Introducing: Salad King, the Yonge and Dundas cheap eats stalwart reborn

Designed by Munge Leung—the same team responsible for the old location’s signature stainless steel décor—Salad King’s new 4600-square-foot space is brighter and more open than its former home. The restaurant is perched on the second floor of the historic Thornton-Smith Building, kitty-corner from Gould Street and right above a Foot Locker. The room features three distinct dining areas: a 40-banquette set of seats flanking the bright, Yonge Street–facing windows; a 32-seat semi-enclosed structure adorned with hand-carved Burmese artwork and custom-made bubble pendant lights; and the restaurant’s signature cafeteria-style tables at the heart of the room, with space for 88 communal diners. Meanwhile, those waiting for their take-away orders of golden curry may find a seat in a nook by the takeout counter, away from the dine-in crowds.

Despite all these changes, owners Ernest Liu and Linda Fung are adamant that the recipes and Salad King’s famous 20-chili scale will stay the same. Indeed, that scale is now the star of a mural lining the ground-floor entranceway. In a canny nod to the restaurant’s crazed social media following, the mural also features quoted tweets from fans. Meanwhile, the scavenger hunt we wrote about a couple weeks back began yesterday. Contest rules for the Long Live the King scavenger hunt can be found at longlivetheking.ca.

Salad King, 340 Yonge St. (at Elm St.), 416-593-0333, , saladking.com