Thai Express
Chinook Centre, 6455 Macleod Tr. S.
thaiexpress.ca

Hours of operation:
Monday to Saturday: 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
Sunday: 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

Rating: ***
Licensed: No

Worn down by Muzak, artificial lights and shopping stress, eating in a mall can sometimes come down to whichever counter has the shortest line. But Thai Express consistently proves its freshly made dishes are worth the extra wait.

Stirfries and curries are cooked in non-stop woks in front of you. The green curry ($7.99) had a delicious coconut base with soft eggplant, green pepper, onion and fragrant basil on a huge mountain of rice.

To appease a wider audience, the curries are all fairly mild, and come with an option of adding chicken, beef or shrimp.

Chicken pad mee ($8.98) was a filling plate of rice noodles stir fried with bean sprouts, green onions with a non-descript soy sauce base. Nothing to write home about, but also nothing to sneeze at considering it’s still mall food.

Thai Express has 11 locations in Calgary (mostly mall food courts).