don’t get stuck in line. Unlike Thai Island, their Pad Thai is not pre-​made and waiting in a warmer, which I find causes the noodles to stick together. The Thai Express Pad Thai is made to order, which means they stir-​fry it AFTER you order it and serve it to you fresh! This is also how they serve it in Thailand. You can choose how spicy you like it, and there are limes and peanuts on the side to add to the Pad Thai. As for the taste — it’s not ketchup-​y; it’s just GOOD. As for the price, yes, it’s about $ 8 but if you look around the food courts nowadays, that is pretty much in line with all other food stalls. At least this tastes good!