Thida's - Above Average Thai

Post-call spring days are the best. Being able to wake up and still see the sun in the sky brings a sense of relief that I had not wasted the entire day away sleeping. After a short time up, my stomach usually starts coming to life complaining that it had been neglected for the past few hours. Like a puppy asking for a snack, it would start with a slight growl but then turn into a churning sensation forcing me out of bed with a uncontrollable urge to quench its need. Thankfully Winnipeg has still a laundry list of restaurants for me to try and so after a quick perusal of Urbanspoon, I landed upon Thida's Thai Restaurant.

On Donald Street in Downtown Winnipeg, Thida's Thai came with great recommendations from both attendings and fellow restaurants. The large red sign welcomes and beckons you forward into the small restaurant. The interiors are not anything to shout home about, with dark and messy hallways that give a sense of claustrophobia to diners when they initially arrive, especially when trying to navigate the large line of patrons there for pick-up.

Calling themselves authentic is strong and boastful. In truth, the restaurant does feature the regular standard Thai dishes you would expect. The basics of fried noodle, curries and fried rices (with any combination of meats) are all prominently featured. Amongst them are a nice mixture of appetizers and a few more unique fish and seafood curry and stir fry dishes. Each dish comes with a spice rating from 1 to 10 with the average being a 3, allowing the diner to customize their meal to the umpteenth degree. Overall a serviceable menu that offers something that everyone should enjoy.

Pad Thai Chicken is usually my dish of choice when dining at a Thai restaurant and the version here was excellent. The tender rice noodles were adorned with large chunks of tender chicken breast tossed in a tamarind based tomato-ey sauce. In fact it was the sauce, with its wonderful combination of sweet, salty, sour and savoury, that worked to combine everything together into a unified dish. Crunchy peanuts and crispy bean sprouts finished the dish by adding a nice textural element.

Pad Keow Waan (Green Curry) with Beef was unfortunately not as good. The large bowl of curry had a huge number of vegetables and topped with large amounts of sliced beef. While the base curry was excellent with rich coconut milk and the perfect amount of sweetness and spicyness, the large vegetables felt tacked on and were not cooked long enough to absorb the essence of the green curry sauce. The beef, on the other hand, was disappointingly tough and completely devoid of flavour, almost to the point of inedible.

Thida's Thai was a mixed bag for me. On one hand, the Pad Thai was excellent and ranks highly as one of the better versions I have had in Winnipeg; while on the other, the curry was disappointingly lacking and the meat rendered inedible. Overall, the inconsistency of the restaurant make it difficult for me to uniformly recommend Thida's Thai. Perfect for those in the area and craving Thai food, but know there are much better restaurants in the city that deliver consistently tasty Thai.