Kin Shop
Crispy Roti
Fried Pork & Crispy Oyster Salad – celery, peanuts, mint & chili-lime vinaigrette
Duck Laab Salad – toasted rice, ground chili & romaine hearts
Massaman: Braised Goat Curry – fried shallots, purple yams, mustard greens & toasted coconut
Jungle Curry – Roasted King Oyster Mushroom, wood ear mushrooms, turnips & Chinese kale
Coconut Lime Cake
Deferring to my sister as to where we’d be dining on her 28th birthday I was unsurprised when she suggested Thai over more traditional French or Italian options and having always been interested in how Harold Dieterle, an Italian-American chef trained in Spain, would interpret the cuisine a reservation at Kin Shop was booked…though entirely unnecessarily as no other diner stepped foot in the restaurant during our 75 minute lunch. Casual and comfortable yet at the same time professional and contemporary with excellent service and comfortable banquets amidst wood and white brick it was with minimal efforts that decisions were made amongst the widely varied menu and with the kitchen dedicated only to our plates everything arrived well prepared and coursed out perfectly. Beginning first with a pair of salads, one the heavily spiced but traditional duck laab and the other a crispy meets creamy blend of pork and oysters, then moving on to a pair of curry dishes embracing entirely different ends of the spectrum in terms of spice and style perhaps the most impressive aspect of Dieterle’s take on Thai beyond the obvious ingredient quality was just how familiar everything felt even to the Thai novice, perhaps a gripe to some who crave ‘authenticity’ but a testament to the chef’s skills to those who simply want great food…a fact that held true to the immense slice of decidedly ‘un-thai’birthday cake gifted to us on the house, as well.
