Kin Khao

Me: I’ll have the Lady Boy Collins cocktail please.
Her: Excellent choice.
Me: Does it come with a side of balls?
Her: Excuse me?!
Me: It’s loud in here. I said, «cute overalls!»
The Kathoey Collins (or Lady Boy Collins) was fun and delicious. It had an eye pleasing lilac hue which was the only reason why I ordered it. Good thing the combination of Idaho G vodka, chareau liquer, lime and blue flowers worked together. On the other hand, the Artist’s Reward with mezcal, maraschino and grapefruit is more up my alley.
We covered the food section extensively well since there were 6 ravenous Unilocalers who came together on this meal. If you try pronouncing the names in Thai, it becomes a silly tongue twister game! Sai ua + namprik noom (grilled house made pork sausage paired nicely with crunchy cracklings), kua kling ribs (turmeric curry seasoned pork ribs; beware of the huge chili!) plah pla muek (charred squid in a spicy/​tangy seafood sauce), yao waraj noodle and laab tod. I know pork belly is a dish that every single chef has cooked and presented on their menus a zillion times, but here’s a voluptous pork belly that’s caramelized perfectly and offsets the spiciness of all of Kin Khao’s dishes. Even if you hate pork, you should order this dish just as a palate cleanser! And for a sweet, calming ending, the black rice pudding is to die for. Down to earth, casual, simple. Just like the girl next door.
Admittedly, the items I enjoyed the most were the cocktails (a given) and dessert (surprise!) this was probably due to the fact that I’m a wuss when it comes to anything spicy. Plus, after sampling a couple of these dishes, not only was I sweating my balls off (if I had balls), my taste buds were pretty much shot and nothing else can bring me back except for the pork belly to cleanse my palate ;)
Kin Khao is best explored with an excited, open mind. Its non traditional take on Thai food is what draws the crowds in, so make a reservation. You may need to lean forward and yell across the table to get yourself heard, but prepare yourself for a VERY, VERY spicy roller-​coaster ride.

Second time eating here– loved it both times. Fun drinks, friendly staff and a good ambiance. Bit pricy but given the location it’s worth it!
Try the Panang if you’re into spice, Massaman if you prefer mild. The curry mousse is weird, but worth a try.

Green curry with rabbit is pretty delicious. It’s a little spicy, but paired with the brown jasmine rice it’s just right.
Like most others say, the Pork Belly is amazing! So tender and moist I was able to cut through it with chopsticks.
Also had the Bok Choy which was so good!
It’s on the pricier side, but it’s worth it for a nice date if your visiting the city.
Good ambience and their music playlist, 90s r&b, was on point.

Phenomenal! Kin Khao really blew me away. You can tell that an incredible amount of care, thought, and precision goes into their food and drinks. Thai cuisine has always been a favorite of mine, and this restaurant has made it to the top of my list for favorite Thai restaurants.
I started off by asking for their most popular cocktail — the Tom Yum. This drink is made with gin, Imbue Vermouth, lime, galangal, lemongrass, Abbots Bitters, and is topped with a kaffIr leaf. I was half expecting it to taste like an entrée soup given the ingredients, but it just tasted like a great, creative cocktail.
For dinner I ordered the vegetarian Yaowaraj noodles, a great pan fried noodle dish with Hodo Soy tofu, wide rice noodles, egg, green onion, and a few other goodies. It was served with what seemed to be a tangy fish sauce on the side. This dish was near perfect (see my only complaint below).
And then came desert. Terrible move. And by terrible move, I mean best decision ever. My waiter talked me into trying the black rice pudding. I was expecting something along the lines of a mango sticky rice dish, but it was very different and in a good way. They serve a bowl of warm black rice and give you 3 smaller side bowls: salty coconut cream, puffed rice + peanut + sesame praline, and burnt coconut sugar caramel. The whole idea is that you «assemble» your own pudding the way you like it. You can mix in all of the sides, or none of the sides. By experimenting with different sides, you could have some bites which are crunchy and salt, others which are very sweet, you get the idea. Clever desert.
Only fault I could find was that the food was very mild. I’m used to my Thai food having some bite — a kick to it. It’s probably because most people seem to prefer mild food, so next time (and trust me, next time will be happening very soon), I’ll ask for it spicy. Otherwise, the service was great plus they have seating for small parties (including parties of 1) up by the bar where you can both order drinks and food.

Kinda in love with this place. Yet another Michelin star restaurant with an affordable price point.
So my friend and I decided to take a trip to the city specifically to dine at Kin Khao.
This is a fairly small restaurant, maybe 30 ish tables max? So definitely make a reservation ahead of time since it gets packed.
The food– absolutely delicious. We went family style and shared three small dishes and a dessert. In total, it costed about $ 30-​$ 35 each. Not bad at all.
The ambiance– not very fancy but definitely stylish.
The service: great, loved them ⁵⁄₅
Highlight of the night: their dessert. Don’t pass up on it

This place isn’t your typical Thai restaurant. Kin Khao consciously picks their ingredients with purpose and knowledge, and they definitely respect their food and trade.
I love restaurants like Kin Khao. Nothing is served with pretense– only a lot of love. The hot wings ooze of happiness and care, the flat noodles are drenched in flavor and seasoning. Go ahead and get real messy with the lettuce wraps! Spread some sticky rice over a bed of crunchy vegetables, dunk it in hot sauce, and cram it into your mouth with a dollop of seasoned meat
Don’t forget about dessert! Split it with a friend– your stomach will be stuffed at the end of this indulgent meal.

This place is awesome! Think upscale Thai with some unexpected ingredients.
My friend and I share the tasting menu. Everything was really good and I especially enjoyed a mushroom curry dish which was served in a jar. Super unique and reminded me of Thai, but also had a twist on what I was used to. Same with the bean sprouts and fried egg — YUM! I’ll also give an honorable mention to the beef cheek curry. I love beef but I’m not personally huge on the texture of cheek. However, it worked perfectly in this dish. For $ 55, this tasting menu is absolutely the way to go if you want to have a fun and playful meal.
I have one comment about the décor of this restaurant — it confuses me because it’s weirdly plain and feels a bit office-​y to me. I think I just don’t personally «get» it. That being said, the ambiance was warm despite the more impersonal visual surroundings. And let’s face it, the food is WAY more important.

Wow, super delicious meal at Kin Khao. I’m thoroughly blown away, and Kin Khao has now taken spot #1 in terms of favorite thai restaurant in the city. Even on a Wednesday night, it was packed and bustling. My kinda place. My dining partner knows his thai food (and food in general) and recommended a bunch of different things for us to try, all of which were delicious and full of flavor. Standouts for me included the Nam Tok Beans (spicy!), the vegetarian version of the Yaowaraj Noodle, and the Yum Kai Dao.
Don’t skip the drinks too — The Bön Vivants consulted on the cocktails, so you know they’re gonna be bomb (which they were). Go with the Tom Yum.
Loved my entire dining experience at Kin Khao and am excited to return!
Kin Khao!

Finally got to try this place! They recently got one michelin star for 2016!
Made reservations here, there were a lot of people waiting outside, so rvsp. This place is located on the second floor of the PARC 55 hotel. The restaurant is pretty small, so pretty up tight, nice dim lightings
Ordered a few of their famous dishes:
Pretty Hot Wings: Highly recommend, chicken wings were crispy, the flavors with salty, a bit of spicy and sweet!
Caramelized Pork Belly: Sizzling! If you are a huge fan of fatty pork belly, this is a must order dish. Their sauce goes very well with the pork belly.
Khun Yai’s Rabbit Green Curry with sticky rice: Right amount of spice, rabbit was tender, enjoyed this a lot. It was just right with flavors. Sticky rice was kind of hard though, maybe order regular steam rice.
Yaowaraj Noodle: Pretty good, comes with a vinegar sauce. Not enough XO inside though
Yum Polamai: Great complimentary salad with the green curry. This will cool down the spiciness! Our waiter recommended this and definitely did the job
Thai Ice Tea: It was average, kind of watered down. Not creamy enough
Black Rice Pudding: Delicious! We have a side of salted coconut sauce, caramel and nuts. It’s like building your own sundae.
Overall, great experience and good food. I would come back for their curries and hot wings! :)

Now that I’m officially a resident of greater San Francisco (South Bay, still counts), it’s finally time to get Unilocaling on the best Bay Area bites. I’ll start with a recent visit to Kin Khao, the recently Michelin-​starred, unassuming Thai establishment nestled into a boutique hotel with little signage but lots of flavor.
With dining, I have a general high-​low philosophy, which constitutes a high willingness to pay for quote-​unquote haute cuisine like French or Japanese, but wallet stinginess on standard fare like Chinese or American diner dining. As such, I have a hard time properly judging non-​Japanese fine Asian cuisine restaurants like Kin Khao. My experience there so directly recalled a dinner last year at Chicago’s Parachute, a Korean restaurant which has made as many celebratory reviewer gains as Kin Khao. That experience in a nutshell? Really good food, hard to swallow bill.
The wife and I did a late lunch at Kin Khao, which constituted of two non-​alcoholic beverages, a starter, and two main dishes. While the bill was not remarkably extravagant, it will still a cut above your standard Thai lunch to be had, for example, at a dingy-​looking place called Siam right across the street. I understand all the arguments: finer preparation, better ingredients, higher rents, et cetera and so forth. Still.
If you’ll excuse my two paragraph diatribe, I’ll now get to the tastiness of the food. The drinks – Thai Tea and Coffee – were both really good, with a lighter hand on the condensed milk and sugar content than is the American standard. The only miss of the meal for me was the heralded mushroom hor mok, a «terrine» mousse with a chunky, cottage cheese texture. The flavor profile was not enough mushroom and too much spice, though the latter was dulled by the relatively tasteless rice cakes. I like the effort but didn’t love the execution.
I can’t say the same for the two entrees we ordered. The wife, a curry fanatic, immediately navigated to the Khao Soi, a chicken-​based curry broth, while I waffled between the Khao Mun Gai chicken rice and the Pork Bowl, ultimately opting for the former. Both the wife and I are half-​Singaporean, and both dishes immediately recalled our motherland. Hers, a wonderfully flavored curry accompanied by egg noodles with the perfect spring and step, reminded us of laksa. Mine, simply prepared boneless chicken breast, Hainan chicken.
To be honest, I’d still favor Singaporean-​style Hainan chicken rice, where the rice is a vibrant yellow and the bone-​in chicken doused in brown soy sauce mixture. But holy moly, Kin Khao’s «secret sauce», which so perfectly pairs with the melt-​in-​your-​mouth chicken, has me giving serious thought to switching sides. I also can’t forget to plug the chicken broth, just pure broth with hints of ginger and salt, easy to slurp and delightfully refreshing.
Finally, both dishes were thoroughly elevated by a splash of Kin Khao’s chili vinegar. Don’t forget about this, folks. It’s hidden in a concealed ramekin next to the silverware, and comes highly recommended by yours truly. I especially recommend it splashed in the broth (either the plain chicken or the spicy curry) or paired with the secret sauce atop the chicken fat rice. I’m sure it has its place amongst the other dishes as well.

I was pretty apprehensive about coming here — it’s location in the back of a hotel, across from a FedEx Office, feels a little sketchy and strip mall-esque…but it was AMAZING and I cannot wait to come back!
We arrived without a reservation, put our name down for a spot at a communal table, and were seated within 30 minutes. The communal tables aren’t crowded, so I wasn’t sad about not getting a table of our own.
For drinks, we had a Tahitian beer and the house-​made turmeric lime soda, which was very refreshing albeit fairly expensive for the small serving ($ 5).
For dinner, my boyfriend and I ordered the following, which was enough food but not too much for two people:
(1) Stir-​Fried Baby Bok Choy (V) — Delicious, well-​cooked, cut to edibly-​sized pieces, very flavorful sauce
(2) Nam Tok Beans (V) — Definitely used Rancho Gordo beans (woo hoo!), amazing texture, total flavor explosion… pretty much the best beans I’ve ever eaten, and I’m from a Cajun family in Louisiana
(3) Pretty Hot Wings — Large, incredibly flavorful, not overly spicy, nicely crispy, well-​coated in sauce
(4) Yaowaraj Noodle — Perfectly cooked noodles, amazing vinegar-​y/​sweet flavor, very well-​executed XO sauce… could have used a bit more chicken, however
(5) Namprik Long Rua — So unique, awesome crispy texture… should have rice included (which was $ 4 extra), however… if you recommend the dish to be eaten over rice more so than you recommend it on vegetables, then the dish should come with rice and fewer (raw — blech) veggies
Service was polite and attentive. I also very much appreciated the hot towels they brought to our table — very useful when you’re eating wings! I’ll be coming back here for sure, and I look forward to trying their Khao Mun Gai on the lunch menu sometime!

Meh!
They have a Michelin rating which sounds impressive. I have been to a lot of michelins but was not impressed by the experience here.
Tried the $ 55 tasting menu. It’s 8 courses — each of which sounded good. But here is the thing. It all comes out super fast. The first 4 dishes are on the table before you know it. Before you get done, the next three are out. Then, the desert comes out. Feels super rushed.
Some of the dishes are excellent (pork belly is phenomenal, beef cheeks also is excellent) and some are meh (the spicy papaya salad). All in all, the tasting menu is way too much food for the two of us. Those of you who eat a lot of food, might be good with this.
Two people could split the tasting menu, and I wish we had done that. Or, I wish we had just opened for 3 dishes. That would have been plenty. Next time.
Bottom line, some dishes were excellent, some not so much. It’s worth a try but not likely a repeat.

An interesting twist on Thai food, Kin Khao is the brainchild of Pim, a food blogger/​chef who gained fame for her amazing jams that she made every year. I had heard of Kin Khao for a while, but I stubbornly resisted going due to the fact that I lived in Thailand for year and couldn’t fathom it being ‘fancy’ or a michelin star. Boy, was I wrong lol.
The mushroom terrine was simply amazing. It has the texture of the steamed egg dish that exists in my asian cuisines — but she managed to get a nice spicy curry kick into it along with hiding little pieces of mushrooms in it. Spread on top of a crispy rice cake and you have a little bite of magic.
Caramelized Pork Belly in claypot — Wow. This is comfort food at its finest. Melt in your mouth pork belly that is sitting in a caramelized sweet sauce and pork fat — glop it on top of some rice and wow.
Nam Prik Long Rua — they warn you ahead of time that this is an umami bomb along with other things. Nothing could have really prepared me for the complex flavor of this. It’s like getting taken for a ride through all your taste buds. Fishy, sour, sweet, salty, and spicy. and a strong umami presence through it all. They don’t give you quite enough vegetable/​fruit sides to eat this with — you just barely need a little bit to get that umami bomb erupting in your mouth. One of the most interesting things I’ve eaten in awhile.
Sweet Black Rice Pudding — I love this dessert that’s originally from Malaysia/​Singapore. I also love how you basically control the creaminess/​sweetness with all the coconut cream, caramel sauce, and rice puffs on the side. Easily one of my favorite desserts of all time.

Seriously delicious Thai at fancypants prices.
Seriously worth it.
The lovely Steph Y and I walked around the neighborhood aimlessly for a bit before finally locating Kin Khao in the back of a hotel. We were seated at a teensy table for two, which we filled to the brim with dish after tasty dish. Kicking things off with the curry mushroom terrine was an excellent choice. Sumptuous mousse slathered on rice cakes — basically the perfect way to start a fabulous meal. We were a bit underwhelmed by the savory yum polamai salad (toasted coconut, shallots, peanuts, Bird’s Eye chili, mint, cilantro, shiso), and given how stuffed we were at the end, should have skipped it.
After the initial apps, we moved on to a gorgeous plate of rich, decadent pork belly. Supremely flavorful and the perfect amount to share.
But, damn, that black cod taypo curry. The star of the show (although the mushroom terrine was a close second). Creamy coconut curry, sticky rice (which we had to order separately ahem) and the main attraction — a poached black cod filet. Delightful.
At $ 12 apiece, cocktails were potent and creative, especially the Artist’s Reward (a gorgeous elixir with montelobos mezcal, maraschino, grapefruit, lime, peychaud bitters, szechuan pepper salt) and the Farang 75 with pisco, velvet falernum, lemon, cava, and ginger.
Sure, there was a bit of sticker shock at the bill, but man, did Kin Khao deliver.

I loved it. but it surprised me to know that this place got a star, initially before the food came out, cause it looked like any other busy FIDI restaurant, with tables close to each other and the noise level being loud. As such this place is really good for groups (also because you can try a lot of stuff as a group) and its served family style, a trend lately. I love thai food but have gotten sick of the same old coconut curries and phat Thai that every single restaurant makes pretty much identical. Kin Khao does everything different. Take what you know about thai food and throw it out the window and just be prepared to be surprised with intense flavor and spices. I have been eating thai food for most of my life but i can honestly say that i have never had the dishes that i had here anywhere else, which is a rare thing to do as i eat out a lot.
The mushroom mousse, the hot wings were amazing, spicy but very bearable. The beans were great and i don’t even like beans. Drunken noodles with clams is a must order, come in a tamarind sauce which is a really great touch. The pork belly was just amazing. The star of the night was the duck egg dish ($ 10) and our group order 4 of those (2 after we were nearly finished with dinner).
As with every other reviewer on here i can’t wait to go back to the explosion of flavor.

Come for real flavor-​popping food.
And come early or very late unless you plan on waiting a while, however they do have a great reservation system that texts you when a spot opens up for you if you do decide to come during rush hour. I came at 9:45PM on a Friday night and there was a half hour wait… by 10:15, there was nobody in line.
Now the food… each dish I tried had lots of flavors deeply infused into the ingredients.
Som Tum Papaya Salad — very solid dish, mild level of spiciness
Chili Jam Clams — Clams are big and flavorful but not very spicy as the name might suggest. The natural flavors of the clam really came out
Namprik Long Rua (apparently not for beginners due to the fishiness of the sauce) — I’m a huge fan of this, probably my favorite thing here so far. The «intense» flavor is spot on, and really goes well with the plethora of vegetables/​fruit that come on the side. I recommend eating this with some sticky rice.
Beyond the décor and food, the other thing that stood out at Kin Khao was the service. The waiting staff here is fantastic and make solid food recommendations.
Overall, I was very pleased with my dining experience here, good Thai food with a nice spin. It did run a little pricey though, this place is probably more of a $$+/​$$$ restaurant than a $$.
But hey, it did just receive it’s first Michelin star sometime last month so you don’t feel as bad about the price.
TIP: If you’re waiting for a table, head over to Mikkeller Bar — just a couple shops down on the same street (Mason St.) They have some killer sour beers on tap.

Great Thai food with a modern spin!
FOOD: My friends and I shared the fried duck egg/​Khao Yum Kai Dao ($ 10) for appetizer, which was just ONE fried egg topped chili jam sauce, peanuts, shallots, mint, cilantro. For entrée, we ordered Pad Kee Mao ($ 18) and Caramelized Pork Belly ($ 17) with side of brown jasmine rice ($ 4). ABSOLUTELY LOVED both dishes, especially the pork belly, which came in 4 pieces in a clay pot. It was kind of fatty but smelled so delicious. I would highly recommend it. The three of us were pretty full by the end.
SETTING: The restaurant is on one of the corners on the first floor of a hotel. There are 15 – 20 tables inside and decorated with traditional Asian home decors. Lighting is medium-​dim. Very comfortable feeling.
SERVICE: We made a reservation through Unilocal and was seated immediately. Food was served within 5 – 10 minutes of our order. The waitress was very friendly and nice.
PRICE: With tip we paid $ 60 total ($ 20/​person). Personally I think it’s a bit pricey for Asian food, but considering it’s in Downtown and the quality of the food, I am pretty satisfied.
OVERALL IMPRESSION: Loved their pork belly! Will consider coming back here for a date hehe.

Hands down, one of the best meals we had in San Francisco and we had eaten a lot of good meals during our trip. Kin Khao is what I like to call FANCY Thai food. I had previously tried their food through a dinner service called Din and both meals I ordered were fantastic. Kin Khao is for adventurous eaters like me. Sean C. and I had reservations at 7 pm on a Friday evening. Even when we arrived on time, they were still waiting for a table to clear in order to seat us. Reservations are key. Other people were waiting outside when we arrived and we were seated before them.
We ordered a few cocktails to start. I had the Vodka Collins while he tried the Artist’s Reward. Perusing the menu, we asked our server for recommendations. She recommended the Namprik Long Rua which was shrimp paste relish, served with caramelized pork jowl, crispy catfish, and seasonal vegetables. It was a beautiful presentation. You mix up the bowl of shrimp, pork, and fish, then you eat it with the vegetables and rice. There’s an umami explosion of flavors in your mouth. I was in love with the salty, bitter, spicy, sweetness, and sour flavors. The vegetables vary and included: radishes, tomatillos, carrots, fried eggplant, tempura green beans, wax beans, etc. Some of the vegetables were raw while others were cooked. The change in textures also won me over as well as the flavors.
Sean C. ordered the Black Cod curry which was spicy on the onset but the coconut flavors were on point. This was one of the best curries I’ve ever had! They don’t ask you how spicy, they just make it spicy which is why I love it so! We also had rice on the side to sop up all the delicious sauces. We both fully enjoyed this meal. We kept trying a little of both entrees and were rewarded with amazing flavors. My tastebuds rejoiced. For dessert, we had the black rice pudding that came with coconut milk, caramel sauce, and crispy rice & crushed peanuts. The rice pudding by itself was bland but by mixing in the sides, you came away with a balance of sweet, salty, crunchy & soft. It was delicious and a wonderful end to our amazing meal. This restaurant is highly recommended if you’re looking for something familiar yet different.

I eat alot of Thai food and I’ve been to Thailand so I’m usually the biggest skeptic when it comes to upscale Thai food. The food here is very pricey and I don’t think it’s authentic but everything from the drinks to the entrees is delicious!
* Mushroom Hor Mok Terrine — 5 stars: Mushroom mousse on rice crackers. Holy.
* Pretty Hot Wings — 4 stars: Yum, loved the texture of the skin and the sweet tamarind sauce.
* Caramelized Pork Belly — 4 stars: Good but so tiny :(
* Massaman Nuea — 4.5 stars: I want to drink the sauce.
* Pad Kee Mao — 3.5 stars: Good, but not my favorite.
* Namprik Long Rua — 2.5 stars: I love umami but this was too fishy for me. For the fearless.
* Beans — 4 stars: Flavorful beans, a good side.
* Siam sipper — 4 stars: Like Manhattans? It’s small, strong, but delicious.
Note: Prix fixe is available all the time, and required for large parties. It’s more economical to do a la carte.

4.5 stars
So it’s true, you can buy Thai food on the streets of Thailand for about $ 2, but people seem to forget you can also buy very high class Thai food in 60 story Bangkok skyscrapers for $$$$. Aka, I don’t know why people are totally hung up on the price of this place. The food is high quality and absolutely delicious, and definitely worth every penny. Kin khao means «eat food» in Thai, and that’s exactly what we did.
My favs: Mushroom Hor Mok (MUST order) and the paenang vegetable curry (has a nice kick).
We also tried the pork belly (which was so tender and juicy and delicious) and pad kee mao (also very good, not as spicy as I thought it’d be, but I did eat the whole thing…)
Order food Thai style so that you can share with everyone at your table. We had a reservation for 2 on Sunday at 8 which we had made 3 days prior. I would absolutely make a reservation online, especially considering their recent Michelin star.
Service: a tiiiiiny bit slow, but we were there to enjoy ourselves, eat good food, and have a nice convo.
Atmosphere: not pretentious at all. Mood lighting and sliiightly hipster.
I had a hard time finding the place because its actually in a hotel. Easy to get to from BART, and there’s also tons of hotel parking within a 3 block radius.