Ottawa is a city where finding genuinely good Thai food at a reasonable price requires more effort than it should, which makes Khao's arrival on Centretown's cheap eats map more significant than its modest footprint suggests. The kitchen applies Thai street food logic with enough authenticity that CapitalEats singled it out in their 2025 coverage of the city's best affordable eating.
The pad see ew has the right wok char — the slightly caramelized, slightly smoky edge that comes from cooking over actual heat rather than a domestic burner turned down to prevent burning. The larb has real herb, real acid, and a heat level that means something. Both dishes adjust to a specific spice request, and the kitchen respects the request rather than defaulting to a single house calibration.
In a city where the Thai options at this price point are often mediocre, Khao fills a gap with genuine quality.
