If you are a frequent visitor of the Scotia Plaza food court, chances are you are familiar with Thai Express - one of the latest MTY Group franchises to hit the GTA.

For several weeks, around the noon hour, I would pass by the trendy Thai stand and would never bother to wait in its lengthy line that stretches around the court's corner, often passing the entrance to the shoe repair shop next door.

Heck, my co-workers would go as early at 10:30 am just to avoid the line-up. A visit to the Thai express would require some planning, unless of course you don't mind standing in line for most of your lunch. If I felt like some Thai cuisine, I would have to go to Thai Thai, another hotspot in the financial district - however the line-up is quicker and the food, okay.

On my way home one evening, I noticed that this busy lunch spot was not so busy at the end of the day - merely one or two patrons standing in line to take some food home.

I do the same. I stand in line and order the Pad Thai ($5.99) and Beef with Basil ($6.19), which is accompanied by some steamed rice. The whole process takes about 3 minutes, possibly a bit longer.

The meal is packaged in some cute containers, one of them being a nice paper box made popular by Chinese take-out in American movies.

I get home 20 minutes later and unwrap my meal. It was still warm. I take a bite of the Pad Thai and it is...okay. For $5.99, I guess you can't go wrong, even if it is hard to distinguish the different between the chicken and the tofu. I get the same experience from the beef dish, which is supposed to also have some eggplant - I think I found one or two pieces.

I can see how this can be very popular for lunch. It is about the same price as many of the other dishes in the food court, tastes okay and of course, is very trendy. Would I go out of my way for this, even at lunch? Probably not.

Thai Express

Scotia Plaza

40 King Street West

(416) 594-9595