Kin khao - outstanding (and has v good vegan options)

reopened a few months ago at parc 555 hotel, after the pandemic interlude in the dogpatch.

food remains outstanding, and imo, along with nari, the best Thai food i’ve had in california - some distance beyond the socal stalwarts.

notably, i recently tried the entire set of vegan options:


everything except the brussel sprouts was very good, even when compared against their non-vegan versions.

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For years we had good/decent Thai places in the cities we lived, e.g. San Diego, Boston but for really good Thai we tended to look forward to visits of Lotus of Siam in Las Vegas. Obviously with Covid that became more difficult. Now living in the Bay area really also gave us hope to have easier access to high quality Asian places, including Thai.
Kin Khao https://www.kinkhao.com/ really stands out for Thai restaurants - the only one in the US with a Michelin star - even though those stars have to be taken with a grain of salt for non-western places. But our first visit to Kin Khao really didn’t disappoint and it clearly showed why it stands out to any other Thai place - not your standard Thai dishes, no pick your sauce, pick your protein approach, no choice of heat level - just outstanding Thai food.


Mushroom hor mok - curry mousse in a jar with mushrooms, coconut cream, crispy rice cakes


Khao yum - Southern style turmeric rice salad, seasonal vegetables, sour fruits, herbs, crispy shallots, coconut + puffed rice, tamarind + black sesame dressing


Yaowaraj noodles - Bangkok chinatown stir-fried noodles, hodo soy tofu, green onions, cilantro, shiitake XO


Massaman nuea - braised beef cheeks in massaman curry, coconut milk, burnt + crispy shallots, potatoes


Stir-fried baby bok choy with garlic and light soy


Caramelized pork belly - sweet, savory, voluptuous pork belly cooked in a cast iron


Black rice pudding with banana, salty coconut cream, crispy rice, peanut, sesame praline


Coffee panna cotta, taro, coffee syrup, cream, espresso sea salt, toasted coconut flakes

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nari has one too

I didn’t realize that they also got one - did this happen this year ?

indeed they did! (nari 1* this year)

the pork belly is undeniably good - i really wanted to not like it the first time i had it, because its sort of cheat code to make sweet pork belly, but they manage to get the fat to a wondrous texture - it’s not just soft, it also feels … light! (at least to me)
the black rice pudding is also suprisingly good. sort of a must order…!

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got one star in july