Hello everyone, here is another food restaurant review and this time my significant other and I decided to check out Kin Kao Thai Kitchen right at the corner of Venables and Commercial Drive on Oct 12, 2019. We stepped into the restaurant around 1:15 PM and we were greeted right away from a hostess and we were able to be seated at a table right away. As we sat down at our tables, we were given a set of menus and two glasses of ice water.
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The word “Kin Kao” is a Thai greeting meaning “have you eaten yet?” Many Asian cultures have this as a way of greeting due to past unabundance times. Kin Kao opened in February 2018. Many food critics say they are an authentic Thai restaurant lacking culture. While that is somewhat true, I believe that was a business decision based on surrounding demography. Kin Kao Thai Kitchen is located on Commercial Drive near Venables Street, Vancouver.
I can’t remember how I first heard about Kin Kao Thai Kitchen but it made it onto my list of places to try. We dropped in on an early Wednesday evening. No problem getting a table. The inside is hip and modern but still has a laid back, East Van vibe to it. Interesting that the front staff is all Caucasians but the kitchen staff/cooks are Thai.
Kin Kao Thai Kitchen is located on Commercial Drive. It’s been a very popular spot since it opened for authentic Thai cuisine. My friends and I were craving Thai Iced Tea, so we decided to meet up and have lunch here on the weekend. We went around 1pm and it wasn’t too busy. I had to take my Thai friend as she could tell me how ‘Authentic’ it is to food in Thailand.
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Went there for dinner and found it to be a slightly more than average dining experience. The environment was quaint and clean. However where we sat we had this overwhelming odor of vinegar from the kitchen which was in my sight. I did not appreciate how the girl who was prepping the food had long hair and it wasn't tied back. Though after I mentioned it they said they wear hats for hair hygien reasons this woman's hair was not fully contained and free flowing. The service was good; nothing extroadinarily standing out from other restaurants I have eaten out.
We ordered the pork ribs appy, the pad thai, clam stir fry with thai basil, eggplant stir fry with thai basil and two jasmine rice bowls. The pprk robs appy was really good. I found I didn't need to dip them on the sauce as they had enough flavour as is.with regards to the pad thai I've had better at other places and found this flavour was far too smokey for my taste. The clam stir fry was not noteworthy either. It was quite bland, although I did appreciate how many clams we received. The eggplant stir fry was thw only dish thay really stood out. It had great flavour leaving me wanting more. Overall it was an average dining experience.
Great food and a clean place in the neighbourhood.. the menu is varied and good is great .. the service is also good with a limited options of local beers . Over all experience is great.
Went there for lunch and spent roughly $40 for 2 ppl, had 2 main dishes and the chicken wings. Liked the pad Thai the most, red curry with rice was a bit too sweet but overall it was a really good experience.
Absolutely loved this place. I ordered the chicken green curry and it was exactly what I was looking for, tasty comfort in a bowl! Definitely recommending this new gem to everyone.
Kin Kao Thai Kitchen Vancouver is located on 903 Commercial Drive (right before Venables). Their menu is concise and focuses on authentic modern Thai food made with fresh local ingredients. If you are also a fan of local craft beer, Kin Kao has half a dozen on rotation between Brassneck, Dageraad, Field House, Four Winds, Powell Street, Strange Fellows, Townsite, Sunday Cider and more!
I’ve always heard about Kin Kao and its papaya salad, and finally Grape and I made our way to Commercial Drive last week to try it out. Right off the bat, it was clear that Kin Kao would take a more modern take on thai cuisine; I felt like I walked into an IKEA display room. With many of the dishes, it’s possible to adjust the spice level. I like to go all out on spice, but Grape’s tolerance is a bit lower than mine so we decided to go with mild spice for the Papaya Salad ($8.5).
Finally got to try this place after its long closing over the holidays. Located all the way down near the end of The Drive, you will have easily missed seeing this place with its minimalistic design and large plain windows with ‘KinKao’ written in white text deco. The place was super packed when we arrived near closing time.
The curry sauce was made with coconut milk, garlic, chili, ginger, Thai eggplant, bamboo shoots, mint leaves, fish sauce, and Thai basil. Compared to most Thai restaurants there was more meat in the curry and the pieces of chicken were large and nice. The curry had a really fragrant and spicy flavour, which I liked
The restaurant was smaller than I expected but seats about 30 people. The menus are presented on a wooden clipboard and I like the wood theme they have going on for the tables and chairs. Very minimalistic. We sat by the windows so it was nice and bright too. . We were served some sort of vegetable soup with bok choy, tofu and garlic with each of our entrees. It was a simple and light way to start the meal.
Good Thai food! Portions are a bit on the small side but that is typical for most Thai food I believe. Prices are okay. Owner is very nice and food tastes authentic and fresh.
Space is beautiful and cosy. There aren't a lot of seats, so get there early (before 630). Food was decent. Nothing spectacular but things were generally flavourful. ORDER: papaya salad (ordered low mild because it is quite spicy to begin with). Pork collar (appetizer): extremely tender, great crunch. Green curry: flavours were not bad, but not amazing. I appreciate that they used chicken white meat but still kept it very moist. MEH: pad Thai. We order mild spicy and we got a sweet dish of noodles. I also wasn't a huge fan of the noodles used and found the dish to be over bland and disappointing.
Overall I enjoyed my experience but it would not be my go to for Thai food. I feel like the flavours were bold enough to create a lingering memory and craving for it in the future. The service was superb though as our waitress was very informative and attentive. Would I come back? Hmm maybe not for awhile...
I first heard about their opening through a interview they did with Scout Magazine found here. I happened to be eating when Terrence came in and checked how the food was. I absolutely admire their decor. It’s super simple and with the windows, there’s plenty of natural sunlight that pops in.
Vancouver Foodie Tours
+4.5
Kin Kao Thai Kitchen is the first place in Vancouver to pioneer a new niche market for Thai food in Vancouver: It’s home-style, street-style, Thai food…with a focus on local, fresh ingredients. A modern, West Coast dining room – stark white walls, sturdy wooden tables, only 25 seats. The menu is strikingly simple – starters at $8, mains between $11-$13, and just a pair of desserts to choose from. Regardless of the menu selection, what we were most struck by was the authentic tastes and fresh flavours of the food.
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Since Beavis works relatively close to where we were he was familiar with the area and mentioned a new Thai restaurant that recently opened up called Kin Kao which he frequents for lunch. A lot of people have been saying it’s the best Thai food in town which seems like a bold statement, so I wanted to go and taste it for myself. It’s a fairly small establishment with a very simple and elegant look, somewhat reminding me of the various breweries in the neighbourhood. Beavis and I had a seat at the bar where the staff immediately greeted us. Beavis later informed me that the guy who was serving us throughout the night was actually Terrence Feng, one of two co-owners of Kin Kao. He was very chatty and friendly, clearly passionate in his work and eager to please. The menu comes printed on a regular sheet of paper clipped to a clipboard which I found to be quirky, but I suppose it lets them change the menu very easily that way. They also have a number of local beers since they’re right in the thick of it, near a number of breweries.
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It's tiny - 25 seats. It's packed and there is a lineup and it's only 6 p.m. The food is typical delicious Thai street food and home cooking elevated in its artistic presentation.
Great Thai food is a combination of sweet, salty, bitter, sour and bitter. And chef hits all of them and more.
Our papaya salad was refreshing, light and packed with flavour.
The deep fried sour cured pork ribs were a knockout. Crispy delightful little morsels - that sell out quickly.
The spicy crispy pork belly with sticky rice, thinly sliced ready for that great dipping sauce.
The red curry with duck was immersed in a rich sauce, the lemongrass, hot peppers and coconut milk, making it velvety and rich.
Chicken Phat Thai - another hit.
And to end the perfect meal - a simple but delish dessert - mango sticky rice.
And to balance the meal we had Lemongrass iced tea and and a Thai iced tea.
There are a lot of great Thai restaurants in Vancouver and we have eaten at a lot of them, but this one beats them all. Go, you won't be disappointed.
Fantastic Thai restaurant- great staff and awesome food, wish I could have tried everything, will have to come back!
Its not often that we get to review Thai restaurants, so I was excited to see that a brand new Thai joint had opened up on Commercial Drive. After all, many of my personal favourite restaurants and cafes are located along Commercial and Victoria drive. Unlike many other Thai restaurants, Kin Kao’s menu is quite small. I actually prefer this type of more modern, concentrated menu to the old school ‘we serve everything’ versions. I always argue that very few restaurant’s actually manage to make many great tasting dishes outside of a few of their specialties. Quality over quantity always seems to work better. I also have to add that our server was really pleasant and friendly upon entering, and our entire visit felt really casual and comfortable. We decided to order the chicken satay appetizer, as well as the steak salad and the Panaeng curry chicken.
This restaurant just opened about a month ago and it has attracted a lot of diners already! The restaurant is designed beautifully with a lot of modern wooden finishes and clean lines. There is not much of a walking space inside the restaurant as it is quite compact with very limited seats as well. In terms of service, I thought it was exceptional. The staff were very friendly and did not hesitate to provide recommendations when asked. They were also very efficient, leading to a nice dining experience overall.
Gastrofork Dee De Los Santos
+5
Posted on April 8, 2015 by Dee — No Comments ↓ The other evening, I was finally able to check out Kin Kao. Super new in the food scene – (they recently just opened in February 2015) but making waves throughout the community. There were people touting the phrase ‘the best Thai in Vancouver’, which left me very intrigued because: 1) I love Thai food and 2) “The best”? Challenge accepted. The challenge wouldn’t be the same with my best friend and my “resident” Thai food expert, Nickie! So I’m glad she agreed to come along with me. We started off the with Papaya Salad ($8-made with green papaya, tomatoes, long beans in a spicy dressing made of Thai chilies, fresh lime juice, fish sauce, tamarind, garlic, palm sugar and peanuts). They ask you how hot you want every dish and feeling adventurous, I said, let’s go spicy. But our waitress warned us that ‘spicy’ was really spicy. We took her word for it and ordered medium. This is one issue I have with Thai places in general – everyone’s barometer for spicy is all over the map – sometimes ‘spicy’ is not spicy at all. HOWEVER, in this particular case at Kin Kao – spicy must be melt your face off spicy. Consider yourself warned. Our Papaya Salad was fresh, crisp and very delicious but pretty spicy for medium! Even Nickie, who can tolerate all types of freakish heats admitted that this was a spicy dish. Besides feeling like a fire-breathing dragon after downing this dish, I would say it is in fact, one of the best papaya salads I’ve had in the city. For our mains, we wanted to try everything because it all sounded delicious – but we resolved to come back again to try other dishes and settled on two. The Spicy Grilled Beef Red Grape Salad ($14- made with sliced sirloin strip steak, red grapes, lemongrass, mint, lime leaves, garlic, Thai chili, fish sauce and lime juice). This dish represents what I absolutely love about Thai food – its combination of spices and flavours that create this punchy but refreshing taste that I crave! T
In February, Kin Kao opened and justified that impatience. They experimented with their menu for the first few weeks. We were a bit apprehensive to go during this period, as my partner has celiac disease and is also vegan, which can be hard to work around. But, they were able to modify some dishes for him beautifully and now there are permanent selections on their menu that are great for vegans and gluten-free folks. We’ve been back more times than I care to admit, for lunch, dinner, and takeout and we’ve tried a number of dishes across their menus.
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