LHAO

What is LHAO? Occupying the former Ronin Izakaya space at 39 Baldwin Street, LHAO is an intimate Thai-Chinese dining room backed by Patrick Suksaen (the restaurateur behind Koh Lipe) and led by veteran chefs Roj and Jojo. The kitchen zeroes in on the wok-fired culinary heritage of Bangkok’s Chinatown, Yaowarat, delivering a cross-cultural dining style rarely showcased in Toronto. Inside, compact tables and ambient lighting create a buzzing, unfussy neighborhood dining room, complemented by a breezy front patio for warm-weather street watching.

LHAO Menu & What to Order The menu centers on a generations-old family recipe for roasted duck, carved with crisp skin and tender meat served alongside a deeply savory, spiced sauce. Other wok-tossed standouts include the crispy oyster omelette, deep-fried whole sea bass, shrimp and pork tofu skin rolls, and tender morning glory laced with garlic and chilies. To drink, pair the rich plates with house Thai iced tea, strong Thai iced coffee, or a specialty cocktail, followed by silky brown sugar tofu pudding for dessert.

Know Before You Go Baldwin Village’s dining stretch packs out quickly on evenings and weekends, so snagging a table during peak dinner hours often means a short wait for walk-ins. The restaurant is a brief stroll from Queen’s Park and St. Patrick subway stations, though street parking on surrounding side streets is notoriously tight. Operating daily from midday through late evening, it serves lunch straight through dinner without an afternoon break.