We walked to Numchok Wilai on a Friday night. The restaurant was fairly busy but the service was still very good. It feels like a typical Asian restaurant when you walk in - nothing fancy but still comfortable and welcoming. We were seated by the window. We had high hopes for the food but were underwhelmed. The seafood noodle dish was the best - it had quite a lot of veggies which I liked and the noodles were ok. The spring rolls were nothing special and the Tom yum soup was just ok. Having said that, I want to give this place another chance. I saw other people ordered curry dishes that came in special pots. And I'd like to try their pad Thai. I like supporting local restaurants and am hopeful our next visit will be better since many others have had much better experiences than we did. read more

Numchokwilai - Basil seafood noodle - Thai Near Me - Edmonton, Alberta

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The tidy, streamlined decor and the soothing background music with the calm attentive service make for a meditstive dining experience. The food is consistently amazing, sauces are flavourful and light. There's many significant details in each dish, from how the vegetables are chopped and the relative size of each piece of food in each dish to the seasoning and spicing. The prices are reasonable, street parking out front. read more

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Always a sure thing. We returned with friends to enjoy another great meal. The dishes are always interesting and flavourful. The service is friendly and efficient. Recommended for your Thai food fix read more

Everything about this place is fantastic. The food is delicious, curry chicken and coconut rice is my favourite. The staff are always attentive and helpful with choices. read more

A GEM on 124 St. If you don't live downtown... it's WORTH a drive! We placed a Dinner menu take-out order...they are only open for Take-out right now, and that's just fine! We were not disappointed! I'm looking forward to my next order... writing this is making me drool just a bit. I phoned my order in for pickup - they do not have any agreements with ANY delivery services and that's a VERY good thing! I refuse to be waiting on any service to deliver (or not)... ever! I want to pick up and get that food in my belly as fast as I can! Plus I can make sure my $ are staying local and supporting a great local business! Right now - they are open for lunch Tues-Fri 12pm-2pm, and Supper on Monday-Sunday 5pm-9pm. Ordering Gluten friendly items, (I'm celiac), is a challenge with some restaurants, but not here - they were very aware and there were no issues whatsoever. DELICIOUS! There was enough food leftover (after the two of us over-stuffed ourselves) for another two or three meals. I can't find the photos... so darn. I guess I'll just need to order more food. COVID protocols are excellent! They even wiped the down the door handles after I left. Really think my lunch order needs to go in right now... read more

Best thai food place in the city. Hands down. I have ordered $80 worth of food to try out. Stuffed chicken wings, pork spring rolls, shrimp pad thai, pork fried rice, fried beef vermicelli noodles and mango sticky rice. Everything was sooooo good. Very authentic. I have been to thailand a bunch of times and numchok wilai's food took me back. I am so glad i found my go-to thai restaurant. Everything was well-balanced and not short of ingredients. I love a good pad thai and they hit the mark. Also, not a lot of thai restaurants here serve stuffed chicken wings so i am so happy they have it as i like it a lot. The mango sticky rice was a nice ender to all of it. The mango was fresh and sweet and the sticky rice went really well with the coconut milk. Just some comments though for a more enjoyable and excellent experience? Perhaps be open to delivery services? I dont own a car so i had to take a bus going and coming back to pick up my order. Also, perhaps try considering reusable containers instead of styrofoams? Food dont travel well in styro and they are bulky and they are not fully sealed thus food leaks. Plus, they are not environmental-friendly. One last thing, perhaps do not pour the coconut milk on the mango sticky rice? Almost half of the milk spilled in the plastic bag (it was in the styro). Im still giving this a 5 because i loved the food and they were all of generous portions. Thanks. read more

I can't believe I haven't reviewed this place yet. I have only ever eaten from their lunch special menu (I work nearby), and it is always amazingly delicious and very reasonably priced. I keep going back again and again for the delicious flavour of their soup (first course of lunch special) and Panang Chicken Curry (my usual choice for third course of lunch special). I don't think they use MSG either, because I always have a reaction to MSG and I feel great after eating here! They only offer pickup right now, which we did today. The soup was still hot when we got back to the office and ate it. Tasted just as good as usual! I'll definitely be continuing to go back. read more

Love this little Thai restaurant on 124th street! They have AWESOME lunch specials that all come with a bowl of their soup of the day - usually around $10 - standard options - Pad Thai, Green/Red Curry, etc. Their menu is available online (lunch specials not listed on the menu when I just checked it): http://numchokwilai.ca/menu/ I highly recommend all the curries, Pad Thai, and their Calamari for an appetizer - Mmm... Mmm... spicy calamari! Their stir fries and Thai Hot Basil Tofu is really good too! Another little thing I like about this place... If you order rice they don't gauge you! Maybe it's just me, but being charged $4-$5.95 for a side bowl of rice drives me crazy! They charge $1.50 to $2.50 for sides of rice depending on if you order regular, sticky, or coconut rice. Rice is included in their lunch special price for curries... Who eats a curry without rice anyway??? They are closed Sundays. The service is always friendly and efficient - they truly make you feel appreciated and cared for. One of our favorite gems in the city! read more

Numchok Wilai is one of my favourite Thai places in the city. I've been there at least half a dozen times by now, both for lunch and dinner, and have always had an excellent meal. You know it's going to be good when half the people you invite aren't even aware of it's location. Never judge a restaurant by it's exterior. Or in my books, the shabbier looking, the better. I think part of it's charm is that not many people know how amazing it really is. Numchok has a killer lunch deal ($12.95) which includes your choice of a dish, two veggie spring rolls, a small bowl of lemongrass soup and rice. There are 21 items to choose from (nine are vegetarian, couple curries, pad thai, etc.). There was a recent hike in price of $1.00 but what can you do? 'errbody needs to make a living. The staff are always friendly and service is both fast and efficient. On our most recent trip, we ordered and received our food in less than 10 minutes. Ridiculous. *** Very important (hence the asterisks) - if you want spicy, make sure you ask for it (three options: 2 (spicy), 3 (hot) and 4 (very hot)). First time, we forgot to tell them so while all the food was very flavourful, it lacked in the heat department. We could probably just blame this on Bbop with his pale, white skin and the staff taking pity on him and having no faith in his eating abilities. Second time around, we ditched him and made sure to get the 4 star experience. The staff didn't believe we could handle the heat because they checked with us twice to make sure we wanted very hot. If you like spicy, do it. It's actually not that hot - you can still taste all the flavours but you'll get lingering bit of heat with each bite. Still nowhere near as hot as what I've had in Thailand. - Veggie spring rolls and lemongrass soup - a nice little appetizer to start our meal off. The lemongrass soup is delicious - you can really taste the lemongrass flavour, just don't eat the lemongrass piece that they usually leave in it. - Thai hot basil beef (#8) - stir fried beef with garlic, chili, mushroom, carrot, green pepper, red pepper and basil leaves. The beef was tender and moist, soaking up all the juiciness from the sauce. - Stir fried eggplant (#20) - stir fried eggplant with garlic, carrot, red pepper, basil leaves and vegetarian sauce. Eggplant is one of my favourite vegetables so I decided to try out Numchok's take on it for the first time. Really tasty and the eggplant along with all the other vegetables were cooked perfectly. - Coconut rice ($1.00 extra) - nice presentation. The coconut rice was light, fluffy and fragrant. You'll eat this up easy. On a previous lunch, we had the pad thai tofu (#18) and green curry chicken (#3) which is easily one of their best dishes. The pad thai is well balanced and not overly sweet, which I am not a fan of when that happens. The green curry is a staple and seriously, you can never go wrong with ordering it. Overall, Numchok Wilai continues to deliver and is one of my favourite spots in the city to grab Thai food. If you haven't been yet, goooooooooooooo. read more

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The best Thai in Edmonton! Delicious food at very reasonable prices! It deserves all of the awards, accolades, and yelp stars it has received! read more

Amazing delicious Thai food. Tautological I know, but Numchok is awesome. On top of great food, they're so friendly, efficient, & ++ reasonably priced. Love that the curries contain a variety of vegetables- And no green peas to boot. I love most food, but green peas don't make the cut for me. I'm often disappointed when green peas are like the feature veg in green curries - Happily (for me) there wasn't a single pea in Numchok's! Love how they pack up your take-out order, all easy to carry, in a re-purposed cardboard box. read more

A quaint little Thai restaurant that probably, I'm guessing, doesn't get much attention due to location. And boy, is that unfortunate, because this place is great! Our food came out in a matter of no time, one of the quickest wait-times I've seen actually. I don't think we had to wait longer than 5-7 minutes for our order. Why can't it be like this everywhere you go? The green curry tofu is delicious, with lots of bamboo shoots, carrots, green peppers, and tofu balls. Piled on top of your coconut rice, it's simply divine. It's not too spicy, but a nice spice that builds up in your mouth the more you eat, with a full and deep flavor. Great vegetarian option if you're not into meat! Also highly recommended is the garlic chicken served with a bowl of hot sauce on the side. It's got lots of toasted garlic on it, so full of flavor and kick! We finished off with the black sticky rice and fresh mango, sooo good ... The mango was just as a mango should be -- sweet and juicy! The sticky rice was okay, I liked the sweetness but some of it was oddly hard and crunchy, and I prefer my sticky rice to be chewy and gooey. But still good! The condensed milk they serve on the side makes everything really sweet, so if you don't like things too sweet, skip the milk. It tastes fine just the way it is sans milk. Besides the food, VERY fast and friendly service, and a beautifully decorated, cozy dining space. And FYI, parking is in the back. Will definitely be back for more! read more

Me and the gf had a craving for some Thai food on Monday night. Started to look up places we found that almost every single tire restaurant was closed on Monday. Not this one. And boy were we happy with what we found. This place is just on 124 street here and is really small only about 40 Seats. It looks like it's run by a nice tie family and they did a great job with service and food quality. We were with the pad Thai and it was amazing. Also have the beef curry with the bamboo shoots. This dish was the perfect amount of spicy for me. Next we have the pork fried rice which is also very good. I would say overall the meal was a really nice thai experience. I have not been to Thailand but my girlfriend has it she said it was also very authentic. Will definitely be back here for another dinner as everything was great and the prices were pretty good too. read more

I always used to want to try Numchok Wilai but wasn't often nearby. Now that I work across the street I've been three times and have been happy each time! The restaurant is spacious and very clean. I love the way it is decorated simply, yet elegantly at the same time, with golden statues and wall hangings. Twice I've had the absolute cutest waitress - so polite and always smiling, asking if everything is alright and filling up water. All of the staff are friendly and happy, but she is just the best. I've had the Pa-Nang Shrimp ($13.95), Green Curry Chicken ($11.95) and Stir Fried Lemongrass with beef ($11.95), as well as bites of Cashew Chicken, and the veggie spring rolls. Rice costs extra - $1.50 for steamed rice, $1.95 for coconut rice. Everything always tastes fresh and comes out hot. The flavours are nice and the portions are perfect. The leftovers are really good the next day, too. One of the best things about this restaurant is the daily lunch special. A limited selection of items from the dinner menu all priced lower at $9.95, plus a small bowl of lemongrass soup, two spring rolls and rice! An amazing deal for sure. read more

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I first was recommend to eat their food from their food truck at the Folk Festival. Delicious. Had me dreaming about the wonderful flavors so I just knew I had to visit their restaurant. Easy to find on 124 St. I had family in town and we went for a later dinner. Only 4 other groups when we arrived so lots of space. Service was efficient and they answered my questions. Again, I was very happy with my meal. The special was Panang Chicken which everyone loved. We had the shrimp Pad Thai which was also very yummy but I think I'll go vegetarian next time for the added crunch. We added some coconut rice and fresh spring rolls. To stuffed for dessert. This will be a family read more

Numchokwilai - Shrimp Pad Thai and coconut rice - Thai Near Me - Edmonton, Alberta

Oh gosh, I adore this little place, especially for lunch. Their lunch menu is a steal of a deal with every option being about $13 and which includes lemongrass soup, spring rolls, one entree and rice. My go-to option here is the green curry with bamboo shoots (I've tried both beef and chicken) but all of the options are great! Additionally they have quite extensive vegetarian options on the menu which is great! You can tell that it is a family owned restaurant by the care that it put into setting the tables and otherwise working at all sorts of tasks. A child was helping with some of these tasks and she seemed to be doing a rather good job while we were there during my last visit. I don't go here nearly often enough. I really ought to visit more frequently. read more

Full disclosure, I love Thai food and have been to many such places in Calgary and Edmonton. I just love this place for its convenience, and quality of staff and food par non. I visit as much as I can in my years in the Westmount area because it never fails to impress me at least, with a friend, group or just myself this is a great place to eat. Try it, you will love it! read more

The tofu green curry with coconut rice for the lunch special is the tastiest in Edmonton. Simply fabulous. I went for lunch and found the specials to be really reasonable: $13.95 including spring rolls and a delicious sweet and sour soup. I stumbled across this place and it was just so I took that as a good sign. I was so surprised I hadn't heard of it before because it was delicious. I had the tofu green curry with coconut rice and I can't wait to go back. read more

Numchokwilai - Some of the best Thai food in Edmonton. The green curry and coconut rice is simply scrumptious. I cannot say enough good things about it! - Thai Near Me - Edmonton, Alberta

Love this place. Some people might disagree but it's one of the best restaurants that I've been to in Edmonton. The food is exceptional and the staff provides friendly and attentive service. The decor is far from contemporary or modern but I always enjoy it when I'm there because it has a more authentic charming feel to it with many art pieces. I have tried many of the dishes here and they've all been good. Most recently I came with three others and we shared the tom kar and tom yum soups, mango salad, pad thai and pa-nang beef curry. All delicious. Top it off with some coconut rice and a thai iced tea and the meal is complete. The staff came around at least three or four times to refill our water. From previous experience here, the one thing I'm not fond of are the spring rolls so I tend to stay away from that. I used to live literally a block and a half away from Numchok Wilai. Unfortunately not anymore. This review serves as a reminder for me to go back more often. Anyone looking for some thai food or looking to change up their dining experience, I would recommend this place in a heartbeat as I have to many friends and coworkers. read more

Numchokwilai - Mango salad - Thai Near Me - Edmonton, Alberta

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I definitely thought the name of this restaurant was Numchuck, so it was definitely an embarrassing moment to realize that it is not in fact called that at all. Whoops. Personal failure aside, I really enjoyed eating at this small Thai restaurant on 124th street! I heard rave reviews from friends and was not disappointed. I ordered a Tom Yum soup (The shrimp was huge. Absolutely massive.), beef and eggplant Green Curry, and a chicken Panang Curry. All of which was yum central! I have to say though, chicken green curry is way better than beef. Order chicken. Do it for me. read more

The last few times we've had their food have been really disappointing. Not sure if new ownership or something but both the quality and quantity seem to have gone downhill. Can't recommend them for value or customer service either. I used to love their Masaman but both times I've ordered it lately it has been bland and greasy and the rice use to be light and flavourful now seems dense and tacky. I live nearby and I often walk by and it seems like the crowds have died down recently and from my experience it's not really difficult to see why. I hope they can identify and fix some of the problems but I don't know if I'll be going back soon, and I can't really stand by my previous glowing review based on more recent experiences read more

Yesterday I took a break from school and decided to go out for lunch. I'd heard a lot of good things about Numchok Wilai and I wanted to check it out. I got there just before noon, which was my goal because I know it's a pretty popular lunch option in the area. I was given a lunch special menu. For $10.50 (before tax) you get your choice of main dish (there's meat and vegetarian options), rice, two small springrolls and and lemongrass soup. The lemongrass soup was delicious, tangy and not too spicy. The springrolls were also delicious and came with this dipping sauce. The rice is just regular sticky rice (you can substitute coconut rice for an extra cost), and for my main dish I ordered the Pa-Nang Chicken. It has chicken and vegetables in a peanut curry sauce. Your able to spice up the dish if you want, but I decided to leave it at the default spice level which was pretty mild. This dish was delicious. I don't know who decided that peanut sauce and chicken and vegetables would go well together but kudos. One of the vegetables in the dish were carrots, and I usually hate cooked carrots (too many places over cook them). These cooked carrots were perfect. Service was fast and friendly. I like that I got a really filling meal for a really decent price (under $15 with tax and tip). Numchok Wilai is definitely a restaurant I'll visit again. read more

Went to this little restaurant yesterday for lunch. Great experience. I will admit right off that I don't go to Thai restaurants regularly. I have a peanut allergy, so I'm always a little antsy. I told the server right off that I have an allergy and he helped me pick something without peanuts. The lunch deal comes with a small but very tasty bowl of lemongrass soup and 2 spring rolls. Both were great. Then you get your pick of an entree from a list of about 20 or so items. The items range from curries to coconut sauces, from pad thai to the Hot Beef Basil entree I had. My meal was great and a huge portion. I was, surprisingly, only able to eat half of it and took the rest home for later. The entree was served with a good helping of rice. The others with me had pad thai and a thai green curry. Both look excellent! Now here's the great part... lunch was only $9.95 per person, with drinks on top of that. Great deal given the quality of food and the quantity you receive. The have some limited parking in the back of the restaurant, with a door that allows access from the back. Bathrooms were clean and the decor or the restaurant was tasteful. Overall, a great choice for a quick lunch! If you only have an hour, this place is a great choice! read more

If you've never had really good Thai food, you will probably think Numchuk Wilai is awesome. That used to be me--totally oblivious to the fact that this is actually NOT amazing Thai food. Call me a Thai snob, but Numchuk is just okay. The prices are only slightly cheaper than most other Thai restaurants, so that doesn't make it an advantage. Their lunch specials are cheap though (and you get a lot of food), so I totally recommend that. My favourite dish is what I like to call "bamboo shoot green curry," since the majority of it is made up of bamboo shoots. Don't get me wrong, I love bamboo shoots, but I don't want the majority of my dish to be made up of bamboo shoots. Can I get a few extra vegetables please? The pad thai is all right. They have two flavours: original and tamarind. I would recommend getting the tamarind. The original tastes like ketchup or tomato soup. Some people like this though, and maybe you would too. I don't know if it's just me, but I challenge you to try really good Thai food. Seriously, go to Viphalay and then try going back to Numchuk. You may never look at Thai food the same way again. read more

I frequent this restaurant often! the Food, and Environment is Amazing. The Owners treat You with the utmost Respect and Loyalty. The Food is top notch, and rather affordable, especially when compared to other Thai restaurants. I highly recommend this place... Enjoy! read more

This is my #1 lunch spot! The soup, the spring rolls, the main dish (I usually get the red curry with chicken and coconut rice), the service, the atmosphere, the cleanliness = all awesome. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone who loves Thai food. read more

When I first arrived in Edmonton, this was my favourite Thai restaurant. But then I moved and was no longer just a few blocks away. Thus my trips there slowed and eventually stopped. I was delighted to be reacquainted with this charming restaurant on 124th Street this past week. The food at Numchok Wilai is yummy and satisfying. I especially like the mango salad and the panang curry with tofu. My one complaint about this place is that they always use deep fried tofu, thus the vegetarian dishes, especially noodle dishes can be a bit greasier than my liking. But overall, I like this place. And now that it's back on my radar, I suspect I'll be coming here again. Oh, I want to add that they can easily accommodate larger groups, so call ahead and they'll move tables together. read more

At last we've made it into this curiously named spot. The service was nearly spot on and the food was delicious. I'm not sure if they gave us the right salad, we ordered the Som Tum Mango (Thai Style Spicy Mango Salad). It wasn't medium spice as ordered, but perhaps we should have ordered hot spicy. Regardless, it was very good and was a nice balance to our curries. The red curry and massaman were very similar, I loved the high bamboo to chicken ratio in the red, and peanuty cream in the massaman. The stir-fried eggplant was good, but the sauce overpowered these delicate little veggies. Not sure that I'd order that dish again, and it wouldn't win over any newcomers to eggplant. The coconut rice was yummy and the perfect base for the curries. Our group paired the meal with Singha and Chang Thai beer and the meal came in at a very reasonable price with a couple bevies each. Our server was very welcoming and friendly, it felt like being welcomed into the family with gentle recommendations and timely service. We'll be back. UPDATE: We took our leftovers home and they were delicious. The only caveat is they didn't send home the left over mango salad or one of the curries. I know there was leftover sauce with a few bamboo shoots that weren't in our doggie bag, and darn it, I loved the sauce and those crispy tidbits. I'd take away a star if I didn't enjoy the food that much! read more

One word: value. Maybe two: taste. This is the best Thai place for lunch. Great 3 part lunches that are delicious, quick and really well priced. I love this place. The mushroom broth soup is a little bit of heaven and the pad Thai has great layers of flavour. Also love the curry shrimp. Hint: park in the back and come in the back door, makes it easier to come for lunch and you don't have to have loonies for the meter. read more

Summary: - Great Thai food with awesome flavours - Very good value for money - Quiet simple space with friendly service Detailed review: I've found my new favourite Thai place in Edmonton! My wife and I were here for dinner on a Tuesday and we had the following: - Som Tum mango salad -- primarily shredded green mango (not ripe and a bit sour) with shrimp in a spicy fish-sauce dressing; it's a party in your mouth! - Chu Chee shrimp curry -- shrimp in a very comforting red curry sauce; served on top of basil leaves with provides a nice flavour blast - Crispy chicken in garlic sauce -- fried half chicken that's topped with fried garlic and served with a garlic sauce; needless to say, perfect for garlic lovers - Veggie Pad Thai with tamarind sauce -- tasty and no ketchup, 'nuff said - Black sticky rice with mango (dessert) -- loved how the rice was both sweet and crunchy and it's perfect with very ripe mango We were stuffed after the meal and had some leftovers. I think there are some really good Thai places in Edmonton but find many of them pricey - couldn't say that about this meal as all the dishes were reasonably priced and delicious. Will definitely return! read more

The most legit Thai food in Canada. This place beats a bunch of places in the USA. And trust me I've been to a lot of Thai Restaurants. -Tom Yum 4/5 -Som Tum (mango) 5/5 -Panang chicken 5/5 -MANGO w sticky rice 5/5 read more

Easily the best Thai food I have had in Edmonton. I often have cravings for their Panang curry. I have tried several other curries there and they are all delicious. Do not miss out on the coconut rice - they do not skimp on the coconut. The service is polite and courteous. I believe it is family run. read more

Excellent food, just one simple suggestion... We ordered takeout and the person who put the food in the bag put the large containers on top of the little containers. Not a big deal, but as any person who has stacked anything knows, the big containers should be on the bottom. Anyhow, the containers tipped and all the liquid ran out. My only suggestion is to stack with the big containers on bottom. This may seem trivial, and yes it is. If the food had not all spilled I would have rated them five stars. read more

I went with my colleagues to try this restaurant as we were looking for a great Thai restaurant to try. We arrived before noon to ensure we could get a table for 5 and were promptly seated. There is a lunch special for $9.95 for soup, spring rolls, rice, and a dish. I ordered the pad thai which did not come with rice but a healthy serving of noodle, bean sprouts, 2 large shrimp, and chicken. The soup was a little too spicy for my liking but was a hit with my colleagues. The 2 vegetable spring rolls came with a sauce and were a nice appetizer before the main meal. I sampled the chicken, beef, and pork dishes my colleagues ordered and was impressed by the heat, sauce, and amount of food. No surprise the restaurant gets busy at lunch so best to go early and don't be too rushed as the service isn't the quickest either. But for the value and food, I will definitely be back. read more

I've gone passed this place a lot (mostly on my way to Duchess) and after hearing some great things, I went for dinner there with my aunt. We got our standard "starving student" order, which means we order a giant pile of things so we can try a bunch of different dishes, and then I get a couple days of leftovers. We started with the chicken satay, which was really nice, and then got crispy chicken with garlic sauce, a seafood curry, tofu red curry, and coconut rice. Everything was absolutely delicious, although at the upper bound of what my northern Alberta palette can handle for spiciness. We end up at Thai restaurants a fair bit, and while they're mostly pretty good, this place won hands down for the best Thai we've had in Edmonton so far. Our bill was about $50 for two dinners (and two lunches....) and I saw a menu up for a $10 lunch special, so the prices here are pretty reasonable. There were two servers working that evening, and they were both very friendly and very helpful. Service was fast and my water was refilled every time before it made it past half full. The only thing I found surprising was how quiet it was. They've been in that spot for 3 years, and have got great reviews (which they deserve), but there were only a couple other tables in there that night. Come on Edmonton.... read more

Back again for Numchok because it's my favourite and it's that good. Was going to try another place but decided not to because when you love something why change!! Ordered the salad rolls (vegan style), coconut soup, Tom yum soup, red tofu curry, jasmine and coconut rice and my guest ordered a spicy chicken dish. Incredible !! They keep their curries on a lamp to keep them warm. So appreciated. My guest loved their vegan beer also. read more

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It was really good. A bit sweet maybe, but everything was excellent. We loved the Tom Kar soup (what they call Tom Kha Kai) and coconut rice so much, we bought extra to take home! read more

Numchokwilai - Coconut Rice -- ohmygod!!ohmygod!!ohmygod!! - Thai Near Me - Edmonton, Alberta

It's been awhile since I've been to a Thai restaurant, the last being my visit to Boualouang over a year ago. So when Jessica mentioned that we should go eat Thai at Numchok Wilai on 124 St, I was pretty excited for our dinner date! I blame Joe for his "peanut allergy" and my fear that even a little could kill him, even though in reality it's just a sensitivity. I'm just making excuses really... I don't know why I haven't been to a Thai restaurant in so long. I didn't dwell too much on interior this time, it was more about the company and the massive amounts of food I was about to eat. But the restaurant was pretty filled when we ate on a Thursday night. By the time we ended dinner, the restaurant had completely cleared which left me with (attached) photo. My boss mentioned that he loved Whyte Ave's King & I spring rolls and wondered how Numchok Wilai compared. I had never been to either, so I couldn't really do so but I convinced Jessica to try it with me. I use the word "convinced" because I think it's rare that Asians (which the both of us are) do not order spring rolls when we go out to eat. I was raised to order things on the menu that my mother could not make better in her kitchen. Fair enough rationale, no? We ordered the pork spring rolls though just for funsies. I liked them! They were mostly filled with vegetables but hints of pork were there. Fried correctly to develop a crispy exterior without being greasy or soggy over a short time period. Wrapped loosely so that the density of the rolls were just right. Were they better than my mom's? Heck no. Did I tell my boss that? Yes, of course. But an excellent dish to order if that's what you're in the mood for and the sweet dipping sauce was a refreshing take on the traditional Vietnamese fish sauce in my household. The benefit of dining with Jessica is that her eyes are a billion times larger than her stomach. As a second appetizer, we ordered the Som Tum Mango, a Thai style spicy mango salad with shrimp. Funny that I'm afraid of Joe dying, but not so much Jessica... who actually has a true allergy to peanuts. She's a pharmacist, she can deal! The dish did call for ground peanut, which I can only assume they replaced with cashew nuts like the mango salad, a different item on the menu. What we actually got seemed to better describe that dish, so I'm not even sure if we actually received the Som Tum Mango. The salad had a nice heat to it, cooled nicely with mint leaves and the sweetness of the mango. Shrimps were cooked perfectly making the dish a stellar choice. Much like how every cuisine has a signature dish, the pad thai clearly comes to mind the Thai food. The rice noodles at Numchok Wilai are thinner width wise than Boualouang, which I liked preferred to the wider variety. We chose the house tamarind sauce rather than a tomato sauce, a more traditional route. Not even sure how a tomato based sauce came into play. The sauce was not overly sweet and not overly thick which I find can sometimes ruin a pad thai really quickly. Combined with egg, shrimp, chicken, beansprouts, and green onions, I loved it! The green curry chicken came out with its own tea candle heat source, a cute presentation. Creamy, spicy (!), and loaded with bamboo shoots which covered tender chicken pieces underneath. We had ordered it moderately spicy, can't even imagine how the highest spice would fare. It's nice that they let you choose that option for all spicy dishes! Loved the mixture of coconut curry and thai basil! Lastly, dessert! Four dishes later and we were still holding on. We decided to try a dish called "Kow Neaw Sung Kaya", a coconut black sticky rice topped with a Thai style baked custard. The custard is more of a bread pudding texture, sweet and slightly sticky. The black sticky rice was also sweetened but surprisingly the overall dish wasn't overwhelming. Perfect way to end the meal! The meal left both of us satisfied and full! For a fraction of what a fancier meal would cost us but for the same amount of happiness. Wiiiiiin. Absolutely loved our meal at Numchok Wilai and would definitely come back. There's parking in the back of the restaurant, as well as street parking if you can find it! It made Avenue Edmonton's Best Restaurant 2014 as honorable mention in "Best Thai". I'd have to go to Bua Thai again to compare, as it's been over a year and a half since I've been there. With restaurants like these in town, my standard "sushi or..." can now be "sushi, Thai, or..." Where's the best Thai restaurant you've been to? read more

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Good food but better Thai places in Edmonton Recently went here on a Monday. Having moved here summer of 2012 from Vancouver, I am puzzled by the fact that 90% of the restaurants on 124th street were closed on a Monday. Having spent most of my adult life living in the West End of Vancouver, I was accustomed to numerous businesses being open very late with some open 24 hours a day so restaurants closing one day a week seems to be a strange trait found in this city. So after finding out that most of the restaurants on 124th street were closed on a Monday, we ended up here as it was one of the few places open. We had a party of three, which always works out poorly for things like appetizers which seem to be served in even numbers. For example. We ordered two orders of the stuffed chicken wings as they came in pairs. The Chicken Satay came in 4 so it was a battle of the diners to see who got the second portion lol. Same with the spring rolls. All three of these appies were adequate. Not bad, not great. Just good. Not that that is a bad thing, just nothing stood out as exceptional For our entrees we went with the Massaman beef curry, Lemon Grass stir fry, Pad Thai and some coconut rice. I've never had a Massaman curry I didn't like, and this maintained that winning streak. For the Lemon Grass, we went with more beef as we each picked an entree and the guy who picked this one is a hard core beef eater. This dish was disappointing and was the only one of the ones we ordered that I didn't like. Pad Thai was OK. I've had better, and I've had worse, strangely from a street food vendor in Northern Thailand so this Edmonton restaurant beat out a true "local" dish. All in all, a good meal. Not great. And not bad either. Some dishes were very good, some not so much so overall, a middle of the road rating for a middle of the road meal. You will find worse Thai food in Edmonton, but you will also find better. read more

Good solid Thai food in Calgary, and now in Edmonton? What's going on? I had the stir fried noodles, which came with thin egg noodles which was not too salty, and not too oily. It had a variety of veggies, including cauliflower, which was the first time I've had it in a stir-fried Thai dish. The chicken was nice and flavorful for breastmeat, and it smelled great. The restaurant, although empty when I picked up my to-go order, looked bright, cozy, and clean. Prices were average for Thai places, approximately $11-14 per entree. The negatives? Not too many! The meal itself wasn't as colorful as I'd expected from all those veggies, and they forgot shrimp in my shrimp fresh spring rolls...they almost forgot my Thai iced tea and I had to remind them. What saves it from becoming a 5 star is that the flavors are solid, but not unique or unforgettable like at some other places. read more