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

Revisiting the food of Toronto's legendary BamBoo Club w. Jerk Marinade, Thai Spicy Noodles & more -- Vintage Cookbook TBT

Vintage Cookbook: The Bamboo Cooks -- Recipes from the Legendary Nightclub by Richard O'Brien & Patti Habib

Publication Details: Otherworld Booking Inc. 1997 

Toronto's BamBoo Club was a much loved fixture of Toronto's music, Queen St. W. and nightlife scene from when it opened in 1983 until it closed to the great sadness of so many in 2002.

As musician, activist and former mayoral candidate Richard Underhill put it in a terrific retrospective about the club written by Denise Benson:

“I miss the food, the Red Stripes, the downtown Caribbean feel, the cultural meeting point and the way your sphincter relaxed when you walked into the place,” he writes. “The BamBoo was a beacon of tranquility in a crazy city, a home to top-quality music and great people, a place where all were welcome and most were cool.”

In 1997 the club's owners put out a really terrific, colourful cookbook that highlighted the BamBoo's really diverse, multicultural and often quite fiery fare!

Filled with many of the patron's favourites this book is well worth tracking down for those who both want a piece of local history as well as some truly superb recipes.

The book opens with a short history of the club and is divided into sections like Sauces, Party Flavours, From the Wok and more.

Today we are sharing the history as well as, among other things, a jerk and hot sauce recipe, the recipe for their justly popular wings as well as the recipe for what they say was their all-time most ordered dish, the Thai Spicy Noodles.

If I could I would share the entire cookbook! But some of the many great recipes left out may be making an appearance down the road.

(Click on images to enlarge)