Kin Khao

Had lunch here before my flight home. It's located on the lobby level of the Parc 55 Hotel, and the setting was a lot more casual than I expected. The lunch menu is very limited, so we almost left. If you want variety, go at lunch. There were about 3 appetizers and less than 10 entree options. There was only one commonly found dish on the menu, and that was a shrimp pad thai. The other dishes were a bit more obscure.

We ordered the special green rabbit curry with thai sausage balls and eggplant, the shrimp pad thai and a side order of sticky rice. I took my mom here, and she is obsessed with spicy food (which is why Thai is her favorite). When we asked how spicy things were, we were told that nothing was really spicy. We asked for dishes to be made spicy or for some thai chilis on the side. Their answer was that they can't modify any of the dishes, and the only spicy condiment they had was the Thai version of sriracha. That's the main reason why we almost left.

I'm glad we decided to stay. Yes, nothing was really spicy which is like Thai food blasphemy. However, the flavors of everything were spot on, rich and delicious. The curry had a small kick to it. There was ample rabbit meat, a couple of nice snappy Thai sausage balls (which I thought and wish were crispy rice balls), and a few thai eggplant. The dish was garnished with Thai basil, and the sauce was perfect for dipping with some sticky rice balled up between my fingers.

The pad thai was smoky, intensely sweet and sour and not greasy or mushy at all. The noodles were very al dente, and they were topped with 2 large head-on & shell-on prawns. The flavor was so good that I kind of forgave the fact that it was basically all noodles and only 2 shrimp.

I forget the name of the cocktail I ordered, but it was sweet, sour, and really refreshing.

I had high hopes before I got there, low expectations once I was told that nothing was not could be made spicy & left there feeling satisfied and happy that they met my initial expectations. Would definitely return but likely during dinner so that I have more options.

Food: The food here is very spiced. I love the mushroom hor mok and pork belly, but other than that, most food items are too spiced for my sensitive palette.
Service: Friendly service, but it's always so crowded that service tends to be slow.
Ambiance: Located in a run down mall - wish it was in a better area!

We had a few dishes from the a la carte menu and it was this caramelized pork belly that stole the show. Juicy, succulent and almost certainly the best pork belly I have ever eaten. The rest of the dishes were fine, but not exceptional.

Here's what we tried:

Khao Kan Jin: pork, rice and blood sausage steamed in banana leaf with garlic chips, raw & crispy shallots cilantro lime

- Khao Yum (V): Southern Thai turmeric rice salad with seasonal vegetables, sour fruits, herbs. crispy shallots toasted coconut puffed rice tamarind black sesame dressing

- Yaowaraj Noodle stir fried noodle with chicken, egg, green onion, cilantro and XO sauce

Stir fry baby bok choy with light soy and garlic

- Stir-fried Brussel Sprouts.

Coffee Panna Cotta with taro, coffee syrup, espresso sea salt and toasted coconut flakes.

Service was like in a hurry, so it felt kinda rushed. The dishes and level of spice could not be altered, which made it a bit difficult with dietary restrictions. The tiny bar is connected to the front of the restaurant, and when it's packed (as in Harry Styles-packed), it starts to feel tight all around. The restaurant does not have an in-house bathroom, instead making patrons walk into the lobby of the hotel next door. For a Michelin-starred spot in SF, the total bill of $179.65 for four people was very reasonable. If I returned it would only be for the pre-fixe, hoping to experience a better sample of their kitchen in a more relaxed environment.

NOT WORTH THE HYPE (or the Michellin Star)!

First, we had a reservation yet were made to wait for 5-10 minutes outside. Granted, we came in 5 minutes late (I had informed them and that's within the table holding policy).

We were seated, it took the staff AGES to come get our order. We have never seen such slow service. Our server said that three of the top dishes on our list- the wings, the prawn and the pork pad ke mao - were already out. Mind you - our reservation was at 7:30PM. I had confirmed my reservation. It was not a walk in and I had reserved like a month back. You'd think a Michellin restaurant would be better at planning to make sure there was enough food for guests paying hundreds of dollars. Absolutely pathetic.

The food, on top of this, was nothing great. The wild boar was spicy and nothing much. The cocktails were good though.

Really simple, casual atmosphere.

Overall- please skip!

Heard a lot of great things and saw they had 1 star so had to check it out while in town. Not too busy on a weekday for early lunch. I went with the curry mouse and crackers and poached chicken with rice and chicken broth. I really enjoyed the curry and crackers. It had a nice kick and then sweetness from the coconut. Great starter to share. I blown away by the chicken and the secret sauce. My god I could just eat a bowl of that sauce. The chicken was super flavorful and juicy. The rice was cooked perfectly and great at well. All of it in one bite was just delightful. The chicken broth was a perfect palette cleanser. It was honestly a simple dish, but executed to perfection. I literally licked my plate clean. I would definitely come back for this dish and then some. The service was great and attentive. Definitely should be on your hit list!

Stopped by for a weekday lunch with a friend. We had reservations, but it seemed like at the time we got there (just before 12pm) there were still a handful of tables open. It did fill up over the subsequent hour, so probably best to plan ahead still.

The lunch menu looked lovely, it was so hard for us to pick just two things to order! We also saw that the drink selection was so expansive and creative (cocktails seemed delicious but alas we did not try any this time). Ultimately we went with the khao soi and pad kee mao.

Khao soi was great! The broth was very fragrant and decently spicy, and I liked how chewy the egg noodles were (very al dente). The chicken was cooked very well - quite tender and flavourful - and overall portion size was quite reasonable.

Pad kee mao was also fantastic. I think this was somewhat spicier than the khao soi, but not by much. The noodles were very yummy, not too oily or salty, and I loved how the overall flavour profile fit together (savoury ground pork, onions, basil, etc.)

Price was fair - I think higher than I expected but, I think, given the quality overall, worth the occasional splurge. I'd love to come again to try some of their other mains (and ofc their drinks, too!)

Kin Khao is a spot that I've been wanting to visit for so long, and it is so deserving of its Michelin star. My friend and I came on a Monday evening for dinner, and though it wasn't crowded, there was definitely still a decent amount of people.

We ordered a bunch of their smaller stuff. Probably wayyy too much food for the two of us but I'm also very grateful we could try so many things. We got the Pretty Hot Wings, the Namprik Long Rua, the Plah Pla Muek, Khao Kan Jin, Saeng Wa, and the Pad Kee Mao.

The standouts for me were:
1. Plah Pla Muek - This had so much great flavor and love the sourness of this dish.
2. The Khao Kan Jin - our server recommended this one and I really liked it. The blood sausage adds a nice umami touch.
3. The Saeng Wa: Love all the textures in this dish and a great medley of flavors.

The Pretty Hot Wings were also good but fairly spicy if you don't take off the Thai chilis, and the Namprik is a very traditional Thai dish that requires a little bit of assembling. The Pad Kee Mao was tasty but not the best I've ever had.

The service was so great throughout our meal, and food came out fairly quickly :')

Came here with a reservation for 5:45pm booked the day of for three people. Be careful since there's a charge for no shows! Nice moody seating and lots of option

Ordered 6 dishes for 3 ppl (not including dessert duh) and was stuffed! Best items were the carmelized pork belly, krispy mushroom appetizer (unique) and the panna cotta.

I would say the squid dish was quite salty and had to be paired with sticky rice to eat. But still charbroiled and tasty! I kind of wish there were some more classic noodle dishes. There was only a pad kee mao:'))

Bill came out to ~$300 for three people. Including drinks, desserts, tip, tax and whole nine yards!

Would come again for a fancy dinner. Definitely pricey but solid.

No pun tended, but I have a beef with this place.

It seems like the service staff are very attentive, but they have rested on their laurels to an extent.

The first trip to this restaurant was in 2019 and I enjoyed it very much. I don't generally revisit restaurants again but since I forgotten about this, I made a recent visit this year in 2024.

Overall, this place is Mid at best. I can't even begin to tell you how disappointed I was on my second experience.

We asked the waitress for some advice, but she had trouble communicating with us, so we were left to our own choices.

Every single dish we tried was disappointing for a Michelin star restaurant. Now if this was P.F. Chang's, I would've been very satisfied.

At one point during the dinner, I actually looked on the Internet to see if they had retained their Michelin star and was surprised to learn that they had, based on the experience I was having.

I don't mean to talk down or discourage others from visiting this place, it's just that the meal was not worth the $300 price tag.

The presentation of the food was beautiful as was the dimly lit ambience, but I'm afraid that was really the only positive experience about it.

Lovely Thai restaurant near Union Square!

It was a little hard to find the restaurant initially (since it's located inside the hotel) but once we got there we had a great time. The restaurant is quite cozy with plenty of seating. We made a reservation and were seated right away.

The first thing that was a little disappointing though was that I felt the menu was a little restricting. The menu is rather small and a lot of the dishes were either vegetarian or pork/beef. However, I ended up ordering the Pad Kee Mao with tofu and was pleasantly surprised. I'm usually not the biggest fan of tofu but I NEED TO KNOW HOW THEY COOKED THE TOFU. Note that the dish was also nicely spicy! (Everything is also a little pricey considering the portion size - but fair given the Michelin recognition naturally increases prices).

The service was great though and the staff was very proactive!

We were seated promptly .. but the table for two was sooo tiny we could barely keep the appetizers and mains together.. It wasn't that crowded, so would have appreciated a swap to a more comfortable seat. Tried the mushroom mousse .. loved the umami and texture of the mushroom itself, but could feel the punch of uncooked turmeric through the curry. (6/10)
Also ordered the chicken wings- sour, sticky , tangy and spicy . The waitress gave us warm wet towels to clean up afterward. (6/10)
Then had the rice noodle with duck and five spice broth (8/10) .. this was the star of the show for me. Try it it's on the menu- hearty broth and crispy skinned duck with fall off the bone meat. Also the iced Thai coffee was sublime .