TH I N KI N G BACKW A RD S :
FAMILY, COMMUNITY, AND GREAT THAI FOOD IN GUELPH
26 VIC TO RIA
BY GUEST CONTRIBUTOR JONATHON BARRABALL
RD S
YO
RK
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GUELPH
There is a little yellow house on York Road in
In 2013 she opened ‘Love at First Bite!’, a small
Guelph, just before the intersection at Victoria.
food stall in the Guelph Farmer’s Market.
It wasn’t always yellow – it used to be red brick,
And then, shortly after, another stall in the
home to a small Portuguese Piri Piri restaurant.
Aberfoyle Market. In 2015 she finally achieved
After the ownership changed hands, a new
her dream of opening a restaurant – albeit a
sign went up on that freshly painted yellow
cozy one, take-out and catering – with half a
house, which read ‘Na-Ha-Thai’s Kitchen,’ and
dozen seats and fewer parking spots.
it wasn’t long before everyone was telling me about ‘the new Thai place’ in Guelph. After my first visit I pledged to join those growing ranks of loyal Na-Ha-Thai patrons who declare this to be really good Thai food.
Naruemon recently had TOQUE in to Na-HaThai’s Kitchen for a lunch that quickly revealed what sets her restaurant apart. Everything she made for us was amazing. I could readily see why pad ga pow – a Thai street food staple
Naruemon, the owner of Na-Ha-Thai’s Kitchen,
featuring ground pork stir-fried with holy basil,
moved to Canada just over a decade ago from
and served with stingingly spicy fresh chili
Thailand, where she worked as a researcher
sauce, steamed rice, fresh vegetables, and
in sustainable agriculture at Chiang Mai
a fried egg on top – is the most popular dish
University. Language barriers made it difficult
in Thailand. Khao soi, Naruemon’s personal
for her to find similar work here, so she turned
favourite, was unbelievable – firm egg noodles
to her lifelong passion for food and cooking.
in a delicately spicy coconut curry broth, with
