Summer Canteen: A Toluca Lake Treasure
Thai food is a dime a dozen in the Valley, but Summer Canteen is by far my favorite.
The service at this Toluca Lake Spot is spot on, with bottles of chilled water at your table and an array of delicious $5 beers and wines to choose from!
As a starter, my fiance and I enjoyed the Leaf-wrapped savory nibbles miang kham* because I had just finished watching an episode of Around the World in 80 Plates and was feeling a little adventurous.
The nibbles consist of Shrimp on top of Spinach leaves mixed with ginger, peanut, lemon skin, chili, grated coconut and minced shallots with tamarind caramel. Although the nibbles were delicious, I sort of wish the leaves were larger and more substantial.
Either that or I was eating them wrong…(I was picking it up like a taco)
For entrees we split the Summer fried rice and the Spicy seafood and if you only can have one dish, make it the Summer Fried Rice!
It’s a combination of Shrimp, chicken, pineapple, curry powder, raisins, peppers, cashew nuts, eggs and onions and it is sublime! You can also make it slightly healthier by using brown rice and asking for less seasoning.
The Spicy Seafood is a delicious blend of Scallops, shrimp, sole, green mussels, squid, chili peppers, Thai herbs and house spicy sauce. Again we ordered it with Brown Rice and the made it less spicy—but it was still very spicy! As I learned from Around the World, true Thai food is always bold flavors!
Dinner at the Canteen is very affordable, and although it’s in a strip mall, the organic furniture and fancy lighting makes it feel like a night out.
Thai food take-out is a thing of the past!
