Papaya Restaurant

Probably the worst pad thai I have ever had the misfortune to taste. The dish was overly oily and sweet. I know that pad thai is an oily sweet/​sour/​salty dish BUT this is just overboard.

I love this place and it is my go to for Thai food. Reasonably priced, friendly service, and some absolutely fantastic dishes including the mango lamb. YUM!!!
We frequently used them to order in also.
I’ve even throw in a few parties there including a birthday party and they were incredibly accommodating.

If you are a curry fan, you need to go to papaya! I love love love curries and found this place to have the best curries out of 100’s of different Thai places I’ve tried in the GTA. Also, their tom yum soup= AMAZING! SO extremely flavorful! Can’t wait to go back!

I went to papaya this week for dinner at the request of my friend. I’m normally not a fan of fusion cuisine basically because it’s really neither here nor there. I’d rather either have full Asian cuisine or full anything else. Either way we went and I thought I’d give it a chance. I ordered a pad Thai with tiger shrimp and when the food eventually arrived I was surprised to find that it tasted fairly good. For a pan Asian bistro it was flavourful, just the right amount of heat, piping hot, and the noodles were nice and chewy but not to the point where it wasn’t pleasant. My friend ordered the glass noodles dish and he said it was very good. I didn’t try it so nothing more to add there.
The portion sizes look small but that’s only because they serve it on a giant plate. In reality by the time I was half way through the meal I started to get full so don’t be fooled by what you see. Eat half of it and then make your judgement.
I also ordered the Tom Yum Gong Soup which was very flavourful. What I thought was odd was the fact that the vegetables were actually uncooked. The texture of the vegetables in the soup felt literally like they just ladled the soup into the serving bowls and threw in raw vegetables. I’ve certainly never had raw vegetables in my Tom yum gong soup before and to be honest while tasty I wouldn’t pay the $ 6 again for it. You could buy the soup paste at any Asian grocery store and achieve a similar result. Trust me, those who know Tom Yum gong soup won’t be satisfied with this version.
Let’s talk about service. The gentlemen who served us was a middle aged Asian man. He was extremely nice and very friendly. We think he is the owner of the place. The problem is with the speed of service. Water was slow to be refilled. We had asked for two refills and he kept forgetting to fill our glasses. He even come over to ask us if we needed anything, we answered more water, and 5 minutes later still no water while we watched him bring out food and serve other tables. The food took forever to get out of the kitchen. I’m talking like 15 mins for the soup and another 15 for the entrée which is, come on, ridiculous.
I’m not sure if this was a regular occurrence but Papaya was totally understaffed and I overheard the table seated beside us complain to the only other server that they were waiting quite a long time on even getting their waters! Let alone their regular drink order.
Really the speed of service was a big issue for me which is why they get 3 stars only. However, because the food is good I might give it another chance and try to eat when they are less busy and I’ll update my review then.
So to sum up, good food, slow service.

3 stars for the food. Had the veggie pad Thai and the chicken panang curry. Both tasted different than what I expected and am used to in Chicago, however both were tasty.
5 stars for the service. Our server was extremely friendly, quite helpful, and very accommodating.

Try the Bangkok street style pad thai. It has to be one of our favourite dishes here, and never disappoints

I usually dislike pad thai at most restaurants because I can’t stand the overwhelming sour taste after a few bites. However, I’ve found that all of the pad Thai dishes here are yummy and do not have that overpowering sour taste :).
I really enjoy their curry pad thai and their spicy basil pad thai (both of which have pretty big portions), I also regularly order their fried calamari. The calamari is delicious and crispy and the sauce that comes with it is really good too.
Reason it’s a 4 star is because I recall ordering a soup once, and it wasn’t that great: x

3.5 for the food and an extra 0.5 for the service. Unlike many Thai restaurant I have been to, this place is clean and with good layout but cheap. Not cheap for the price but for the value, delicious and larrrrge portion. Another surprise comes when I find the coconut sauce with mango which I miss so much after my last trip in Thailand. Although they don’t use the white rice, but it is a good one. I really like my Thai dumplings. Highly recommend if you like spicy foods. My friend has the pad thai which is so large that she couldn’t finish… It’s a little sweet maybe they alter the receipt for local people… Anyway, as this one is close to my condo, I possibly will go back again.

This is a go to place for a quick, delicious meal. It’s never too busy and the service is prompt and friendly. My favourite meal is the papaya lamb curry with its slightly sweet, velvety curry sauce. The Bangkok style noodles are also good.

My friends and I love this place — we come often.
Great value — good portions, delicious food for the price, and good menu of options.
Definitely recommend the pad see ew as well as the yellow curry.
Service is also very friendly and fast.
This place always seems to be a bit empty, which we really cannot understand because it truly is a great place, and prices allow multiple casual visits.

I love Thai food and I’ve tried lots of Thai restaurants in the city. I believe this restaurant has the very best green curry chicken I’ve ever had, anywhere. They also have a phenomenal Thai dumpling and cold roll. Their pad thai is also nice but i prefer the pad thai of their competitor, Sukhothai (on Parliament or on Wellington). But the green curry here is way better than Sukhothai.
The waiters, who have been working here for years, are so sweet and friendly and knowledgable. Nice décor too.

Hmms! Very nice smaller Thai restaurant with people coming in every 5 – 10 minutes on a Sunday night. Comfortable seating and good ambience. The chicken & shrimp pad thai had exceptional chewiness to the noodles; though I did find it a bit too salty… After all I eavesdropped a little and heard the girls behind us claim that they drank four glasses of water. ^^

Ordered green curry every time. Need some recommendation. Service is good, food (or I should say curry) is good. Pricy than some other places, but really deserve to go again.

My wife and I have been going here for years. Our favorite item is the black bean tofu and the Tom Yum soup. The dinner portions here are larger than the lunch portions so we try to go later in the day.
The rice comes in triangles and their décor is amazing. We were here before they did the renovations and it’s a big improvement.

This is good value, basic Thai food, mildly authentic, served at cheap prices.
The FOOD: The spring rolls are super tasty and super addictive. Just trust your instincts: if they feel hot when you pick them up, they will burn your tongue when you eat them ;) The basil pad thai is a nice twist on things. Their curries are good, but not terribly authentic. These flavors are being cooked by Chinese people for white folk, so don’t expect the full Thai experience.
The SERVICE: Rather inconsistent. It seems to alternate between one waiter who’s really on top of things and another waiter that just stares into space instead of noticing that your water has been empty for 15 minutes. Be prepared to flag staff down when you want something… don’t be shy.
This is basic Thai food served at basic prices. If you’re in the Village or near Yonge-​Wellesley, there’s really nothing better… in fact some of the alternatives here are pretty disgusting.

I absolutely LOVE this place. I think it’s the best Thai place within a 10 minute walking distance from the Yonge/​Bloor subway line.
Must haves: Pad Thai & golden curry.
I like the pad thai as it’s not laced with tomato sauce and ketchup (and can we please stop doing that please? I know Thai food doesn’t have ketchup!).
Also, while some people think the curry is too thick, that’s how I like it as it gives it a good aromatic flavour.
Tip: if you plan coming for lunch, come b/​w 11:30 — 11:45 or else it’ll get packed and you’ll have to wait 10 – 15 minutes for a table.

3.5
Service a little slow… food was pretty good. Place is clean and waiter is friendly.

Came here one day while we were just walking down Yonge from Bloor. It looked nice from the outside, so we decided why not?
The décor close up was a bit… falling apart. So that should defo be looked at.
BUT WHO CURS, the food was FANTASTIC!
We had: (Four of us, sharing family stylez)
Apps:
1. The Crispy Calamari: I’ve never seen Calamari cut like this, it was like rectangular pieces, not the regular rings, BUT IT WAS DELICIOUS. Perfectly cooked, not even a millisecond to late! Not rubbery at all, but soft and fleshy and delicious.
2. The Crispy Wontons: DELICIOUS AS WELL. They disappeared in about ten to fifteen seconds.
Mains:
3. Golden Curry: it was good, pretty standard golden curry. The gravy was a tad too thick though.
4. Garlic Shrimp: This wasn’t what we expected, but it was SO GOOD. Lots of Shrampz, Lots of Veg, and a clear broth/​gravy thing at the bottom that we lapped up like dogs. TOTES WORTH IT.
5. Bangkok Street Style Pad Thai w/​Chicken & Shrimp: YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES. GET THIS.
The service was great, fast and attentive (thought it was close to closing and we were the only table there. but it was a monday night). They didnt even tell us that we stayed an hour past closing. THANK YOU.
The best part :
THE FOOD WAS SO CHEAP ITS RIDICULOUS.
4 people, and we had all of the above and it came to 12 dollars each plus tip???
12 dollars each???
TWELVE DOLLARS EACH!!!
just come here already.

This place needs a make over. The interior is very dated and needs a fresh coat of paint and tlc/​new decorations. Their mango salad was good as was their coconut soup. Service was bad though I think our server was new or just spacey but she got our order wrong twice and was slow and kind of unprofessional i.e. I asked her the difference between soups and she said «I dunno… do you know?» and then kind of spaced off until I asked her to ask the kitchen. Oh and their menus are very very outdated… please Papaya invest in a makeover!

I don’t think I have lofty expectations when I say a weekday lunch downtown should not take over an hour.
Checked out Papaya around 12:30pm on a Friday and had to wait about 10 min. for an available table, not unusual. Perused the lunch menu and we went with Combo #2 street style pad thai and Combo #8 basil chicken ($ 8.95 each). Both combos included a soup, salad, and a spring roll.
Then came the wait… the soup came about 20 min. after ordering. It was some sort of hot & sour concoction and it came out very lukewarm. I passed.
About 40 min. after we ordered, our food finally came and it was just okay, not really worth the wait but at least it was hot. The ‘salad’ was nothing more than a small pile of greens with a bit of dressing. The spring roll was a good size but stuffed with bamboo shoots and I’m not a fan bamboo. I could never dine with pandas.
There were a few large groups that had been waiting for their meals for a significant amount of time as well. We witnessed several people getting their food to go as they had been waiting so long and had to get back to the office. I’ve been told that 11:30am is a better time to come because it’s before the lunch rush and service is faster.
Thai food that takes over an hour? I think it would have been faster me to track down a Thai ladyboy and ask him/​her to make me street style pad thai.