Som Tum Jinda : The Michelin-Recognized Thai Restaurant on Gerrard Street

Som Tum Jinda is a Michelin-recognized Isan Thai restaurant on Gerrard Street in Toronto, opened in 2023 by chef-owner Patrick SukSaen. Named after his grandmother Jinda and her original papaya salad recipe, it’s become one of the best Thai restaurants in Toronto for authentic northeastern Thai cuisine.
There’s a basement restaurant on Gerrard Street in Toronto that has no business being as good as it is. No flashy signage, no sleek interior, just a set of stairs leading down to a small, colourful room with 40 seats, an open kitchen, and some of the most exciting Thai food in the country. This is Som Tum Jinda, and it carries a Michelin recognition to prove it.

The Story Behind the Name

The name tells you everything you need to know. “Som tum” is Thai for papaya salad — the cornerstone of Isan cuisine, the bold and fiery cooking tradition from Thailand’s northeastern region, where Thai and Laotian flavours meet. “Jinda” is the name of Patrick’s grandmother — the woman who created the original recipe that would eventually travel from a family kitchen in Thailand to a basement on Gerrard Street in Toronto, three generations later.

Patrick SukSaen opened Som Tum Jinda in 2023, but his story in Canada starts much earlier. He arrived in 2008 as an engineer. The corporate path didn’t stick. What stuck was the thing he’d grown up with — southern Thai cooking, family recipes, and the knowledge that authentic Thai regional cuisine was wildly underrepresented abroad. Most people knew pad thai. Patrick wanted them to know everything else.

Patrick SukSaen’s Thai Restaurant Empire in Toronto

Today, Patrick owns around 20 Thai restaurants across Toronto. Each one represents a different region of Thailand — northern, southern, northeastern — and many of them sit just minutes apart from each other. His portfolio includes Koh Lipe, another Michelin-recognized Thai restaurant in Toronto; Le Lert, a vibrant Thai fusion restaurant known for its creative cocktails and striking interior; Same Same on King West, co-owned with Jesse Warfield, with its rooftop patio and regional dishes; and Jatujak, a popular casual Thai street food spot with multiple locations.

It’s an extraordinary portfolio, and Som Tum Jinda is the heart of it — the one that carries his grandmother’s name.

Inside the Gerrard Street Location

Walking into the Som Tum Jinda Gerrard Street location, the first thing you notice is the open kitchen. Papaya being shredded by hand, mortar and pestle working overtime, the smell of fermented fish paste and chili hitting you before you’ve even sat down. The space is modest — Patrick designed it himself — but the energy is unmistakable. There’s nothing pretentious about it. People come here because the food is real, and they feel it immediately.

What to Order at Som Tum Jinda

The menu is rooted in Isan tradition, and the standout is exactly what the restaurant is named for. The som tum here is made Isan-style with fermented fish paste for that deep, funky tang that defines the cuisine.

The dish that stops people in their tracks is the Tom Puu Nam Pla — a salted crab papaya salad with garlic, chili, and tomato that’s become Som Tum Jinda’s signature dish. You can choose your heat level, but fair warning: the scale here doesn’t stop where you’d expect.

Kor Moo Yang, grilled pork jowl that’s impossibly succulent, is the other must-order — it’s become one of the biggest sellers for good reason.

The original Gerrard Street location doesn’t serve alcohol, but a neighbouring café supplies a wide selection of drinks. The second, larger location offers Thai-inspired cocktails crafted with traditional ingredients.

Two Locations in Toronto

Som Tum Jinda now has two locations in Toronto. The original on Gerrard Street seats 40 in a cozy basement with that unmistakable down-to-earth charm. The second location, opened after the Michelin recognition, sits in a mall setting with over 100 seats, a cleaner design, and a more polished dining experience.

Both are worth visiting. But if you want to understand what Som Tum Jinda is really about — the energy, the authenticity, the feeling of being let into something personal — Gerrard Street is where you go.

Why We Go

This is a restaurant built on a grandmother’s recipe, run by a man who left engineering to bet everything on the depth of Thai regional cuisine. Three generations of flavour, a Michelin stamp, and a basement on Gerrard Street that’s become one of the most important Thai restaurants in Toronto.

Written by Fabie Lubin
Photography by Elise Tastet

Updated on May 11, 2026

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