Tucked under a high rise off State Street west of campus (isn’t everything tucked under a high rise in WL these days?!) is a new Thai restaurant, Kinn Thai, at 100 Foundry Dr, Ste 17. According to google, Kinn means “to eat” in Thailand, and eat is just what the Dining Divas & Dudes did. Kinn Thai is family owned and has been operating since June. The family came from Thailand about 12 years ago and opened a restaurant in Indianapolis, Phaya Thai Street Food. They brought their recipes from Thailand, everything is made from scratch, and their restaurant was successful. So successful that they decided to open another one in West Lafayette. One of their sons and our host, Archan Arayanimitskul, worked at Phaya Thai for 10 years, learned the restaurant business, the recipes and menus, and is now running Kinn Thai. He brought two veterans of Phaya with him, Bee, our server, and another chef. Archan is training the rest of the staff now. They make all their dishes in house and this was obvious to us when we tasted our meals.
We started with 2 appetizers, Todd Mun Goong, which were crispy shrimp patties shaped like donuts on the menu, but really just fat golden puffs of shrimp (eat your heart out, Linda, for skipping this meal!) and Larb Todd, golden-fried ground chicken seasoned with Thai spices and roasted rice powder. Both were crunchy, crispy, delicious with perfect accompanying sauces: a light sweet/sour for the shrimp and a spicy chili crisp-type sauce for the chicken. Most of the curries, rice dishes, noodle dishes, and soups on the lunch menu come without protein and there is a list of toppings you can choose from to add chicken, pork, tofu, shrimp, or beef. There is plenty to love on this menu for vegetarians. Check with the servers for vegan options. They also don’t spice up your food ahead of time. You get to order whether you want no spice, mild, medium, or hot spice, another indication that they are cooking to order. Our server Bee dissuaded us from the hottest spice since none of us were from Thailand!
Tetia had Pad Thai with fried tofu and medium spice. She said it was representative of traditional Pad Thai. She liked the tartness of the sauce and the textural combination of crispy bean sprouts and carrots with the softness of the noodles. The tofu was fried to perfection and soaked up all the good flavor of the sauce. Tetia wishes she could fry tofu this well.
Iseral ordered Pad Ka Pow with grilled chicken and medium spice, served with white rice. This is a classic basil stir fry with green beans, mushrooms, onions, and bell peppers. Iseral is Mexican and was tempted to try the hottest level, but he said the medium was just right and it let him enjoy the melange of flavors in the stir-fried vegetables and chicken without overpowering them.
Ken chose Pad Pug Ruam with no extra protein and mild spice, served with white rice. It was a soy sauce stir-fried dish with broccoli, cabbage, bean sprouts, mushrooms, carrots, and onions. He was defeated by the portion size, but loved the wonderful flavor and the fresh crunchy vegetables.
Jo found something on the menu she could eat without requesting alterations. It was a soup, Tom Kha, with a coconut base flavored with galangal and containing mushrooms, onions, and tomatoes. She added grilled shrimp and had medium heat, both of which she declared good choices. Galangal is a rhizome related to ginger, widely used in Southeast Asian cooking. It’s more pungent, citrusy, and bitter than ginger. Jo especially noticed the bright citrus flavor and loved the creamy coconut milk with perfectly cooked veggies and shrimp.
Margy had Yum Tofu, a vegan salad with crispy fried tofu, red onion, carrots, green onions, and cilantro. She cleaned her plate.
Jerry ordered from the salad menu. He had Larb, a ground pork salad with herbs, green onion, red onion, cilantro, and a tangy dressing. He was very pleased with the medium spice option and declared the meal “outstanding”!
Kay’s dish, also from the salad menu was Yum Grilled Chicken with medium spice, which was plenty spicy for her. This was really more chicken than salad. A large portion of marinated grilled chicken, clearly made in house, with accompanying lettuce, red onion, carrots, and cilantro. The dressing was distinctive and the salad was sprinkled with crunchy rice powder. It was delicious.
After a short discussion with Archan, he offered us dessert. This was 7 small egg rolls with fried banana inside. Whipped cream with coconut and honey on the side. We didn’t see this dish on Kinn Thai’s menu, but it was crunchy, not too sweet, and just the right amount to top off our meal.
Kinn Thai has separate lunch and dinner menus; the dinner one is bigger. There is a convenient garage around the back where you can park for free. Don’t park in the street or you’ll risk a ticket! We predict Kinn Thai will be as successful as its sister restaurant in Indy and we urge you to give it a try!
