Sookjai Thai Restaurant

This restaurant is small and very clean. We wandered in at 8:45 at night after finding that the restaurant we meant to go to closed at 8:30 on a Friday night! This was a great accidental second choice and they seated and served us despite closing themselves at 9:30.

We ordered a Thai Caesar which was pleasantly spicy but not burning as well as a cold Singha. We started with Chicken Satay which arrived quickly and warm, well cooked and with very well made peanut sauce and a small cucumber salad. We gobbled them down quickly and just in time for our main dish to arrive. We ordered a plate of Pad Thai with Chicken to share and it was more than enough food for two very hungry tourists! The noodles were soft and but not mushy and the dish was well accented with chicken, tofu and egg. The sauce was nice and not overpowering. I asked for hot sauce on the side as I LOVE thai food crazy hot and was very pleased when 3 choices were brought to my table: chilis in a vinegar sort of sauce, chilis in fish sauce, and chili sauce. I tried a bit of each and settled on the very spicy chili sauce as a favorite for this dish.

We finished our food with a good serving left over, packaged it up, and left the restaurant very satisfied. Total cost: 34$ including tip.

We had a phenomenal experience at Sookjai Thai. Despite not having a reservation on a busy weekend, the host managed to get our party of three a cozy booth, which was truly appreciated. The service was amazing from the start, with our lovely and friendly waitress providing excellent service throughout our meal.

We decided to order several dishes, and I must highlight the delightful option of choosing different spice levels. We opted for the Thai hot, and it was a fiery delight packed with flavors and the perfect level of heat

Our meal included:
- **#78 Coconut Rice:** Creamy and aromatic, the perfect complement to our spicy dishes.
- **#76 Gaeng Pak:** A flavourful vegetable curry with tofu and that was rich and satisfying.
- **#75 Khow Phad Sapparot - Jae:** This pineapple fried rice was a delightful mix of spicy, sweet and savoury, just like the ones I had in Thailand.
- **#61 Guay Teow Phad Ped:** A must-try with its bold and house-made sauce with eggs, prawns and Napa cabbage. So tasty!

Every bite transported me back to my trip to Thailand, making the meal an unforgettable time! The ambiance was wonderful, with tasteful decor that added to the authentic experience.

A delightful bonus was discovering their ready-made Thai curry sauces available for purchase. Perfect for recreating the flavours and dishes at home!!

Highly recommend Sookjai! We can't wait to return for another fantastic meal.

=== 1. VERDICT/VALUE
Friendly staff, decent food - this is a good choice for Thai food if you're downtown!

=== 2. FOOD
Phad See Lew ($20.95)
Wide rice noodles with chicken, celery, snow peas, and broccoli - with veg like that, you're enjoying good taste while feeling great about it :)

Phad Thai Goong ($21.95)
Pad Thai noodles with shrimp, egg, tofu and bean sprouts - another good choice!

Chicken Satay ($15.95)
You get four skewers at this price one of which is typically dry (or overcooked?); the others are typically ok. Peanut sauce comes with it for dipping.

Coconut Rice ($5.50)
It's OK if you like coconut milk - we've consistently gotten it cooked with way too much coconut milk so we're sticking to regular rice from now on (and saving a little money too).

=== 3. SERVICE
Ordering ahead by phone can be a challenge; they are typically busy and so you may need to try leaving a message and waiting for a callback (which they seem to so as soon as they can). I wouldn't try ordering from Sookjai if you need food quickly, as every order seems to require 30 minutes or more of a wait. The staff are always friendly and professional on the phone and in-person.

=== 4. ENVIRONMENT
We've only ever been here in the evenings so the dark interior seems a little dim - aiming for the cozy, intimate feel perhaps. The decor is nothing to write about, but it's typically clean. Smaller groups fit nicely though with a variety of tables, you could potentially bring a larger group in if many of the tables are combined. Wheelchairs and baby strollers could fit, but likely would be a bit of a squeeze. Parking feels like luck of the draw, as you're likely aiming for an open city parking meter on any of the street spots outside and nearby!

Seems like a lot of people have great experiences so I think it was a bad day but server got my order wrong, blamed me, and my total was 28.83 for one pad see Lew with tofu. The dish itself was not great and 100% not worth the price. I normally love pad see ew and this was not something I enjoyed at all :/
I am really sad I didn't try a different Thai place as I am just visiting for the day, and disappointed that I spent a good amount of money on something I'm not even going to finish. Oh and they also didn't put napkins or a fork in my to-go bag or ask if I wanted any.

Poor service. Rude waiter. Average food. Crowded ambiance.
The food is very average. The inside ia claustophobic.

Nothing more to note other than GREAT Thai, AMAZING service, and WONDERFUL drinks! Best Thai in Victoria and will be stopping here again. The ambiance is great with walking distance to the warf! You'll miss out if you miss this place!

Upon entering Sookjai Thai I caught a whiff of disinfectant. Yes, there is a global pandemic going on and guidelines as to how businesses must operate in order to stay open... but maybe disinfectant can be used more sparingly (ie spray directly into rag or spray tables from a closer distance so that there is less mist for customers to inhale). It's safe to say that the people who are going out to restaurants at this time are probably not the most concerned about coronavirus (& to be fair, this was not the first time I have noticed a disinfectant odour in a place that serves food.)

I had the Panang Gai (pronounced "menu item 51"). A Thai red curry with chicken, red peppers , Thai basil and kaffir lime leaves. I also ordered a side of coconut rice. The red curry sauce was delicious, spiced well with the perfect sweet/heat ratio. The chicken was good but could have had some of the stringy/tough bits cut off. I would have preferred if there was a bit less chicken and instead another vegetable added (ie broccoli, snow peas or some fresh green onion). The coconut rice tasted great and complimented the curry perfectly. I drank water with my meal but unfortunately the water did not taste very good - it might have been a glass that needed better rinsing or just bad tap water but it was noticeably "off".

The server was friendly & the food arrived quickly. The total was just over $25 with tax & tip. I think I'm being somewhat generous with a 3 star review but I might be willing to go back at some point. Sookjai Thai has been in business a long time so they are obviously doing some things right.

Had a fantastic Dinner here. Food was super fresh and vibrant - full of flavour. Highly recommended. We eat Thai all over the place and this was definitely one of the better restaurants we've found.

Amazing dishes and great service. I would not call exactly authentic Thai but definitely amazing dance between Chinese and Thai styles. Their pad thai was probably one of the best I had in my life with wok charred flavour. Definitely coming back again !

Let me start off by saying service was amazing! Very attentive waitresses who are friendly and ensure you are treated excellently during your dining experience. Waters always topped up with frequent but not intrusive check-ins. Great atmosphere and seating.

Food, for the most part, was adequate. We ordered about 7 dishes and about 3 of them we couldn't really tell the difference between each (similar veggies, sauces/spices - tastewise, dishes were not unique from one another). Unfortunately all our guests thought the dishes were very high in sodium. We described the chicken, veggie, and seafood dishes as very similar to the average household could make at home for a regular dinner, but surprisingly (and I am sad to say this) worse since it was salty, less fresh, with chicken less moist/tender/juicy, and veggies that tasted like something quickly stir fried for a buffet style restaurant. Only dish that was truly delicious was the Phad Thai Gai (chicken pad thai) - noodles were great, with crisp bean sprouts, nicely grounded peanuts, all stir-fried in a good sauce.

One thing to note, Sookjai gives very good meat portions - most notably for the chicken dishes. Also the peanut sauce is excellent- nice and creamy, lighter peanut taste.

Can't say I'd recommend this place as I've definitely tried better Thai elsewhere in Victoria, but the service here is truly top notch and that in itself is definitely worth something.

Victoria's best Thai place, hands down!

Sookjai looks unassuming from the outside but the place is comfortable and cozy. The real treasure (besides the warm, friendly service) is the FLAVOUR. Absolutely stunning, complex, fresh and irresistible. I have been coming here for years and I downloaded Yelp just so I could write a review of this hidden gem of a restaurant. You won't be disappointed!