Heading East: Kiin Thai-Viet Eatery

I'm thrilled to report that I love the new Kiin Viet/Thai Eatery. It's sister to Galanga Thai Kitchen, and is headed by the same wonderful chef Somsri, who hails from southern Thailand and her husband/manager Eleazar. The ample menu features beautifully prepared street/casual foods never before seen in our city. Perfectly balanced Thai seafood and green papaya salads, Vietnamese spring rolls, bahn mi, pho, satay kebabs from a freestanding grilling station that resembles a street stall, it's all done with attention to proper balance and spicing as well as pretty presentation. The couple manage a farm in Hidalgo state where they grow the herbs and vegetable that our bountiful markets lack: kaffir lime, galanga root, Thai basil, it's all here for flavors that meticulously recreate the original dishes. We loved the salt-clad fish with a lemongrass stalk shoved down its gullet just like I've had in Bangkok. And a perfectly balanced Thai seafood salad, fragrant with basil and lemongrass.

The space is sunny, wood-lined and plant-filled, ambience relaxed, convivial. Prices are moderate: lunch-dinner will be about $300-400 pp. Kiin means "eat" in Thai, and that you will do with relish and spice. These homages to Southeast Asia are a gift to our city, and to quote my friend @Gastrobites, "una pinche chulada!"

Thai mango & sticky rice

Kiin Thai-Viet Eatery
Orizaba 219, at Coahuila, Colonia Roma (see map)
Tel. (55) 7095 7421
Open Tuesday - Saturday 1 - 11 p.m., Sunday 11 - 5, closed Mondays