March 21st 2026,
A pint of Singha & a Mojito
A restaurant that has stood the test of time, is very hard to come by nowadays. Whether it was 2008, Covid, or other factors in our tumultuous twenty-first century, many close their doors as quickly as they open. A hiss and a roar of life, and then the novelty of the new place wears off, competition, rising prices, and so on, make the restaurant business around the world a brutal one. So what if I told you that PinToh by Chef Keng has stood the test of time for years, and that 21 John Street N has been home to Thai flavors since 2001.
The Hamilton Spectator’s 2025 Readers’ Choice Diamond Winner for best Thai restaurant has twenty-five years of legacy. The name we are familiar with, PinToh, actually opened its doors back in 2016 in our next-door neighbors, Burlington, during the cataclysmic challenges Canada’s hospitality industry endured during Covid, the beloved Burlington restaurant had to move, and the opportunity arose open their doors where Hamilton’s original favourite Thai restaurant stood.
This restaurant is far from new to the Downtown Hamilton BIA team, we all love it, we’ve all been on multiple occasions. It’s only fair we celebrate it and share with the rest of you how #HamiltonEats
What we tried
Although this certainly isn’t our first rodeo, we still have plenty of menu options to try, this time around we went for the Keng’s Nuts! Although there is a small chili next to the dish on the menu, only those who really struggle with even the smallest amount of spice should be deterred, everyone else should keep this in mind when coming to PinToh, no, they should add it to their bucket lists, that’s how good it is! The chicken brilliant, and near indescribable to anything else, but we’ll give it our best go. It’s that perfect balance between sweet and savoury, two birds with one stone, combined with the vegetables and rice makes for a hearty dish that will nourish your soul, and, possibly more importantly, your stomach!
Keng’s Nuts 
Thai Iced Tea 
Pad Si Ew
In addition to the delicious Keng’s Nuts, one of our colleagues had the larger dinner portion of the Pad Si Ew. A superb flat noodle dish that absolutely blew everyone away. The sauce is incredibly unique and has a subtle smokiness and beautiful savoury flavour that is certainly different to the possibly more famous noodle dish Pad Thai (although, we can confirm, PinToh by Chef Keng’s Pad Thai is equally a dish worth coming for).
For some drinks we enjoyed a Thai Iced Coffee & Thai Iced Tea, both of which were incredibly good and both prepared in-house. Looking for something alcoholic? Their Mojito was excellent, and a pint of Singha, you just can’t go wrong with.
So, what do we think?
I’m sure you can gather from what we have shared that this place is truly worth experiencing, and, fortunately, it has already had its doors open for many years, so you don’t have to worry about it disappearing after your first visit! They’re a staple for the BIA team, and should be for you too!
So next time you find yourself on John Street, pop into PinToh by Chef Keng for a spot of lunch!
📍 21 John Street N.
🌐 https://pintoh.ca/
📱 Tag them on Instagram: @pintohcuisine
For requests to feature in our next blog post, please email Joseph at joseph@downtownhamilton.org.