King & Thai Restaurant (Review)
Previously located in Cook Street Village for 9 years, King & Thai is a small Thai restaurant now located in the quaint Estevan Village. The restaurant is newly renovated and well decorated, offering seating for about 10 people at tables, and an additional bar space offering seating for about 4. On the Tuesday evening we went, we were the only ones in the restaurant.
To start our meal off, we ordered the Spring Rolls with sweet chill sauce ($6.95) as an appetizer. The first thing I noticed was just how small the spring rolls were, especially for the price. They had a thick crust, leaving not much room for any filling. They reminded me of the kind of spring rolls you find the freezer section of your local grocery store.
For our main courses we ordered the Vegetarian Pad Thai ($11.25), and the combination meal of Pineapple Curry and Chicken Satay ($16.75). Again, the Pad Thai serving size was smaller than we’ve seen at places like Baan Thai and Sabhai Thai. Not only was the serving size small, but the pieces of tofu were also really small. The dish was still tasty though with lots of flavour.
The Chicken Satay was delicious – the chicken was moist and tender, the peanut sauce was thick and flavourful, and the cucumber and red onion complimented the dish nicely. The rice was fluffy and well cooked, and the chicken curry had a strong sweet flavour with plenty of sauce to add to the rice.
 Chicken Satay |
 Pineapple Curry |
As I mentioned before, we were the only ones in the restaurant, yet the service was noticeably slow. We probably sat for a good 10 minutes once we had both finished our meals, waiting for someone to come and clear the table and offer us either dessert or our bill.
Based on the prices and serving sizes, I don’t think I would eat at King & Thai again, as we’ve had better experiences at other Thai restaurants in Victoria. If I did, I would most likely order take-out.
Have you tried King & Thai at their new location in Estevan Village? How does it compare to their previous location at Cook Street Village? I’d be interested to hear your opinions, leave a comment below!
King & Thai
2510 Estevan Ave
Victoria, BC
I eat at King and Thai at least twice a week, as do many of my friends and family. The food is incredible, very fresh, and you can taste the love and care put into each dish. The food is homemade, right down to the spring rolls and broths. The tofu in the phad thai is cut small, but that is how it is meant to be in this dish. If you order stirfry with tofu (for example), the pieces are larger.
I also must respectfully disagree with you regarding the phad thai portion size, I have never found it to be too small, in fact, I usually need some assistance from my fellow dinner guests to help me finish it. They are always quite happy to help me out with this
If you do end up trying King and Thai out again, I would suggest the Tom Yum Soup, a family favourite of ours. Another yummy choice is the chicken satay wrap, perfect to pick up and take down to the beach!