Alright Vernon, here comes some top secret information that I don't think other Vernonites want you to hear...there is a restaurant right downtown called Boa Thong (Thai Food) and it is well priced and very delicious. You have probably passed by it 1,000 times in your travels and didn’t even notice it. Just down from the old Bank of Montreal there is a small door that leads you up a flight of stairs and into this old restaurant with fresh authentic Thai dishes. Now to be honest, as you go up the stairs you feel like you are walking into a fish tank with the paintings on the wall and older green carpet, but if you can get past the décor you will be pleasantly surprised.

They offer a small lunch menu to choose from and all dishes range around $7.00 (so already it’s a good bang for your buck!) But how good can the food really be?!? Well I ordered the Pad Thai (number 41 off their take-out menu), "A typical Thai lunch consisting of stir fried noodles, prawns, egg, tofu and green onion topped with bean sprouts and crushed peanuts". I just ate and in reading the description I could go for a second round! Now they do have the option of how hot you want any dish, so no matter what you order you can ask for spice level zero (no spice) up to level 5...I opted for level 2 and it was just right for me (I could have done a level 3 but I'm sure I would have been crying a little). If you head into Boa Thong really hungry I would suggest an appetizer but their lunch portion was just right for a light lunch.

First off the noodles were perfect, there’s nothing worse than chewing into starchy under/over-cooked noodles, but they have obviously cooked a noodle or two in their time and have gotten it to perfection. The tofu had a wonderful taste to it (and I'm not a huge fan of tofu) and just enough given that you wanted more but not too many that it took over the plate. The prawns were tasty without being chewy but I wish they had given a few more than 3. Their take out menu has a lot of options, 56 to be exact, but that includes appetizers, soups, salads, main courses, curry, vegetables, seafood, noodle & rice dishes, as well as special orders. With all of these options you should find something that fits your taste buds! They also do not use MSG!

Prepared by Thai chefs, this secret location of Thai food is worth tracking down. Overall a great lunch, the atmosphere feels like I got whisked away back to the 70's (but I don't mean that in an entirely bad way!), and the prices were great for lunch. I believe the portion sizes are a bit bigger for dinner, but if you go here when you are starving just order a starter or two!

Fast friendly service and it's obvious each dish is prepared fresh. I will be planning to go again.

Phantom Foodie