Bua Thai Restaurant

10049 - 113 St
Edmonton, AB
(780) 482-2277

The small eatery is located across the street from St. Joseph's Basilica, the place where Wayne Gretzky got married; tucked behind a busy street, it could easily be missed. The place is packed and somewhat noisy. You can only get a table if you have reservations...luckily we had one. At first glance I thought that the decor was sub par. I was drawn to a mirror in the corner of the restaurant. It was more of a distraction then their attempt to make the restaurant larger. The lights hanging over the table were too bright. It was impossible to lean over to converse with my friends.

Thai cuisine is one of my favorites and I'm always out to look for a great Thai restaurant. The more authentic the better. Having been to Thailand, it makes it more grueling to find an eatery in North America that takes me back to my experiences in Thailand. The service was great! Very friendly and our server knew everything on the menu, even the item numbers to each dish. Very impressive. We ordered the Panang Chicken Curry; Chicken, Chillies, and Cashews; Spicy Seafood Combination (had squid, shrimp, mussels, mock crab w/ bamboo shoots); Mixed Vegetable Stirfry, accompanied with Coconut Rice. The wine we chose was a Isabel Sauvignon Blanc. I thought it was light and refreshing, but it didn't compliment the dishes. It did take the heat away and cooled the tongue.

The wine service I thought was terrible, unless they didn't do the typical wine service that most restaurants are accustomed to. The glasses were not polished and it was over poured. The dishes were delicious, great taste, good heat, bold flavours. Definitely Thai. The dishes were presented nicely and good portions. The shrimp was cooked perfectly. The sauces were thick and spicy. They actually had the basil and the lime leaves in the dishes. There are a lot of Thai restaurants that only have the essences or dried versions of the leaves. I found the Coconut Rice was the weak point in the whole experience. There was no coconut taste. It was creamy, but it almost seemed like they just used cow's milk.

Overall the restaurant was great. They had a packed house and did two seatings on a Friday night. They close really early....at 9:30pm. I would definitely go again. The prices were reasonable, between 10-20 dollars per plate.

Peas - OOOO
Carrots - IIII.5