[Dine-Out] Calgary: The King & I January 13, 2012

So, I usually don’t post a blog right away after I eat but…I had such a bad experience at The King & I that I just…can’t wait to post…

This place is so ridiculously expensive for the calibre of food they are serving. I seriously felt so ripped off by this place.

The only thing that was remotely enjoyable was the Phuket Fisherman Soup. It’s a spicy fish broth soup that comes with some protein in it. We ordered one order for $8.50 and they split it into two dinky little bowls for us…each of us got one piece of squid, one shrimp, and one clam. The broth was okay and the seafood was okay but nothing spectacular. It definitely was not indicative of the quality of food we were about to get served though.

$8.50

We also got an order of chicken puffs. They were described as thin pancakes stuffed with ground chicken, potatoes, carrots, and peas. I thought they would be kind of like samosas but…they were definitely not as good as samosas. First of all, there was definitely no chicken in this, it was ALL potato. False advertising. The sweet and sour chili sauce was sickly sweet.

$11.00 - soooo expensive, I can get samosas for $0.50 each in the NW that taste like heaven in my mouth

This Neua Nam Dang was the most disappointing dish of my life. I compare this meal to the time I went to Sushi Tokyo and got served super vinegary rice (worst meal ever). The menu described this as “beef stir-fried with specially prepared house chili sauce served on a bed of tempura vegetables”.

THIS WAS TWENTY DOLLARS!!! We were so hungry by this point that we started eating, this is probably 75% of the dish.

I can’t believe I paid $20 for this plate of tasteless crap. The “specially prepared house chili sauce” tasted and looked exactly like the sauce that came with the chicken puffs. And that tasted like that sweet and sour sauce you can buy in a jar from Superstore. The beef was overcooked, the “bed” of tempura vegetables consisted of MAX 8 pieces, and those were cut to the size of a nickel.

I don’t usually ever order any type of “stir-fry” at restaurants besides Chinese restaurants. First of all, any other type of asian cuisine is super expensive where compared to Chinese restaurants, and if I wanted a crappy Chinese stir-fry, I would just go to a Chinese restaurant. I would be paying like $6-8 dollar less for a bigger portion, better made stir-fry. I still can’t believe I had to pay $20 for that plate of junk.

I’ve decided on a couple of things that will help me gauge how good a restaurant’s food will be. First of all, it’s highly unlikely that you will get phenomenal food in a very large restaurant. I’m pretty sure that The King & I could fit like 50 tables in their space. That’s waaaayy too big, they’re just trying to cater to volume, not quality.

Second, if you’re in a ethnic restaurant and you see ZERO customers of that ethnicity…it’s probably not very authentic. The King & I was just serving waves and waves of elderly, non-Thai people…should have clued in…

I definitely would not recommend this place. Rose Garden Thai on Stephen Ave and Delicious Thai in Kensington is far, far, far better. Like, no competition, in quality AND price. But most importantly, quality.

THE KING & I
822 11 Avenue Southwest
Calgary, AB T2R 0E5
(403) 264-7241

[Dine-Out] Calgary: Delicious Thai June 23, 2011

I’ve been meaning to go the Delicious Thai for quite a while now. The place is easy to walk past & forget because it’s tucked inside a little nook along 10th Street in Kensington, or, more often than not, it’s covered by a bunch of “scene” kids or hipsters loitering around.

We started off our meal with a couple of coconut juices. Did you know that coconut water is considered nature’s Gatorade? That’s because it’s full of electrolytes! If it wasn’t so expensive, I’d definitely drink it everyday~

Coconut Juice

The bf got the “Lab Moo”. It’s a Thai Grounded Pork Spicy Salad. He got the highest spiciness level they offer, and it was much too spicy for me. I’m such a wimp.

“Lab Moo”

The salad is basically ground pork that has been mixed with hot and spicy dressing, roasted rice, mint, green onion, dry chili, and cilantro.

“Gaeng Kua Sup-Bpa-Rot” Pineapple Curry

I got the Beef Pineapple Curry. This was really good, the sweetness & tartness of the pineapple really helped cut through the spice. I prefer thicker curry though – like a Japanese style? That’s the way my mom would make curry at home, and I have a fondness of that rendition of curry. Actually, I think I just like thicker dishes generally. I think I only got the 2nd level of spiciness and it was still really spicy. I had to order some coconut rice on the side to help me temper the heat.

Cloooose Up!

This dish consists of your choice of protein (pork, beef, chicken, or shrimp) cooked in a spicy red curry paste with coconut milk, pineapple, red pepper, green paper, snow peas, and lime leaves.

Both dishes were very flavourful and authentic tasting. I wish they offered stir-fried phak bung (morning glory) though, I think that’s probably my favoriate Thai dish.

DELICIOUS THAI
314 10 Street Northwest
Calgary, AB T2N 1V8
(403) 450-1996