Isaan Der – Thai Kitchen & Bar located at 9021 Leslie St, unit 7, Richmond Hill

It was so nice to finally try this hotspot for Thai food!  Isaan Der Thai Kitchen & Bar opened up sometime in the last year or so and initially, I remember hearing about how there were really long waits for the tables and the food took a long time to arrive.  Now in July 2024, the kinks have definitely worked themselves out and I had dinner with a friend here. 

I called the restaurant the day before to get a reservation for two, but they told me they didn’t take reservations (not sure whether they don’t do it for small parties or if they don’t take them in general) and that I could walk in at 5, 5:30 p.m. to get a table for two easily.  That’s what I did.  When I got there at 5:15, the host asked if my friend had arrived because there was a 1.5 hour seating limit.  I decided to wait for my friend before we got our table.

Isaan Der appetizer menu

Soup, salad, curry menu

Noodles, main, dessert menu

Signature Cocktails menu

Drink menu

The restaurant had high ceilings, popping hit music, a large TV screen for sports, and plenty of tables for two.  The servers frequently refilled our water glasses throughout the night which I appreciated.

Modern vibe

Appetizer Platter for two $25.50

The food came in a reasonable time.  The Appetizer Platter for two for $25.50 had Thong Pong Grob, Ma Hor, calamari, shrimp cakes, golden bags, and mango salad served with a homemade sweet chilli sauce.  This was a great foray into their appetizers to try one of each.  My favourite was the shrimp cake because it was large and bursting with lots of shrimp and corn inside.

Pad Kee Mao (drunken noodles) $20 with tofu

The Pad Kee Mao (drunken noodles) for $20 was a stir-fried dish with rice noodles alongside holy basil, red and green bell peppers, broccoli, egg, carrots, organic king oyster mushrooms, honey snap peas, oyster sauce, and light soy sauce.  I liked how thick the rice noodles were and it was savory and mildly spicy (you can choose the spice level).  I chose tofu for the protein.

Pad Ka Prao (Holy Thai Basil Stir Fry) $20 with ground chicken

The Pad Ka Prao (Holy Thai Basil Stir Fry) for $20 was another stir-fried dish with Thai holy basil, red and green peppers, onions,oyster sauce, and soy sauce.  It was served with jas mine rice, a fried egg, and fish sauce and chilli on the side.  We chose ground chicken for the protein which was so tasty and reminded me of ground beef instead.

I liked everything we got.  I really appreciated that we didn’t get kicked out after the supposed 1.5 hour seating limit and we actually were there for 3 hours.  I definitely want to visit Isaan Der again to try the rest of the menu.  They have a lot of Thai dishes that other restaurants don’t have (like the volcanic ribs and pork jowl).

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