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Le Lert
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Le Lert, a new modern Thai fusion restaurant on Carlton, serving brunch, dinner and the most spectacularly showy cocktails this side of Las Vegas is out to “Wow!” you.
Initially, however, you might be confused by its intentions.
Le Lert unobtrusively occupies the ground floor of one of those uninspired, generic, beige buildings that litter the busy corner of Yonge and College. The signage is discrete. Moreover, when you walk inside, instead of a Thai restaurant, you’ll find yourself in the snug environs of a cafe.
Plearn Cafe (whose former premises were on Gerrard) is known for its killer coffee and insanely imaginative, Asian-themed drinks. It also carries eye-popping Asian-inspired pastries by Daan Go Cake Lab, whose creator-in-chief, Christopher Siu, was a Masterchef Canada finalist. Both the drinks and desserts are pretty dazzling (and available at Le Lert as part of a collaboration). But they’re only a prelude to what lies around the back corner… which is where the “Wow!” factor seriously kicks in.
Le Lert occupies the space formerly inhabited by Cora, a beloved breakfast joint whose décor could best be described as inoffensively bland. The comfy all-day diner vibe is the only vestige that remains after the space received a fabulous makeover, seemingly carried out by Ru Paul’s Thai doppelganger (in truth, the design is by RevelHouse).
Look up at the ceiling and take in a cerulean sky filled with plump clouds. It’s supported by giant pillars, whose bright kaleidoscopic covering of mosaic tiles – the work of Aoe Girard – was inspired by the faience shards that adorn the spire of Wat Arun, the landmark Buddhist “Temple of Dawn,” in Bangkok. More allusions to Thai architecture cover the walls, where AI-generated murals showcase traditional temples and palaces along with contemporary prints.
Throughout Le Lert, colour and clubbiness are dialled up to the max. Plush aqua banquettes are surrounded by gardens of Technicolor blossoms (the intensity of the hue ensured by their artificiality). LED lighting sifts through all the hues of the rainbow while the soundtrack glides effortlessly from lounge to electronica.
If it all sounds considerably more fun than your go-to pad thai joint, blame co-owners Phanom (Patrick) Suksaen and Kugendran Perampalam. Between them, the pair have presided over some 40 restaurants in the GTA, among them Thai favourites such as Savor, Eat BKK and the Michelin-acclaimed Koh Lipe. Suksaen also co-owns Plearn together with cutting-edge Thai barista Wassawan "Earth" Chansopa.
Up until now, Suksaen had operated restaurants specializing in “authentic” Thai cuisine, with a focus on regional dishes that ran the gamut from popular street food to traditional royal banquets. A restless restaurateur who’s constantly brainstorming his next establishment, he saw Le Lert as an opportunity to offer Torontonian diners a taste of Thailand they hadn’t sampled before: “Thai Western.”
At Le Lert, “Thai Western” takes on various forms:
Scrambled eggs with crispy roasted pork belly.
Pasta with spicy XO sauce.
Beef stew pot pie spiked with lemongrass.
“At a high-class hotel or cafe in Thailand, they serve food like this,” explains Suksaen, adding that because Le Lert’s kitchen is not tied to tradition, the possibilities are wide open, and often deliciously playful.
Executive chef Chatchalit Chuayruk is definitely ready to play. Raised on Thailand’s eastern coast, Chuayruk mastered home cooking before spending years working in Korea, the U.S., and most recently Australia.
Describing his approach, he confesses, “I like to create something from the inside out, using Thai and Asian ingredients, but also using Western cooking techniques. I try to mix them, while also trying to make them smoother than normal.”
Deliriously smooth and blessedly not normal is the Umami Pasta, a favourite that, like half of Le Lert’s dishes, appears on both the brunch and dinner menus. If anything, the dish’s name is an understatement. The pasta arrives swimming in a lush creamy sauce spiked with miso and embedded with plump, seared scallops. As is, the dish stands on its own. However, Chauyruk pulls out all the umami stops with the garnishes: crackling leaves of nori and bright orange pearls of tobaki, along with translucent gratings of Parmesan. A scattering of baby arugula lends some greenery and peppery contrast.
Explaining the popularity of brunch in Thailand, Suksaen observes that “Thai people eat rice and curry all day.” This proclivity explains the all-day presence of seafood fried rice, a tweaked version of a dish from Chauyruk’s hometown. The bed of sticky fried rice has a smoky, oceanic tang to it. Shrimp paste plays a role, as do juicy shrimp and salmon, pan-fried so that their natural juices mingle with the warmth of an accompanying spicy seafood sauce.
A seldom sampled curry from Thailand’s south, Javanese-inspired Rawaeng curry adds golden turmeric and lemongrass to traditional green curry paste, creating a rich, fragrant sauce that bathes pan-fried beef and Thai eggplant. Although it packs considerable heat, if you’re craving more you can get it from a scattering of red hot chilies.
Those looking for chill instead of chilies will find ample refreshment amid the verdant foliage of the YuZu Tofu salad. Doused in tart yuzu juice and honey, quivering soft tofu is immersed within a heap of mixed baby greens, kale and sun-dried tomatoes, then sprayed with crispy nori shards for a crunchy finale.
Although officially an appetizer, you could get away with making a full meal out of Lick the Bone, a portion of pork ribs whose name is self-explanatory. After soaking for hours in a Thai-spiced marinade, the ribs are deep-fried, ensuring a crispy seal safeguards all the flavourful juices, then showered with a golden blizzard of deep-fried garlic and chilies.
Similarly, two could get away with happily devouring the Tom Yum Paella, one of the most popular mains on the dinner menu and one that most flamboyantly showcases Chuayruk’s fusionary flair. The chef recalls the dish’s inspiration: a family trip to Spain during which he fell under the sway of the ubiquitous Valencian specialty, but longed to put an Asian imprint on it. The fact that the rice-based stew is traditionally cooked in broth got Chuayruk wondering, “What if I cooked it in tom yum soup? I’d never seen anyone do that before…”
The resulting paella offers the usual feast of succulent shrimp, scallops and mussels in their shells, together with the unusual hack of arborio rice suffused with the heady likes of lemongrass, galangal, lime leaves and chili. It’s not just highly satisfying, it’s inspired.
At Le Lert, desserts are the kind of showstoppers that would cause Paul and Pru’s (or Bruno and Kyla’s) collective Great Baking Show jaws to drop.
Inspired by Thailand’s famous beaches, Mango Paradise is a scrumptious microcosm in which a sea of coconut milk, tinged blue from butterfly peas, laps against a shoreline of sticky rice. On top, sunny orbs of mango are strewn with coconut crumble, summer berries and edible blossoms. Yes, it’s pretty heavenly.
Confesses Chuayruk, “I wanted it all – soft, tender, sticky, sweet, crispy – in one bite.”
Such wants are also fulfilled with the Pandam Panna Cotta. A delicately jiggling sphere of vanilla panna cotta is drenched in pandan cream, then topped with berries and cinnamony Biscoff cookie crumbles. The dessert makes a grand entrance, with dry ice-generated plumes of smoke and a crowning cloud of blue cotton candy.
“The TikTok people love it,” laughs Suksaen.
At Le Lert, more than just the food and ambiance will set “the TikTok people’s” shutters clicking. There are also the cocktails – both spirited and spirit-free – dreamed up by bar manager Irene Tharjean. An ode to Thailand’s tropicality as well as a shout-out to the LGBTQ2s+ staff and surrounding neighbourhood, drinks purposely come in all the colours of the rainbow.
Served with dramatic panache on a smoke-shrouded support, the scarlet Vermillion is a sweet, fruity mix of white rum, peach liqueur, soda and rosemary syrup, its deep blush provided by dragon fruit juice and accentuated by a dragon fruit garnish.
Equally fruity, the Indigo’s bewitching blue base is a melange of butterfly pea tea gin, elderberry liqueur, mixed berry juice, guava syrup and lemon juice. Egg white foam sprinkled with edible petals provide a soft, floral finish.
More tart and spice forward, the Saffron glows golden from mezcal mixed with orange liqueur, agave syrup and a medley of mango, passion fruit and lime juices. A hit of Tabasco adds requisite kick.
On the non-alc, but still crazily colourful side of things, the beautifully layered Surprise Apple starts with a vibrant orange base of apple, peach and lemon juices, followed by a pale layer of rose water and capped by a liquid blue sky of butterfly pea soda.
Equally and enticingly layered is the Asian Retro. A floral base of rose and jasmine infuses the mixture of butterfly pea, coconut syrup and milk. Topped with a shot of espresso, it’s garnished with a foamy spray of dry roses and golden sugar.
Incidentally, if you get to this point without a single “Wow!” escaping your lips, maybe it’s because you were too busy “Mmmm!”ing. Although many of Le Lert’s offerings proudly fall into the category of eye candy, their visual appeal is matched, and surpassed, by their tastiness.
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