Aroy Thai
1 Rideaucrest Dr. (inside the Quickie convenience store), 613-823-2224,
aroythaibarrhaven.ca
Open:
Tuesday to Sunday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., 4 to 8 p.m. closed Monday
Pinn-To Thai Food Truck
4100 Albion Rd. S., 613-617-1881,
pinntothaifood.ca
Open:
Monday to Friday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., 4:30 to 7:30p.m., Saturday 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., closed Sunday
For me, Thai cuisine counts as comfort food, even if the kitchen’s gone heavy on the bird’s eye chilies. That explains why last week I sought some boldly flavoured curries, stir-fries and noodles to lift spirits that were sagging due to the second wave of COVID-19.
Had the Ontario government not banned indoor dining for 28 days starting on Oct. 10, I might have eaten at one of my Thai favourites such as Nana Thai Cuisine or Wandee Thai Cuisine, both in Little Italy, or Thai Flame, in Bells Corners. I like the hospitality at those three places, as well as their willingness to dial up the heat.
But with dining out forbidden, I decided to try some more far-flung specialists in takeout Thai food to see how they fared.
My travels took me to Aroy Thai, which is tucked inside a Quickie convenience store in Barrhaven, and to the Pinn-To Thai Food Truck, which is in an Albion Road parking lot. I went looking for tasty Thai dishes in some unlikely places, you might say, hoping that tiny operations staffed by one or two cooks might yield some gems.
For the most part, what I ate was pleasing and well-made, if less fiery or pungent than I would have liked (the menus I consulted showed one or even three chili symbols beside dishes). Perhaps it’s significant that both Aroy Thai and Pinn-To Thai Food Truck seem to rely on ground chili peppers rather than fresh chilies for heat — I associate the jolt of heat I like with the latter.
The tastiest item I had from either restaurant was the chicken satay from Pinn-To, which was moist, nicely seared and taken to the next level by a superior peanut-y sauce. Alas, Aroy doesn’t offer chicken satay, so there’s no comparison I can make.
I’d say the soups from both eateries — whether it was tom kha gai, mellowed with coconut milk or tom yum goong, in which tender shrimp bobbed in a mildly sour and hot broth — ran neck and neck with one another.
We appreciated the depth of flavour and richness of all the curries we tried, from the peanut-y panang curry and yellow chicken curry from Aroy to the red curry with pineapple from Pinn-To. We tried beef curries from both kitchens and found the thinly sliced beef a little tough. With that in mind, I’d lean more to chicken and shrimp curries in the future.
Pad Thai from both purveyors won us over with toothsome shrimp and noodles. We had the chicken basil stir-fry from both Aroy and Pinn-To, but I thought both were too subdued in terms of heat and basil-y goodness.
From a downtown Thai restaurant, I’d hope for mango with sticky rice for dessert. But if you order from Aroy or Pinn-To, then you’ll be left with whatever’s in your fridge or freezer for your meal’s sweet finish.
Even if I would have liked more complex and chili-powered dishes from Aroy and Pinn-To, I’m glad they’re around to offer their nonetheless enjoyable food to the south end of Ottawa. Residents there shouldn’t have to drive downtown and back to get their Thai food fix. Perhaps all they need is some bird’s eye chilies at home to perk the dishes up a bit.