Roll & Thai on Lake Shore w. Tom Yum Noodle Soup, Sushi & more

Roll & Thai is a charming Asian restaurant located directly across the street from the northern edge of Etobicoke's magnificent Sam Smith Park on Lake Shore Blvd. W. just east of Kipling.



It serves a variety of quick, inexpensive and flavorful dishes and soups drawn from Korean, Thai and Japanese cuisine.

The service is very friendly and the restaurant has a nice decor and is
very bright. With only 5 or 6 tables, it can be crowded at lunch though the meals lend themselves to quick table turnarounds. Or you can call ahead and enjoy some takeout in the park!

Over several visits we have found that you really can't go wrong with the excellently priced Sushi Special Tray (only $9.95) as an appetizer. It is a 17 piece platter with Dynamite, Spicy Crab, and California Rolls as well as Salmon Sushi and Yam Tempura. All the sushi dishes at Roll & Thai are well made and a great value.

Sushi Special Tray...only $9.99

The Thai Green or Red Curry ($7.95-9.95) is delicious and comes with a side of rice. They also make a good, classic Pad Thai in the same price range. Both are available in vegetable, chicken, beef or shrimp and chicken options.

Green Curry with rice

Both the regular Ramyeon and Cheese Ramyeon soups are terrific. These are classic, spicy Korean noodle soups with a variety of ingredients. They are a good size at $5.95-6.95 and make for an excellent fast lunch.

Cheese Ramyeon 

Regular Ramyeon 

For me the standout on the menu is Thai Tom Yum Noodle Soup.

The Tom Yum is available in a smaller size without noodles as an appetizer, but the noodle option, which ranges from $7.95-9.95 is a full meal.

Roll & Thai's Tom Yum is everything you want from that style of soup. Refreshing, tangy and spicy, full of vegetables, noodles and either chicken or shrimp, it has flavour to spare.

The Tom Yum Noddle Soup 

The menu also has a variety of other options and dishes. We have yet to try one that was not well presented and executed.

Two can easily eat there for $20-30. It has quickly become one of my favourite lunch spots in the area.

Roll & Thai is located at 3106 Lakeshore Blvd. W. just east of Kipling Ave. and Lakeshore. 647-345-330. It is a casual/take-out style restaurant with no reservations though you can call ahead to pick-up your order. It is not licensed. 

See also: Dumpling House Restaurant Spadina w. Dumplings, Hot & Sour Soup and Spicy Seaweed Salad

See also: Swatow Restaurant -- Shrimp Dumpling Noodle Soup & more in the heart of Toronto

1968's Japanese Cooking Cookery Cards with Sushi, Tempura, & more: Vintage Cookbook TBT

Vintage Cookbook: Japanese Cooking, Sadako Kohno

Publication Details: Paul Hamlyn Publishers, 1968

A terrific and lovely set, this "cookbook" published for the British and American markets actually consisted of 24 oversized and very colourful postcards each of which had a photograph of the dish on one side and the recipe on the other.

The photos are all truly excellent and vibrant and it all came in in a packet that could be unfolded to read measurements conversions and a short introduction from the chef.

The cards covered dishes from lobster and seaweed soups, raw fish plates, Sukiyaki, chicken on skewers and others, as well as the five we are looking at today.

As a note, some of these recipes say to consult "Card 20" with reference to mirin. As we are not featuring Card 20, the card states "This is sweet wine. 1 teaspoon sugar added to 1 tablespoon sherry makes it taste like mirin".

(Click on images to enlarge)