Spoon & Fork – “All You Can Taste” JAPANESE AND THAI
With an overwhelming array of dining options across the GTA, it can be hard to lock down a single place. Spoon & Fork makes it easy with an array of Japanese, Thai and North American selections under one roof. Choose à la carte or “all you can taste” (aka all-you-can-eat) options for lunch and dinner.
President and owner Matthew Lam’s partner Sunny Chong started the biz with Japanese cuisine decades ago – Prince Japanese Steakhouse in 1998 and Prince Sushi in 2001 (since converted to Mi’Hito Sushi Laboratory) – says, “After all these years, we have a good handle on how to make great sushi.”
Following multiple wins for his Japanese cuisine in newspapers and reader polls, Lam thought, “Maybe we should have a Thai restaurant.” The first Spoon & Fork opened in Etobicoke back in 2003 offering Thai and Vietnamese fare. Soon after, he noticed an uptick, “Lots of Thai restaurants appeared down the road.” The evolution continued. When Spoon & Fork opened on Trafalgar in Oakville 2007 Japanese and Thai fare were added. JJ Japanese Thai quickly followed by in Mississauga in 2008, and additional Spoon & Fork locations across the GTA.
Lam says the reason he put the two cuisines together was, “So people don’t have to fight. They can easily come to a consensus within the group.” And the “all you can taste” option – highly successful for ten years now – “gives people the freedom and choice to venture into new cuisines and have a good dining experience.”
The minute we started, we were trailblazers,” Lam says. “Putting Japanese, Thai and ‘all you can taste’ together. That’s why we’ve been around for so long.”
Where many chains make each location to look like the rest, at Spoon & Fork, each location is uniquely designed, with a few featuring bars with TVs. At the Barrie and York Mills location, orders are placed on iPads. The rest of the chain will soon follow suit.
DECISIONS, DECISIONS
You’ll have to visit multiple times to explore the entire menu.
Starters include everything from Deep Fried Brie to Prosciutto and Melon Salad. Then there’s soups, salads, sushi, sashimi, maki, hand rolls, rice and noodles, specialties from the wok, and Thai curries. And don’t forget dessert.
The ability to taste so many flavours and experience so many dishes in one sitting is exciting.
So, it’s no surprise that roughly 90 per cent of guests choose the “all you can taste” option. “It’s the freedom,” says Lam. “If you like a particular dish and want to order more, you can.”
Manager Ricky Chong says, “If you’re coming with a whole bunch of friends, you know your budget. You know what you’re going to get. And if you don’t like it, you can order something else.”
Compared to many restaurants, it’s hard to beat this price for unlimited dishes – Weekdays: Lunch $17.99, Dinner $28.99; Weekends: Lunch $18.99, Dinner $29.99.
Quality, however, remains imperative to Lam. “We really stress on the quality. To me, it’s so important. It’s part of the reason people come back and spread the word.” Everything is made fresh to order, which allows for items to be easily customized, such as spice levels adjusted to individual palates, dietary restrictions and allergies.
LOCATION, LOCATION
There are seven locations to serve you, with the newest one in Barrie. You’ll also find Spoon & Fork in Oakville, North Oakville, Vaughan, Queensway, Eglinton and North York. The wildly successful chain also includes Corner by Spoon and Fork, in addition to other concepts: JJ Japanese Thai, Prince Japanese Steakhouse, and Mi’Hito Sushi Laboratory’s four locations.
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