Kin Thai Street Eatery

Description and review of Kin Thai Street Eatery, a casual family-owned and operated Thai restaurant located in Midtown Sacramento.

Prior to a Friday evening performance at B Street Theatre, six of us dined at Kin Thai Street Eatery in the Lavender Heights neighborhood of Sacramento.  The restaurant is located in the MARRS Building.

I had read a bit about sisters Napis and Napak in connection with the opening of the restaurant, but this was the first time I dined there.  Two of our dining companions had patronized Kin Thai Street Eatery previously, and had recommended it to the group.

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Kin Thai Street Eatery

Beverages

A friend and I arrived prior to the arrival of the others, so we settled at the counter area looking out onto 20^th Street to enjoy a pre-dinner glass of wine.  Our friendly server advised us when we ordered two glasses of J. Lohr Chardonnay ($9.50/each) that it would be advantageous for us to purchase a small bottle ($18) instead. We took her advice.

In addition to wine, the beverage menu includes kombucha, iced tea, hot tea, Thai and local beer, cider and lemonade.

Décor

Kin Thai Street Eatery is actually larger than I thought it might be, but it is not particularly large.  The restaurant and bar is light filled and airy, with a high ceiling featuring exposed wood.  The attractive décor is modern, with industrial style wood/metal tables and stools (i.e. no back).  The bar, however, does have bar height chairs.

Menu

Earlier in the day I had checked out the menu, which offers a number of unique (to me) Thai dishes.

See related blog post: Sacramento Ethnic Restaurants

In addition to several daily specials, the menu features starters (Kin Plern); skewers (Kim Lenn); salads (Kim Yum); soups (Kin Soup); rice plates (Kin Kao); noodles (Kin Sen); and desserts (Kin Wann).

The tables are outfitted with QR codes so that patrons can peruse the menu using their phones.  I requested regular menus which were promptly delivered to the table.   Especially when a menu is extensive, I for one hate to have to scroll up and down before I settle on my order.

Our group of six ordered a variety of dishes.  To start, we ordered: Vegan version of the Thai Curry Puffs (Kari Pap) ($12) and one of the Street Specials –  Laab Tod (Spicy Isaan Laab balls) ($12).  I neglected to take a photo before we all started to help ourselves.

Being a wimp when it comes to spicy, I barely managed to eat one of the small Laab Tod meatballs.  However, they were a big hit with the rest of the table.

Main courses ordered that evening included:

• Kanom Jeen Nam Ya (Thai Fish Curry with Rice Noodles) ($22)
• Pou Kim Pad Phong Karee (Soft Shell Crab w/Curry Sauce) ($32)
• Kai Jiou Pou (Crab Omelette ($30)
• Gai Tod Hap Yai (Hat Yai Fried Chicken) ($20)

Review

The presentation of each dish was a visual treat.

I had ordered the Hat Yai Fried Chicken, a Southern Region specialty (deep fried chicken leg quarters, seasoned fried shallots, yellow curry dipping sauce, cucumber relish, choice of steamed black sticky rice or steamed jasmine rice).

The two pieces of chicken were large, crispy and juicy.  The cucumber relish was refreshing, and the steamed black sticky rice was just that – very, very sticky!  Next time I will order the rice berry brown rice.

Service

Our servers were both friendly and helpful, checking in several times to see if we needed anything during our meal.

The friend I had arrived with and I asked to pay for our meals and wine with two credit cards, separate from others in the group. Not only was that no problem, but our server presented to each of us our share of the bill including the tip. Note: Kin Thai Street Eatery adds a 20% service charge for groups of five or more.

To Sum Up

All six members of our group enjoyed Kin Thai Street Eatery, and spoke highly of their meals.  All also agreed it was a given we would return to sample additional menu offerings in the future.

Comments on Kin Thai Street Eatery?

What has been your experience at Kin Thai Street Eatery?

Kin Thai Street Eatery Snapshot:

• 1050 20^th Street, #180, Sacramento, CA 95811
• (916) 619-8144
• Days/Hours: Monday – Friday (11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.; 4:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.); Closed 2^nd Tuesday of Month; Saturday (11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.); Sunday (Noon to 9:00 p.m.)
• Vegetarian & Vegan Friendly
• Street Parking

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