- by Michael Craig

This is an appreciation rather than a standard review of a very special new Thai restaurant, Hong Thai at 101 10th Street East, right next to the river in Owen Sound.  
Five friends and myself stuffed ourselves on Saturday evening with six different dishes, all of which were above delicious.  The opinion was unanimous:  this tiny place (seats 17) is a treasure.  

It is run by Jo, a Vietnamese woman who has been in Canada for 25 years, and her husband Steven who has been cooking Thai for many years.  Jo served us with enthusiasm and exuberance.

We started our feast with Vietnamese shrimp and vegetable rolls.  (Okay, so they arrived in the middle of the meal - this is a mom and pop operation where timing can be tricky). But spring rolls, you know, can be exceedingly ordinary, and these were not.

Moving on we ordered Mango salad, red curry shrimp and green curry mixed vegetables.  (Watch out, as you may know, the ‘green’ dishes in eastern cuisines are hotter than the red.).  The curry dishes come in really delicious soup/sauces.  We enjoyed ginger crispy beef which came with lots of delightful, chewy beef.  

Plus, we had pad Thai with chicken and pad See Ew with beef, and broad brown (must be healthy) noodles, different from the norm and yummy.  Needless to say we took home enough to feed three families for days.

I decided to write this ‘appreciation’ because, frankly,  I sometimes find Chinese and Indian meals, though I love these cuisines, rather wanting;  a bit boring in other words, with many curry dishes tasting much the same.  But that was definitely not the case at Hong Thai:  every dish was distinctive.  And, by the way, it was reasonably priced, very fine value.

Hey folks, check it out, we want Hong Thai to thrive!  

Hours:  Monday. 12pm-3pm
Wednesday to Sunday. 12pm -9:30 pm.