What’s on the menu at Pii Nong, a 10,000-square-foot Thai restaurant, market and massage parlour

Name: Pii Nong Thai Contact: 3321 Yonge St., 416-902-8814, piinongthai.com, @piinong_thai
Neighbourhood: Yonge and Lawrence Owners: Thomas Ha and Pii Nong Chef: Pii Nong Accessibility: Fully accessible

Pii Nong’s new uptown flagship is a direct flight from YYZ to BKK—no passport required. It’s an all-things-Thai sensory overload complete with a store selling imported goods, a soon-to-open massage parlour upstairs and a raw bar that looks like it was airlifted straight from a Bangkok night market.

Related: What’s on the menu at Le Lert, a new Thai fusion restaurant from the team behind Michelin-recognized Koh Lipe

Behind the gleaming pile of crustaceans and mollusks on display, you’ll find the always-in-motion Pii Nong—the restaurant’s namesake chef and co-owner—pounding out a papaya salad or assembling an over-the-top seafood tower. “She’s a ball of boundless energy,” says Thomas Ha, who runs the business alongside Nong. At 57, she moves like someone who never found the brake pedal, continuously fine-tuning and never taking shortcuts. Now, along with her younger business partner, Nong is channelling all that momentum into this ambitious new venture—because why just serve Thai food when you can transport people straight to the source?

The Food

The menu isn’t tied to a particular region but leans toward central and southern Thailand. “I’d describe it as southernish,” says Ha. “And it’s always evolving thanks to Pii’s creativity.” One thing, however, is undeniable: seafood takes centre stage. Nowhere is that more evident than at the showcase built right into the bar. It’s piled high with plump tiger prawns, blush-pink botan shrimp, seasonal sea urchins and oysters, lightly steamed New Zealand mussels, sweet scallops, short-neck clams, cuttlefish, and tender abalone. “No other Thai restaurant has such a focus on these cold items,” says Ha.

Ha’s father owns Saigon Star, the Richmond Hill institution famous for its curried crab, which means Ha has crustacean connections: he knows where to source the best BC Dungeness, and nothing under two pounds will do. But, when it comes to choosing the perfect specimen, Nong has the final say. “My dad will bring over a big box of crabs, and she’ll go through it—yes, yes, no, yes,” Ha says. “She’s picky. And that’s saying something, because my dad only gets the best.”

The Drinks

The drink menu is comparatively tight. Guests can expect a handful of (mostly new-world) wines starting at $11 a glass, a beer list featuring five selections—including Thailand’s own Singha—and a few sakes. The real standouts are the signature cocktails and mocktails, all appropriately tropical. Think sweet, sun-kissed flavours like dragon fruit, lychee and pineapple, balanced with herbaceous notes of lemongrass, Thai basil and makrut lime leaf.

The Space

Spread across two floors, this 10,000-square-foot space seems massive, but it’s divided into three distinct areas—a market, a Thai massage parlour and a dining room—and feels more like a cultural hub than just a big restaurant. “Most places cram in as many seats as possible,” says Ha. “We wanted something immersive, something true to Thailand.”

Guests enter through the bustling market, crammed with imported snacks (instant boat noodles, durian candies), shelf-stable staples (fish sauce, Thai tea powder), tchotchkes (grass fans) and even clothes (scarves, elephant pants). In the fridges at the back, there are also hard-to-find Thai specialties, including something called Bird’s Nest Beverage (which Nong swears by as the ultimate elixir of youth) and house-made curry pastes.

The market leads into the 120-seat dining room. To create an authentically Thai space, Nong used lots of wood to bring Southeast Asian warmth to Yonge Street. In Thailand, timber shapes homes and gathering spaces, so it’s everywhere here—walls, floors, even the multicoloured tables, all of which were built in Nong’s hometown and shipped over. Other imported touches include vibrant fabrics upholstering the booths and silk-screened images of Thewada (celestial beings in Thai Buddhist tradition). A devout Buddhist, Nong invites Thai monks to bless the space every month.

Nong has two passions: food and massage. Before moving to Canada in 2010, she sold street food in Bangkok alongside her mother while also working as a Thai masseuse, having trained at Wat Pho, one of Thailand’s most renowned Buddhist temples. Even after settling in Toronto, she split her time—cooking three days a week, massaging two. Now, she’s finally opening a space that brings both together.

Opening this spring, the 4,000-square-foot second storey will feature seven foot-massage bays, three private rooms, a couples’ suite and three traditional on-the-floor massage stations, where therapists will practise body walking, a signature of Thai massage. Though the businesses will have separate entrances and operate independently, Ha plans to offer date-night packages (think massage followed by dinner) and even discount massages for those relegated to the restaurant’s wait list.