Ivory Thailand

Shhh … I have a secret to tell y’all. I just lost my Thai restaurant virginity to Ivory Thailand and it was not as painful as I thought.
I was in the mood for a light «quickie» lunch. Two dishes came to mind, Pad Thai and Pad Kee Mao, which Ivory Thailand have on the menu.
The Pad Kee Mao was intensely hot, savory and delicious. There was an explosion of wonderful flavors. I loved the amount of smokiness packed into this dish. The heat from the pepper was near the point of making you sweat, but not quite. I definitely would go back for this dish again.
Pad Thai was also delectable. However, a little bit more tamarind sauce would push this dish up a notch. Still, I enjoyed my Pad Thai. What makes or breaks Pad Thai is a good tamarind base. The rest is up to you, if you like a more intense flavor (whether more fiery, sweet, salty or sour) then you add chili, sugar, fish sauce or lime.
MY TIP: If you prefer a more piquant flavor, be sure to ask the chef to add ground roasted chili in the wok. I confirmed with one of the staff that you can ask the chef to prepare Pad Thai the way he/​she would for a Thai person.
It was supposed to be a light lunch. Somehow a Fried Banana with Coconut Ice Cream ended up on the table. The ripe banana against the crunchy light batter and the sweetness of ice cream was an awesome combination. This dessert is easy to make, yet difficult to make it right. Ivory Thailand got it right.
Overall, it was a very nice lunch. All three dishes hit the spot and met my expectations. Staff were polite and friendly.
You know that old saying, you never forget the first time. In my case, I will always remember my first Thai restaurant review.

First some technical stuff: the map is a little off — the address is 81 Church and the door is on Church halfway between Adelaide and Lombard. One of my coworkers says this is where Young Thailand used to be.
Oh man, I may have a new favourite. I haven’t had a sit-​down meal there, although the décor was nice and soothing and it wasn’t too loud. Granted, the lunch rush wasn’t there yet but there was no annoying radio playing. I have a feeling it would be a nice place for a relaxed lunch or a business chat.
I got a takeout buffet box, which came to $ 10.12 and was very big. Am I cheap, or do I just eat like a bird (which you’d never figure out from my size)? This box will feed me three lunches. It’s in the office fridge with my name on it and it’ll keep me in happy Thai food land until Wednesday.
This is unlike any Thai food I’ve had in Toronto so far. The veggie pad thai is tangy and tart, not swimming in sweet tamarind sauce. I love me some tamarind but the pad thai can get to be a bit much. I could eat tons of this. There are also sweet syrupy fried noodles and banana fritters, which I haven’t seen in Thai restaurants here — I’m not Thai so I have no idea, but maybe my usual places are too Americanized and these are authentic little treats.
Other yummies — big chunks of chili tofu, which I wish were a little hotter (actually, considering how uncommon some of the offerings are, I was surprised at how little fiery-​hot spice there was all around — next time I’ll dip into that big bowl of sriracha), and fried rice that is maybe a bit too salty. I’ll go with the steamed rice next time. The green beans are savoury and crunchy, not overcooked. The yam patties are crispy and bite-​sized, made with flavourful yam and not overseasoned.
I’m sorry, Bombay Palace, I’ve found a new love that I just have to walk a few more minutes to get to. But I’ll always remember your bhel puri.

My first night in Toronto we had just gotten settled in to our hotel around 9 PM and were hungry for dinner. The front desk provided us with several menus and we chose to order delivery from Ivory. I was very very pleasantly surprised. The food was delicious, delivery was fast, and prices were fair.

Given that the mood of the décor is suitable for a date and that the booths can make you feel like a VIP with some privacy, I really wanted the food and service to match.
I told my friend to order the first thing on the menu, FREE WI-​FI! Yup, it was a bit weird to see that as the first note on the menu. The best part of my meal was the PINEAPPLE SMOOTHIE?
The Tom Yum Soup missed its mark on the spice scale as I couldn’t really pick up the heat until my last few spoonful. The Papaya Salad (Tiger Shrimp) did a little better but the first time it was served, the Friendly waiter noticed it didn’t have Shrimps on the plate then when it came back it had «3»… 1, 2, 3 Medium Tiger Shrimps scattered around the plate.
The Panang (Chicken) was average as well, spiced correctly as I ordered it Medium Spicy and it came with lots of sauce, so the waiter suggested Steam Rice for it. I’m looking at my bill now and seeing $ 2.00 for Rice? I’m definitely not in a Chinese restaurant near my part of town anymore.
My friend had the Chicken & Shrimp Pad Thai. It was made with Tamarind sauce for the noodles but the noodles kind of stick together on the bottom of Chicken, Egg, and 1, 2, 3! Shrimps. I told my friend to MIX HARDER, put some effort into it!
The waiter was friendly and answered my questions about the Lunch Buffet since this is my first time seeing a Thai Lunch Buffet anywhere. However the bill took a bit longer than normal to arrive, knowing he had customers coming in to the restaurants to deal with he had plenty of time to push a couple buttons. He had time to write THANK YOU on the bill after all.

A good downtown location for standard Thai food with a nice lunch buffet. I did not feel there was anything especially unusual about the dinner menu, but it did have a complete selection of most of classics. Prices are quite reasonable and portions were generous. My basil chicken was well flavoured with the right amount of hotness and an appetizer of tod mun (fish cakes) was very fresh and crisp, though a tad greasy.
The staff is friendly and helpful and this is a good location for groups. Décor is pleasant though not especially memorable.

Went in for a quick bite early one evening. They have a ‘happy hour’ where their appetizers are discounted. It was OK, but a bit on the greasy side.
The restaurant is old school, but nicely decorate. The service is good and cheerful, the price is low.
The taste does not measure up. This is not worth repeating for me. Nothing stood out or distinguished itself. Just blah!

Went to Ivory Thai with a friend of mine who just makes going out tons of fun. ive only been here once, and i wouldn’t mind coming back.
the décor and style of the restaurant is inviting and just overly relaxing. I didnt find the place to be busy at all, which gave us the chance to laugh it up as if we owned the joint. the staff is very friendly and basically recommened some amaxing dishes that we wouldn’t have tried. you know we would of just stuck with the dishes we have had at other places etc .
the food was good, there wasn’t anything we didnt like. tho be careful on the spices lol. we told them to add extra spice and yeah lol it was hot but still great
i say hit this place up for a date

Super yummy and a huge selection of buffet items or menu items. A must try is the coconut ice cream!

My coworkers and I came here for a goodbye party a few weeks ago. Reactions were mixed though more erring on the negative end. Though the décor is fairly nice and buffet selection decent but some of the dishes on the buffet were not warm even though we were amongst the first in! Pad Thai was too syrupy sweet, some of the shrimp tasted off and the watermelon/​fruits were salty for some reason. At $ 12.95 per head this is probably a deal for those who really prefer quantity over quality.

The inside of Ivory Thailand was nicer than the Zapf Chancery awning outside. (It’s weird when I recognize fonts.)
The lunch buffet ($ 12.95) looked a bit unappealing so we chose to order off the menu. We started with the Chicken Satay ($ 6.95), which was the best part of our meal. The chicken was nice and tender, and the sauce flavorful without being too peanut buttery.
The Mango Chicken ($ 10.95) looked good on the menu, but turned out to be only okay. The ingredients were good but the sauce was a little too much on the sweet and sour side. We would have preferred it to be spicier, maybe with cashews, and served in a mango shell. Of course now I’m describing how I’ve had this dish prepared elsewhere (Amarin in Santa Clara, CA).
I thought the prices were a bit steep for lunch, but just now looking at their website I see there’s a lunch menu with prices for combos (including spring rolls and soup) for $ 7.95 — $ 9.95. I have no idea why we weren’t offered this menu.