Restaurant Review: Syphay Restaurant

SYPHAY RESTAURANT 4428 Calgary Trail | syphay.com Instagram: @syphayrestaurant Co-Diners: The E.A.T Crew

It's a new year and it's time to get back into the swing of new restaurant reviews!! I am always excited for new Thai food experiences so checking out Syphay for their authentic Thai & Lao cuisine seemed like an excellent plan. This family-owned restaurant has been operating since 2004 and now have two locations in the city. You might remember them from the tiny house on Calgary Trail - that's where I first tried them many years ago. They have since closed the little house location and now have a new and modern spot in Empire Park. This is the restaurant that I visited on a recent Saturday evening. Edmonton Journal has named Syphay Best Thai Restaurant 2021 and Favourite Thai Restaurant 2022 and I was excited to try them out once again. I made a rookie mistake and did not make a reservation for our dinner. This is not advisable because I was faced with a 45 minute wait for a table. Syphay is popular! And busy! Be sure to make a reservation and don't do what I did. While the new space is very Thai-contemporary, it does feel a little bit vacant and soul-less to me. The tiny house might have been slightly dilapidated but it had character and personality for days. The new spot, further south on Calgary Trail, is nice but with the super high ceiling and white walls it almost feels like too much negative space. I did like the decor items around the room from Thailand and Laos but I wish that it felt warmer and cozier like the old location did. Our server was welcoming and friendly, happy to guide us through our food journey. When I eat Thai food I go straight for a Thai Iced Tea ($6.50) to drink. I drank these multiple times a day when I visited Thailand and I love being transported back to those memories.

A perfect version, this mixture of black tea and condensed milk never disappoints. The delicious flavour is refreshing and comforting at the same time. One of my favourite drinks for sure! Moving to the appetizer round, I was really into the sounds of the Garlic Shrimp Rolls and the Pineapple Shrimp Wraps. So when I noticed the Syphay Platter ($16.00) which includes both, this seemed like the correct thing to order!

4 meat spring rolls, 5 pineapple shrimp wraps, 8 garlic shrimp rolls.

However, I was a bit deflated when the server informed us that they didn't have the garlic shrimp rolls available. This was a bummer because they were something that I really wanted to try. Instead, he told us that we could have the Vegetable Spring Rolls on our platter instead. There was a whole lot of brown on this plate! The meat spring rolls were mostly what you would expect; a crunchy tube with a savoury and juicy filling that tasted great dipped into the sweet chili sauce provided. I was more excited about the pineapple shrimp wraps (delectable triangle-shaped wraps with pineapple, mayo and shrimp filling) but found them to be a bit of a let-down. There just wasn't much filling inside of them at all and I barely got the flavours of pineapple, mayo or shrimp. Trace amounts. It was mostly just a crispy dough wrapper and not much else. The vegetable spring rolls were fine but the meat ones were better. I probably would have been happier with this plate if it had had the garlic shrimp rolls like it was supposed to. Next we went for a curry, of which there are seven types to choose from. They've got every colour (yellow, red, green) but I was most excited to see one of my favourites; Matsa-Man ($21.00). I almost feel as if I have "graduated" out of the more basic curries and look for some of the more interesting/elusive ones these days.

Matsa-man curry, coconut milk, carrots, potatoes, kaffir lime leaves, peanuts.

Matsa-man (or massaman) curry tends to be distinct in the fact that it is always served with beef and there are always potatoes in it (or at least that has been my experience). It's similar to a red curry but the spice profile is different, drawing on more Indian-style aromatics. The curries at Syphay are made to your chosen spice level (mild, medium, or spicy) and you can choose whatever protein you like (chicken, beef, tofu, shrimp, or basa fish). For my curry I picked a medium spice level and selected the beef since I've always seen massaman served with beef. I laid down a bed of rice and ladled the sweet and spicy curry on top. The curry itself was delicious. I could have used even a bit more spice but overall I loved the combination of coconut milk and expertly-combined herbs and spices. The beef was tender but didn't seem infused with the curry flavour as much as I would have liked. I noticed the same about the potatoes. I wanted deliciously stewy, tender potatoes, permeated by the bath of curry. However, these just tasted like bland boiled potatoes and if anything, they were slightly under cooked. I enjoyed the curry but there were definitely areas that could be improved. Speaking of the rice, I was happy to find Coconut Rice ($6.00) on the menu. It's not always on every menu, so when I find coconut rice on Thai or Indian menus I'm always pleased.

A bed of rice is a necessary element and this coconut rice was everything that I wanted it to be. Perfectly cooked with a sweet coconut flavour. Also, the serving dishes at Syphay are beautiful! I loved the blue and white matching bowls that arrived with each new food item. Not only were they stunning to look at but they certainly succeeded at making the food appear even more appetizing. Lastly, I chose a favourite; Pad Thai ($21.00). Every Thai restaurant has gotta have it!

Stir-fry rice noodles in a chili tamarind sauce, egg, bean sprouts, carrots, chives, topped with peanuts and cilantro.

Done a little bit differently at each individual restaurant, this one was pretty good. In fact, I'd say that it was my favourite dish of the whole meal. Again, I was able to choose the spice level. In this case I made it mild (even though I prefer medium) because I wanted my son to eat it. Even so, it tasted spicier than "mild" in my opinion, as I noticed more of a kick than I would have expected. I wasn't too upset about this because I prefer spicier food anyway. The stir fry noodle dishes also allow for a choice of protein (chicken, beef, tofu, shrimp, chicken & shrimp, or seafood (which includes shrimp, squid & scallop)). We went with chicken although after further thought we really should have chosen the chicken & shrimp because I really do prefer both proteins in my pad thai. I liked this dish! The noodles were cooked well and weren't sticky and I enjoyed the chili tamarind sauce. The fact that they're using tamarind and not a tomato base is a very good sign that they know what they're doing and aren't taking shortcuts. All of the components were tasty and the dish just seemed like a nice, straight forward version that wasn't messing around too much. Satisfying and absolutely acceptable. I had mixed feelings about Syphay. On one hand, it's very likely one of the better Thai restaurants in the city, especially now that The King & I is gone and HOM has moved out of 5th St. Food Hall. On the other hand, there were certainly some areas that I felt could have been a bit better. I would like to return to taste some of their other dishes. The heart behind Syphay is there, beating strong, although I hope that after nearly 20 years in business that they aren't becoming complacent.