tropical island

cast off for tropical island! searched for delicious, flavorful thai food at a great price...and found it! : ). my mother and i were in victoria for a doctor's appointment and she had received some slightly troubling news, so we were in the mood for some good food before the long drive back to nanaimo to cheer us up.

we stopped at a starbucks to have a coffee and do a search on good ol' urbanspoon to see if we couldn't find a restaurant that had delicious food at a price that would match the occasion : not a birthday or day for celebration, but a casual day needing a bit of pepping up.

we looked at american/burger restaurants, mediterranean, italian, mexican, japanese, pub, deli, but nothing caught our eye. but, then we thought about thai and how usually the portions are generous, the food spicy, and the price agreeable. we looked for the best thai restaurant in saanich and tropicalislandjumped out at us with it's awesome score of 89%! (well deserved i might add ; )

and urbanspoon does not lead us astray yet again. tropicalislandis everything a person could want/expect from a small, family restaurant focusing on big taste!
the decor is simple, but appealing with the uber casual booth-style seating ever available (my favorite kind of seating).

the restaurant wasn't super busy the night we visited, but there was a good number of patrons and everyone seemed to be really enjoying the food.

and so let's talk food! as i mentioned it was dee-lish!
we had the :
yu heung seafood and vegetables (plenty of seafood featuring a lot of spicy shrimp), phad thai w/ chicken (generous portions, deliciously spicy), and a thai red curry (not too spicy, but definitely left a nice zing on the tongue).
my mother and i surprised ourselves with how we couldn't stop eating, despite the fact it was a lot of food. we just kept chatting and eating away happily and before we knew it, the three generous helpings of food were gone. 0_0
that was ok though. we were both completely full and completely satisfied.

it's a special thing to find a new restaurant when you are hungry and looking for a place to pick up your spirits : and you find it. it just really puts a nice cap on one's day.

besides the great food, the servers were two very polite, very friendly young ladies. the chef and owner pius is a really friendly guy who was happy to speak with me. he's got a nice warm smile and it looks like he takes real pride in making delicious food for his customers. he gave me a hint for the next time i come in which i am going to pass onto my fellow urbanspoon users.

tip : 1. ask for the ribs. according to chef/owner pius they are excellent.
2. if you know you are coming in and want something unique, call in advance and ask for the "baked yellow curry" or "portugese curry" dish. it's something unique pius created by fusing thai and portugese inspirations. i'm looking forward to trying it in the near future. yums!!!

to conclude, the plates are really nice. i like that particular style. nice presentation and holds a lot of grub. ^_^
so, if you're hungry and don't need fancy decor, but instead want delicious food and friendly service : look no further! cast off for tropical island!

p.s : the nifty car parked outside of the restaurant is a toyota prius c. according to pius, this cool little car can go 700 km on $30 of gas. our little beast of a ranger gets 400 km on $80 of gas. needless to say, i'm thinking hybrid for the next vehicle...

great food and great service!. i've been to tropicalislandmany times, and every time the service and food have been great! very fast, always tasty, and friendly staff. the tropical beef is amazing, as is the deep fried coconut milk for desert. highly recommend!

food court quality chinese food at twice the price!!!. about two weeks ago, my friends and i had a hankering for food. without a car, we were in the market for delivery, and the generally positive reviews for tropicalislandconvinced us that it was a safe bet. unfortunately, review aggregates can be fickle beasts. maybe the dine-in service is better, though i can't really say.

our order was quite simple - a menu sampler for 4 and a vegetarian sampler for 2. the employee who took our order appeared to have some trouble with english, which manifested in two ways: the order took a painfully long time to place, and was, in the end, wrong. we ended up about an hour later (longer than the advertised delivery wait) with a vegetarian sampler for 4 and a menu sampler for 2, and the meat eaters among us were quite put out. after half-heartedly accepting our incorrect order at the door because we were really hungry after waiting for so long, we proceeded to eat our food. even if the meat were identifiable (we thought it was chicken or pork, but i just looked it up and it was "tropical beef"), the meal would not have been enjoyable because the food ranged in temperature from lukewarm to cold (and my friend had no microwave). the dishes were oversalted and comparable to food court chinese food in terms of quality, but were extremely overpriced. no plum sauce was included with our meal, which was especially devastating.

this was genuinely the worst chinese food experience i have ever had. the only thing that would have completed it would have been me contracting a bad case of food poisoning as a result. it would have been more worthwhile to take a ferry to vancouver, eat chinese food at the tsawassen ferry terminal, and then take the ferry back to victoria (etc., etc.). never again, tropical island, never again!

don't get the hype!. my family and i finally made it out to the tropicalislandfor dinner after hearing about it here and there. the service was awful. they said it was because the server was busy. there was three other tables of patrons and us.i'd hate to see what the service was like when it was full. the food was so-so too. i can think of many other restaurants i would rather visit than this one. we won't be going back!

friendly, delicious, reasonable. we have been regular customers at tropicalislandsince it opened. consistency is key. without fail, friendly service, pleasant atmosphere & wonderful food at reasonable prices. what more could anyone ask for? tropicalislandis distinctive for its malaysian-style cuisine (think chinese with a polynesian twist). memorable dishes: the spicy basil ribs (or for vegetarian- leaning diners: spicy basil tofu), tropical beef, eggplant in chili shrimp sauce, thai-style pineapple fried rice. each dish is individually prepared so expect to enjoy a delicious meal at a relaxed pace. added bonus: spacious, immaculate, tastefully decorated washrooms!

you need to try this place. tropicalislandisn't one of restaurants that come to mind when i pick my favorites, but it should be! i forget about it because it's not an area i frequent often. the presentation of the food is great and everything i've ever had from there has been so good. try the thai style pineapple fried rice.

good food. i have been going to tropicalislandever since they open this restaurant. the food taste great and services are great too. if you are the type of person who want fast service, perhaps tropicalislandis not the place for you. i have to admit they are a bit slow due to low number of waiters/ waitresses. if you decide to try it out, i like their
- coconut rice
- eggplant in chili garlic shrimp sauce
- troipcal tofu
- deep fried milk/ banana is good too if you have not trry it (but they are a bit pricey)
- coconut shake is quite good too

nice surprise in our neighborhood. awesome food and well prepared dishes that are hard to find in another asian restaurants. the flavour and variety took us on tropicalisland- at least for a moment. knowledgeable staff happily helped us to choose from menu that was shared. dinner for three with appy and desserts was for $67.98 tax included. there is lots of to explore on this tropicalislandso we'll be back.

a nice surprise!. tropicalislandmay not look like much from the outside, but don't let that deter you from checking it out! the inside was a nice surprise, it is all brand new and pretty nice.

the service was quick and very friendly and the food certainly exceeded my expectations. the lunch deal is great value - $7.95 gets you a soup, spring roll and choice of entree. i tried the chicken satay with fried rice and my friend got the chicken green curry with rice. both were delicious. there are a lot of things on the menu i can't wait to try, so i will definitely be back for more.