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Simply Thai Restaurant
Category: Restaurants Thai Thai [Edit]
1211 Hamilton StVancouver, BC V6B 6K3
Neighbourhoods: Downtown, Yaletown
(604) 642-0123
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
32 reviews for Simply Thai Restaurant
Review Highlights
"red curry = pure bliss."
(in 5 reviews)
"Definitely get the Cho Muang."
(in 2 reviews)
"Along with Urban Thai Bistro, Simply Thai is one of..."
(in 3 reviews)
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32 reviews in English
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Review from Kalina M.
North Vancouver, BC
1/4/2012
Fresh Coconut Curry - yum!!
This has been a long tome favorite of ours. I have organized group dinners here, taken clients here and never been been disappointed.
Great service, very authentic Thai and cozy atmosphere.
Last ordered:
Fresh Green Coconut Vegetarian Curry - it was amazing as per usual
Pad Thai - longtime favourite
Veggie rolls - classic but yummy -
Review from Ira J.
9/9/2011
I live in Hawaii. I love and eat a lot of Thai food. I like to think this qualifies me as an expert on Thai food. My experience at Simply Thai in Vancouver has me doubting myself.
In Hawaii, I've reviewed 11 different Thai restaurants. I only starting Yelping at the beginning of the year. So, those 11 do not include the many other Hawaii Thai restaurants I've eaten at my first 11 years in the Islands. This combined with the fact that Hawaii has some of the best Thai food in the World (outside of Thailand) makes me a Thai food expert, right?
Well, no. Because, now, thanks to Simply Thai, I doubt that it is a fact that Hawaii has some of the best Thai food in the World. Truthfully, I must admit that Hawaii's Thai restaurants are not World class at all. You see, we didn't go to Simply Thai because it came so highly recommended. We went to it because it was the second closest restaurant to our hotel. Not the second closest Thai restaurant... just the second closest restaurant. We ordered two dishes: Thai Beef Salad and Red Curry in Young Coconut. Both of these dishes were better than any I've been served in 12 years in Hawaii.
Damn you Simply Thai! -
Review from Andrew M.
Vancouver, BC
2/1/2012
Great Thai food. Usually spend my birthday there.
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Review from Mike S.
Vancouver, BC
12/15/2011
Pretty decent, polite and helpful wait staf but to be honest nothing too special...
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Review from Susan M.
Vancouver, BC
1/24/2012
Been here a number of times since I moved to Yaletown last year. Pleasant atmosphere, cozy and casually elegant. Never have to wait for a table, yet the place tends t be pretty full. Food is tasty, whatever you order. Only complaint is the beer - I should stop ordering the beer on tap as it always tastes soapy and dull. Other downer is the inconsistent service. This last time the server waited on and brought drinks and then applies to the table of two men (we were two women) before us, even though we arrived and were seated well before them. Weird. We felt invisible. Finally got up and asked if we could please have a server come and take our order. They complied. But it did not feel good.
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Review from Craig R.
St John's, NL
12/7/2011
Really good Thai food! Our server was very good! Attentive , friendly and helpful.
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Review from Mark D.
6/20/2011
Along with Urban Thai Bistro, Simply Thai is one of Yaletown's two staple Thai Restaurants.
The ambiance is simple but clean and well laid out.
The service is always friendly and fast.
I always order the same things:
Pad Thai (The Real Way) - Pan-fried Thai rice-noodles in tamarind sauce with shrimp, eggs tofu, green onions, bean sprouts and ground peanuts.
Gai Pad-Ped - Sautéed sliced chicken with bamboo slices, bell-peppers, green onion and chili sauce and fresh Thai basil leaves.
Chicken Satay for a starter and, of course, steamed rice.
The food is good but not great. If you ask, they will spice the chicken dish up a bit and give it more zing. It is also consistent. I've never had a bad meal there. On the other hand, I've never had a particularly outstanding meal there either.
In the end though, if you are in Yaletown and want some Thai food without venturing too far out, Simply Thai will do the trick. -
Review from John P.
5/15/2011
Wound up eating here late on a Sunday afternoon, after finding that many other Thai restaurants in the area were closed. The place was relatively empty compared to other restaurants in the area, which swayed our decision. It seemed that most other places were overflowing with Canucks fans. It did, however, fill up shortly after we were seated.
The decor is attractive, and the service is friendly and attentive. They have any *incredibly* extensive wine list, and this alone might make Simply Thai a destination for some.
Fine and dandy, but I'm no wine connoisseur. We're here for the food. We had chicken satay, and spring rolls for starters. Not the most adventurous choices, but done as good as most other Thai restaurants. The green curry was decent, but nothing outstanding. And their medium is definitely on the hot side, my fogged up glasses being a good indicator. Their pad-see-ew didn't live up to my expectations, though. The sauce was okay, but something was off about the noodles. I can't put my finger on it exactly, but it seems like I've had better at numerous other restaurants.
I wouldn't say that the place was a total disappointment, by any means, but I've been to my share of Thai restaurants, and I can't say that this one is memorable by any standard. I guess you take what you can get on Sunday afternoon, and the Canucks are in the playoffs. -
Review from Jason C.
Vancouver, BC
9/10/2011
This is one of my top choices for Thai food in downtown. I came here for the first time with a friend one night, and was pleasantly surprised by the ambiance. Ideal for romantic dinners. The food was very good and reasonably-priced for the Yaletown crowd. I'd definitely recommend this place!
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Review from Allison F.
10/21/2010
Came here last night to start off the Taste of Yaletown tour I plan on taking. First stop: Simply Thai. Came at 8pm and joked about easily being able to find a seat after seeing the empty patio with tons of tables and chairs. Then saw the inside of the restaurant and realized it was full. Joke retracted. We stood at the front desk for about 5 minutes before someone came by to help us. We were told to find a table in the back and so we navigated ourselves back there.
We were informed that there were only two servers working that night and so they were quite understaffed. We hoped that this wasn't also the case in the kitchen, as thanks to parking meters, we were limited for our time.
We had the wrong wine brought to us after waiting for a considerable time for our order to be taken. We were then informed that the wine ordered wasn't in stock but they had a different white available for the same price. No notes on the taste could be given and so after tasting it, we figured it was okay.
We tried the traditional menu, which was $25/person with a minimum of 2 people. First the Tom Yum Goong soup was brought out. Small individual bowls were brought so we could serve ourselves. The broth was delicious and very flavourful. Floating on the top were quartered and partially cooked white mushrooms and at the bottom were 4 prawns. Neither the mushrooms nor the prawns had much flavour to them, but I would assume they were cooked and then quickly added to the broth.
Next came the appetizer dish with 2 chicken satays, 2 Cho Muang (violet coloured dumplings with minced chicken), and 2 Tod Mun (fish cakes). The chicken satays were nicely cooked and the sauce on top was okay. Peanuty but I scraped most off. The Cho Muang had a very squishy texture and are bright pink. The Tod Mun was very spicy and I'm not sure what kind of fish was used in it.
Our entrees of Pad Thai, Massaman Curry, Gra Paow, and the world's largest bowl of jasmine rice were all brought out. There were definitely enough portions for 4 people, especially after the appetizers. The Pad Thai was delicious. Nice and sweet. Not too oily. Lots of chicken and tofu. The Massaman curry had a fabulous curry sauce and the potatoes and carrots were perfectly cooked. And the Gra Paow had tons of basil and all vegetables were perfectly cooked. The entrees overall were very good and we had tons of leftovers.
Dessert was banana fritters with a choice of coconut, mango, or vanilla ice cream. The fritters arrived cold and very oily. Not being a fan of bananas, mine were pushed over to my friend's plate, where they also sat uneaten. The ice cream was generic but served as a large portion.
Overall, the food was good and the restaurant was bustling. The lack of servers definitely made for a slow meal and considering the price that we ended up paying, I'm a little unsure it was worth it. -
Review from Pauline C.
Vancouver, BC
11/7/2010
I met up with a friend for lunch and selected Simply Thai because she likes asian food (especially spicy foods). There weren't a lot of people at first as we went around 12:30 but that was in my benefit as I didn't have to wait long to get seated. However, people started trickling in as I waited for a few minutes.
One of my coworkers had gone to this place before and she gave me a heads up regarding that the food is not spicy when you specify "medium" for your food. With that in mind, I decided to get "hot" for my Pad-Kee-Maow (chicken fried rice noodles, bell-peppers, egg, onion been spouts & Thai basil). While I ordered the rice noodles, my friend ordered the Green Curry (chicken, bamboo, bell peppers topped with fresh Thai basil and rice).
When our food arrived, the spicy and tangy aroma filled my nostrils and increased my hunger. When I took a bite of my rice noodles, I expected it to be very spicy but because my coworker said that "medium" is equivalent to no spice, my food was just perfect (as I can't eat too spicy foods; I'd get an upset stomach). Part of the spicy aroma was from my friend's green curry...she told me hers was really spicy even for someone who eats a lot of spicy food. I liked how my food was hot (temperature-wise) because I've been to other Thai places and when their food came out, it's semi-warm. I thought I was going to pack my rice noodles but I ended up eating the whole thing.
I liked this cute little place; it's not a big restaurant but it gave me a home-sweet-home kind of feeling. By the time I left the restaurant, the place was packed.
My overall experience at Simply Thai would be a 3.5 out of 5 stars. -
Review from T'sters M.
8/14/2010
Came here for drinks and snacks... had a hilarious server who was friendly and attentive. The Mango Colada and Mai Thai's were good for $6 cocktails (a little lacking in booze but OK considering it was only $6). The veggie spring rolls ($10) were delish-- came out piping hot and had more filling than wrapper. The Yum-Nua salad ($13) was light and refreshing for a warm summer evening.
Food prices were on the pricey side for semi-casual Thai food. It must be the premium pricing for Yaletown. -
Review from Leon V.
Richmond, BC
12/10/2010 1 Check-in Here
This is a good place to have lunch or dinner. The food is good but for those who can't handle spicy food very well, make sure you forego the "medium".
Lunch can be very busy and since it is pretty small it can get crowded.
I've been here multiple times and find you can't really go wrong with anything on the menu. A safe bet for good food. -
Review from Gersham M.
Vancouver, BC
Underrated Thai restaurant in Yaletown.
Having been here many times over the years I really do like this restaurant, the food is tasty and the staff friendly. Probably my favourite Thai restaurant in Vancouver (and I've been to many Thai restaurants both inside Thailand and out).
The Gang Ga Ree (yellow curry) is excellent as is the Larb Gai (knock you on your ass spicy minced chicken salad).
I don't understand the complaint that this isn't authentic Thai, this is way more authentic than Urban Thai down the street. The dishes here would not be out of place in a better Bangkok restaurant. -
Review from James E.
4/8/2009
The menu contains vegetarian meals but they're aren't anything you can't find in other Thai restaurants. Our dinner was satisfying, just nothing remarkable that I want to write "be sure to try..."
The staff is friendly. However, they'd be wise to withhold comments about their patrons when they're not walking around those of us still eating. -
Review from Tim L.
8/17/2008
This is an uber stylish Thai resaturant with that modern hip vibe to it and is a common place to spot celebrities that are in town. Like all other Yaletown establishments it houses a huge wine list for those that are into their wine. However, also like other establishments in the area there seems to be an air of arrogance or pretentiousness.
This is certainly a place to go to be seen.
The food is decent but certainly not authentic Thai and prepared in a way that appeals to Western tongues. Which I think there is a time for both, so if you're looking for that Westernized flavouring which tends to be very sweet this is a place to find it. -
Review from Ernie B.
Burnaby, BC
7/24/2010
Simply has the crap luck of having to compete with Urban Thai bistro down the street that loves to pump out cheap lunches on a higher traffic area of yaletown.
Luckily, they usually made better food which sometimes justified the $12 lunch. Wait a minute. Did I say made?
I stopped going to Simply Thai after ordering a takeout lunch during the olympics. I work down the street and a couple of us needed to be fed, so we called an order in. When I finished giving the order, I was asked if we wanted rice with our meal. I thought rice came with lunch and was told that due to the olympics, they were only serving their dinner menu, so our already expensive $12 lunches had now become $20 lunches.
We went and paid, but I vowed not to come back. Sure it was during the olympics, but they weren't very busy and had just gouged a fairly regular customer. No deal. I'm done with this place. -
Review from Littlefish B.
Vancouver, BC
10/8/2009
Our favourite Thai restaurant in town. It's a nice balance - more than fully casual but very comfortable with a wine list.
The ingredients are enticingly fresh. It is owned by a chef who is Thai and trained with instructors of chefs to the Thai royal family. Excellent food. -
Review from Anita T.
Toronto, ON
3/7/2010
Trying new thai places is always a gamble... but luckily Simply Thai, here, was up to the challenge!
We walked in on a Saturday night... greeted super courteously, and whisked away to our table. Our server was overly friendly, a little pushy at times, but still ok. The food was absolutely amazing... red curry = pure bliss! (Order it HOT if you're up for the challenge). The desserts were decadent (Berry Chocolate Mousse Cake... how can you turn that down?).
It was a pretty good experience, although the bill was a bit on the steep side (it is an expensive restaurant comparatively)...
My one pet peeve for the night? Funny you should ask.
Why oh why when you ask your server for water with lime would they bring you water with lemon? Why? People in the food industry should know that limes and lemons are completely different and have different tastes... so if someone asks for a glass of water with a lime (specifically), they shouldn't be handed a glass of water with a lemon wedge. WRONG WRONG wrong. I bet you if I asked for a shot of tequila, I would've gotten the largest LIME wedge ever...
Oh well - you can't win 'em all, right? While I wasn't a fan of the water, the food was above decent! -
Review from Megan S.
7/19/2009
Just finished up some leftovers from yesterday's lunch at Simply Thai.
Is simply Thai, Thai enough? There seems to be some debate among the other reviews. I don't feel confident arguing authenticity, when I've never been to Thailand. (I will gladly take on the challenge, if someone will sponsor me and book the round trip tickets to Bangkok.)
What I can say, is that I liked it. However, I went with a dish that I almost always love- a sweat n sour stir fry chicken. My friend got the chicken pad thai- the dish that she always loves- and surprisingly, she liked hers as well. What can I say, we know what we like.
The patio was completely empty when we met just past noon on Friday. It's a nice space- bright orange chairs and white tables.
It was mostly shady, and a great place to enjoy some summer weather.
Oh and don't let me forget- lots and lots of menus. Do you like menus? Would you like a wine menu, a cocktail menu, a food menu, and another food menu? All different types too- a laminated legal-sized sheet, a bound book, a 3-ring binder. Whoa...way too many menus for me. I don't really understand what's going on with all that, but I suggest streamlining everything to fit within one menu please!
The service was good- lots and lots of water refills for me, which I greatly appreciate. At the end, our server packed our leftovers for us. Overall very nice, but not too friendly. -
Review from John W.
Vancouver, BC
4/12/2011
A great little thai restaurant in Yaletown with a great selection of delicious food. More pricy than the nearby Urban Thai Bistro chain but seems less fabricated.
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Review from Betty L.
12/20/2010
I went to Simply Thai with my boyfriend and his brother for dinner last Saturday night. The decor has some traditional Thai elements but was also modern looking. It wasn't busy on that night, so food came in a timely fashion. The server was really nice, helpful and cheerful. However the food was a different matter. I wouldn't say it was bad but given the rave reviews by other diners and critics, I personally didn't find it that memorable. The following are my thoughts on the dishes we ordered:
1)Toom Yum Goong Soup w/Prawns-Eventhough the broth was intense but it wasn't spicy at all. I'd like to see some tomatoes and Thai ginger in there.
2)Fish Cakes-The colour was quite dark because they probably used old oil to fry it. It didn't have that nice fresh springy texture to it. My guess.....the fish were frozen and need to use fish like mackerel or some Thai fish to achieve that texture. There wasn't much flavour to it, so really need to rely on that sweet and sour sauce to give it taste.
3)BBQ Beef Salad-What bbq taste? If use the bbq or something similar it should be nicely charred on the outside and medium rare on the inside. I could taste the lemon juice in it. Once again it wasn't spicy at all. There was too much vinigrette in the salad and it was too salty.
4)BBQ duck in red curry. It had a nice coconut flavour to it and portion was descent but nothing memorable about it.
5)Pad Thai the real way-It was done properly. I could taste the tamarind in the sauce and it wasn't mushy nor greasy. Good job!
6)Deep fried banana with coconut icecream-The batter for the banana was light, fluffy and it wasn't greasy. I could taste the coconut flavour in the icecream
To be honest........Simply T -
Review from Mark C.
9/16/2008 1 photo
Pricey, but the well worth the extra bucks.
We had
Cho Muang: violet flower dumplings filled with mince chicken and onions
Pra Dook Foo: Salad with deep fried ground tuna
Gai Prig Paow: stir fry with sweet chili sauce
Definitely get the Cho Muang. You'll be hard pressed to find it, even in the Bay Area where there is an abundance of Thai restaurants.
The two other dishes were very good too and taste authentic enough.
If you go at lunch time, they will by default give you the lunch menu. If you want Cho Muang or Pra Dook Foo, you will need to ask them for the dinner menu. -
Review from Luisa D.
Updated - 9/11/2010
I can't hold a grudge. Other than my experience during the Olympics they've been consistent. I've been a few times since for lunch and it's tasty good value. Maybe it won't make you swoon but for $10 including spring roll their lunch meals are fast and taste fine.
2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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2/18/2010
They're going to have to win me back after today. I realise that we're smack dab in the middle of… Read more »
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Review from Nandan F.
Ottawa, ON
11/16/2010
Went here for dinner to quench my craving for some good pad thai. This place has a good ambiance but space is a bit tight. I ordered soup (Tom Kha Gai) which was really good. The only issue is that you cant order 1 serving. They only serve soups for 2! Good portions though. I decided to sacrifice pad thai for some curry (Massaman Gaeng). It is a red curry with potatoes, peanuts, tomato, onions and your choice of meat in tamarind sauce. It was a bit spicy but it is supposed to be so. Loved it. Good to clear my sinuses...lol. Overall, they have good food and I had a better experience here that I had at Unban Thai.
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Review from Geoff F.
Delta, BC
5/6/2010
OMG what have they done?!?! Went for lunch again today after a wonderful meal two weeks prior. I was totally eager to come back and feast again. But WTF! Poor service, poor food!! How amazingly disappointing! How does one go from first to worst in two weeks?! Waitress forgot one dish completely, couldn't tell dishes apart when they came, food was cold, bland, and tasteless. I'm still amazed. Did this really happen? Waitress said (and I kid you not) when she brought our dishes (finally) to the table, "I'm not sure which one this is, I can't tell them apart, all the dishes look the same". I'm breathless with shock. What the hell happened to the best Thai food spot in Yaletown or even in Vancouver!! I guess it's back to the mundane but totally predictable Urban Thai.
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Review from Scott H.
Vancouver, BC
8/19/2010
I've just moved back from Bangkok so I'm a bit of a Thai snob and I gotta tell you, the Thai food I've had in Vancouver kinda blows. I used to think it was stellar until I moved...I was bigtime wrong. And Simply Thai...simply sucks. I saw Luiza's review about the service, that's bang on. Plus the food is very tamada (ordinary).
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Review from Jake D.
Vancouver, BC
11/30/2010
I love this place... I was the bartender here during the olympics and I got hooked on the food. It isn't what youd find on the streets in thailand (like straight up murderously spicy), but culinarily speaking I'd say it's better. The owner used to cook for the thai royal family and has turned down lucrative requests to cough up her recipes to the likes of operas personal chef. I recommend the yellow curry and the pad ped! Healthy and derish.
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Review from Daniela H.
Vancouver, BC
9/14/2010
Simply Thai used to be in my good books but their service and food has gotten poorer and poorer. Recently I ordered the vegetable Pad Thai and it had so much fish sauce on it that it tasted as if I was eating the scales of a very fishy fish. I phoned them to tell them this and they said that I should have specified when I put in the order that I do not like fish sauce! Gasp! I think they should just use less fish sauce.
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Review from Laine G.
7/7/2010
Food was bad...Do not order The Tiger Cry (beef dish) if you wear dentures, heheheh it was tough and dry. We also ordered a few chef special C1 Goong Hom Pa (Prawns hiding in Blanket) the description was Tiger Prawns, red curry, coconut milk wrapped in Thai blanket which translated to my plate as Shrimp wrapped in potsticker wrapper. They must have forgotten to season it because I cant taste the curry and/or the coconut milk. The other chef special was C5 Pad Thai Talay which came out with no noodles, a pad thai dish with no noodles. Even the server was puzzled with this pad thai dish. We must have gottent the chef on training because because that night this place didnt seemed like a multi-awarded restaurant. It was such a bust, we all looked forward to Tim Hortons for coffee even before supper ended.
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Review from Kathy O.
8/29/2011
We visited Simply Thai while spending a few days in Vancouver after an Alaskan cruise. We were just exploring Yaletown and happened upon it. Thought we were just going to sit outside and have a glass of wine, but decided to order an appetizer to go with it. That evening, they had a 'birds nest' style appetizer as a special ... It consisted of lettuce wraps with crispy vermicelli noodles and a ground chicken mixture inside with a wonderful hoisin sauce. THESE WERE AMAZING! They were huge, one order had 4 pieces, each one was the size of half a head of iceberg lettuce. The two of us split an order, and it ended up being our dinner that evening. I can't speak to the rest of the menu, but these were absolutely fantastic, super-delicious, and highly recommended, although I have no idea how often they offer this dish. It was so yummy that I am now trying to figure out how to make them myself back here in Ohio. Service was very pleasant and it was a nice evening to sit outside.
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Review from Ben S.
7/19/2009
I took my girlfriend to Simply Thai this weekend for dinner and the food was okay. It wasn't the best thai we had ever eaten, but it was far from the worst. I ordered the Pad Thai and she had the "Tiger Cry," a beef dish. The beef was a bit overcooked and lacked in flavor, even when doused in the included sauce. The Pad Thai was mediocre, but had the right type of noodles, etc.
The reason for the one star is that both of us had food poisoning for the day following eating here. THis was the only place we shared food while in Vancouver, so we were both fairly sure that Simply Thai is the culprit.
My advice would be to skip Simply Thai unless you really want the Thai food and are willing to pay with several hours in the bathroom for it.
