It’s dizzying how many Thai restaurants are popping up across Toronto. Instead of following the crowd, Tha Phae Tavern swaps out the pad Thai and curry for handhelds and street food type bites.

There are traditional dishes like the Moo ping ($5 for 2 during happy hour; $9 for 3 normally), bite-sized grilled pork nuggets that are well caramelized with a sweet and savoury sauce. These would be wonderful wrapped in lettuce or ordered with a portion of sticky rice ($6) to create a full meal.

Then there are more Westernized items like the grilled pork with steamed bao bun ($7 during happy hour; $8 normally). It’s a tad salty and I would have preferred the kitchen to leave off the sauce to allow me to add it myself, given a portion is served with the bun. Still, the tender pork slices, pickled vegetables, and soft bao were delicious. Two of these would make a nice lunch.

The Tha Phae fried chicken ($18) was a favourite amongst the table. Marinated with house spices, even by itself there was a savouriness that’s enough. But there’s also dipping sauces for those who want even more flavour. One thing’s for certain, food at Tha Phae is not bland.

After all the heavier dishes I’m glad we ordered the spicy glass noodle salad with seafood ($15) to balance it out. With the ability to choose the spiciness level, the ‘medium’ was more than enough to elicit sting. The vermicelli noodles were tossed in a refreshing soy and lime dressing with a scant couple of shrimp and calamari.

While waiting for the food to arrive, complimentary tom yum peanuts were presented - they should be selling these by the bagful! The nuts are fried with chili and Thai basil, so they become wonderfully fragrant are addictively delicious.

Surprisingly, it was dead on a Wednesday during their happy hour (on from 4-7pm) despite the well priced drink specials. Tha Phae offers a selection of cocktails for $10. The mamuang slush ($10) was sweet, but the shot of vodka (your choice of alcohol) helped balance it out. I thoroughly tasted the mango and liked the addition of coconut sticky rice horchata that thickened the drink. With the touch of cinnamon this could be considered a dessert.

Tha Phae likely hits its peak as a post-dinner or pre-party destination.  With kitschy claw machines and karaoke, it’s fun and much livelier than other Thai restaurants in Toronto.