When we got wind of the fact that a restaurant in Ottawa’s south end may have received the blessings of the Thai embassy as authentic Thai cooking, we knew we had to visit.

We made it to Thai Lanna, located in a strip mall near Bank Street and Hunt Club Road, last week. We went with our friends Adele and Taylor and their adorable two-year-old. We walked in at dinnertime, a constant stream of diners making their way in and out of the small restaurant. Paintings adorned the yellow walls as a gregarious server greeted us with a pitcher of cold water. We waved goodbye to a group of women on their way out, excited to take home their leftovers. When I asked them how their food was, one of them said “excellent” while grinning from ear-to-ear.

This got us very excited for our food. We ordered an assortment of dishes with an agreement to share. Our friends ordered a vegetarian pad thai and red curry. We ordered the basil chili chicken prepared in its “street food version” and the legendary pad kee maw, also known as drunken noodles. We asked for our food to be medium spicy.

Our chattering table went silent and wide-eyed as our food arrived. I took a bite of the pad kee maw and immediately crooned with delight. My first bite contained those green chillies ubiquitous in Thai cooking. This was an instant sign that the food was legitimate. Even milder dishes contained a modicum of spice that’s needed to really make Thai flavours come alive. Crispy vegetables, fresh basil and tender eggplant made this dish an instant icon for me in Ottawa-Gatineau’s Thai food landscape.

Eat the Strip co-writer and my partner Danielle’s basil chili chicken was also excellent. Rice was included with all the dishes, and hers paired excellently with the minced chicken dish. The street food version of the dish came with lots of garlic, Thai chillies, sweet basil and a crispy friend egg to boot. Yum.

Our friend’s red curry also receives an honourable mention. The rich coconut sauce, crispy vegetables and tofu were served with a small pile of rice, which looked like a small mountain surrounded by a lake of red, creamy lava. The dish had a nice gingery aftertaste and the rich coconut flavour made each bite incredibly satisfying.

With each dish costing between $20 and $25, we were hoping for some leftovers. This was exactly what happened. While packing up our food I asked our server, originally from northern Thailand, if the rumors we heard about the restaurant receiving a thumbs up on the authenticity front from the Thai embassy were true. While we didn’t see a certificate, nor did we corroborate with the embassy before publishing this piece, she nodded to confirm that the rumors were indeed true.

We, too, left clutching our takeout bags, grinning ear-to-ear.