Som Tum Jinda Gerrard St.
Thai restaurant · Church-Yonge Corridor ·
Specializes in Isan-style som tum and grilled pork jowl
Specializes in Isan-style som tum and grilled pork jowl
"Blink walking east on Gerrard and you might miss this basement-level counter spot. Som Tum Jinda keeps things simple and goes straight for the slap of salt, sour, sweet, and heat. This family-run joint with origins in Thailand is known for bold, Isan-style dishes, especially the som tum, where green papaya is pounded with aromatics in a mortar and pestle until it’s a riot of fire and funk. Our favorite dish is the tom puu nam pla with salted crab and fish sauce, and we also love the minced duck larb ped, which is herbaceous and spicy enough to make you sweat. You could ask for mild, but Northern Thai food is meant to be spicy. Sticky rice helps tame the heat, and the grilled pork jowl and the pad woon sen glass noodles offer slightly more balanced spice profiles. There’s no booze, butPlearn, the sister café next door, has you covered with drinks like lemongrass butterfly pea tea and passion fruit juice espresso." - Renée Suen
"Chef-owner Jinda is a specialist in somtum dishes. She first plied her trade back in 1974 in the local university before moving downtown. The Isan-style spicy fish maw with bamboo shoot salad has a nice balance of herbs and its powerful aroma is punctuated by the intensity of the Tiliacora juice. The signature, somtum with crispy catfish, dispenses an impressive tang. Somtum Jinda is also famous over the border in Lao where they have another branch." - Michelin Inspector
"As the name suggests, somtum is the specialty here and it’s made Isan-style with fermented fish paste for that extra tang. Tom Puu Nam Pla is classic Isan somtum, with the addition of salted crab along with the papaya, garlic, chili and tomato. You can stipulate your desired heat, but be aware that the scale here goes up to 11. Kor Moo Yang – grilled, succulent pork jowl – is another house specialty that’s fast become one of its biggest sellers and is well worth ordering. What this simple basement restaurant may lack in comfort, it more than makes up for in color. There’s a family connection to the original Som Tum Jinda in Thailand and, while it doesn’t serve any alcohol, it offers a wide variety of drinks from the next-door café." - Michelin Inspector
"Chef Jinda Witthayarak’s restaurants are cherished in Laos and northeastern Thailand, so it’s a gift to have her open her first North American location in Toronto. Her daughter, Khun Jiab Nattanid, runs the day-to-day operations, serving a menu that echoes the family’s Southeast Asian eateries. There’s a section dedicated to som tum (papaya salad) in its vast iterations, including tum Thai puu, which glitters with bits of salted crab, garlic, chile, peanut, green beans, and dried shrimp — combined together with enough heat to burst through your skull. Kor moo yang (grilled pork jowl blessed with a generous fat belt) also leaves a tingling buzz on the lips, thanks to its ample endowment of red chiles. For those who can’t stand the heat, pad woon sen cha-om is a tame yet solid choice: Springy glass noodles are tossed with crumbled egg and garlic, then finished with bitter acacia leaf that’s strewn across the stringy landscape." - Tiffany Leigh
"Chef Jinda Witthayarak’s restaurants are cherished in Laos and northeastern Thailand, so it’s a gift to have her open her first North American location in Toronto. Her daughter, Khun Jiab Nattanid, runs the day-to-day operations, serving a menu that echoes the family’s Southeast Asian eateries. There’s a section dedicated to som tum (papaya salad) in its vast iterations, including tum Thai puu, which glitters with bits of salted crab, garlic, chile, peanut, green beans, and dried shrimp — combined together with enough heat to burst through your skull. Kor moo yang (grilled pork jowl blessed with a generous fat belt) also leaves a tingling buzz on the lips, thanks to its ample endowment of red chiles. For those who can’t stand the heat, pad woon sen cha-om is a tame yet solid choice: Springy glass noodles are tossed with crumbled egg and garlic, then finished with bitter acacia leaf that’s strewn across the stringy landscape." - Tiffany Leigh