cross one off

OK so I have a list. You know that list of cafes and restaurants to try that we all have. Well, at least I know all you foodies out there have one. But despite all the eating out we do, that damn list never seems to shrink! Before Xmas I finally got the chance to cross Talay Thai off the list. And once again it was with my sister and her fella (wow, is he gonna roar when he reads that!). We love family style dining (aka sharing so you get to eat EVERYTHING!!) so we went for it and ordered four different dishes: cashew chicken, pad Thai, masaman curry, and ginger beef. It was awhile ago so forgive me if I don't go into detail but the gist is...yum, yum, yum, and let me see, yum. Everything was remarkably flavorful, spicy enough (although we only ventured into the one chili ratings), plentiful (easily enough for four very full tummies), and crazy well priced. With tax and tip, I'm talkin' 16 bucks a person well priced!

Despite all that we hadn't gone back since. Frequently whipping up some pad Thai or red curry noodle at home means Thai is just one of those foods not on our radar when we go out to eat. But recently we had a new mission:  to prove to our British friends that you can find a good curry in Hali. Talay Thai to the rescue. Once again, family style dining was the way to go with each of us choosing one dish to share: spicy chicken, spicy seafood noodles, duck curry, and cashew vegetables.

OMG the duck curry was off the hook! I'm not one to order duck but this was frikkin' awesome. Red curry, coconut milk, grapes, pineapple, lime leaves, and duck of course. All kinds of wonderful. This was probably my favorite of the evening and I would even go back for this dish alone. That.Good.

And now comes the heat. Three chilies really means three chilies at Talay Thai. The spicy chicken was a whole world of spicy yet even this wimp could enjoy the tender chicken and yummy chili-basil sauce.

At two chilies, the spicy seafood noodle still packed a punch. Loaded with vegetables, perfectly cooked rice noodles, stir fried egg, and enough seafood for four to each get some, the spicy seafood noodle won us all over.

Last but not least, the cashew vegetables, similar to cashew chicken minus the chicken of course, was that perfect balance of sweet and spicy that I adore. And I gotta mention the green beans. In most of the dishes, the 'long' beans were so perfectly cooked that they almost stole the show. No photo of this dish though...being the last to arrive on the table, my guests were not about to wait for me to take a photo. Us food bloggers really love our photos sometimes much to the dismay of our hungry guests. Have you seen "shit foodies say"? Watch it and you'll know what I mean.

But what, you may ask, did our British friends think of the meal? Well, obviously they loved it, every last morsel of it...I'm talking almost licking plates here folks! And there you have it. You can find a good curry in Hali. Scratch that. You can find a frikkin' amazing curry in Hali.

Find out for yourself: http://www.talaythaihalifax.ca/