Sun’s Kitchen is a small food court booth on the second floor of Pacific Mall and specializes in hand pulled noodles. The chef pulls each bowl to order and the loud banging of dough attracts many spectators. When I first started my search for hand pulled noodles in Toronto, Sun’s Kitchen was one of the only results. Many Chinese restaurants had them on their menu, but few were specialized noodle shops. I had high hopes of Sun’s Kitchen.

Being a food court, there were no service elements. Pictures of menu items were displayed around the booth making it easy to order. Once you placed your order, your receipt is returned with an order number and you wait for it be called. Self serve hot sauce, chilli oil and soy sauce is provided with a stack of take-out cups. For my fresh bowl of noodles, it was about a 5 minute wait. Seating is available and I’ve never seen all of the seats taken during any of my visits.

I ordered the classic, spicy Dan Dan Mian. We’ll start with the highlights. The noodles were a good price at $6 and the soup was amazing. Strong, rich peanut flavour, opaque and creamy. I also liked the texture and chewiness of the noodles. As for the lowlights, toppings were minimal, just chopped green onion and a handful of peanuts. I’m not sure if I visited on an off day but the width of the noodles was also inconsistent. I watched the chef pull them and noticed a few strands broke with each pull. This resulted in varying thickness of noodles that was very obvious. Based on other pictures online, this shouldn’t have been an issue.

As is, if I needed lunch at Pacific Mall, Sun’s Kitchen would be top choice. If I was craving hand-pulled noodles, I might go elsewhere.

Whenever work brings me downtown during the day, I take the opportunity to eat out for lunch. Downtown Toronto is full of great, low-priced lunch options scattered in basement food courts. Kaiju resides in one such food court, underneath a giant Bed Bath & Beyond, the small food court only has occupants for half the space and the seats still look newly installed.

Kaiju was a little hard to find. I got lost and was worried my lunch hour would have to be cut short. A few panicked texts to The Fiance set me back on the right track. Despite the non-descript location, Kaiju had a steady stream of customers while I enjoyed my lunch tray.

Being a food court, service was minimal. The booth was clean and the menu was displayed overhead. I placed my order, credit cards were accepted and was directed to take a seat. I sat near the counter so when my meal was ready, I picked it up myself. For customers that sat farther away, the lady working the counter walked the trays to them, a nice touch.

Kaiju’s menu was straight forward and included a few fusion dishes. I was there for the curry. With each curry order, you basically choose your protein, and it’s served with rice and a salad. I ordered the Chicken Katsu Curry, which came with a scoop of coleslaw. The chicken was beaten thin, lightly battered and very crispy. I did find the meat a little stringy, because of how flattened it was. Kaiju’s curry is homemade and slow cooked for 2 days. The rich, gravy like sauce was delectable. Smooth, thick and the definition of comfort. I would have liked a little more heat, but it was still amazing. There is the option of ordering just rice and curry sauce, so so tempting.