New Eats: Kin Kao

From the design team behind Bestie comes Kin Kao Thai Kitchen, a 25-seat nook just opened on Commercial Drive.

As big fans of Thai, stakes were high for us on this one. Our som tam Thai salad, with green papaya in a palm-sugar-garlic-fish-sauce dressing, didn’t disappoint (but fried sweet potatoes were sorta off, for a menu item comprised of three words we love). Mains are epically tempting: stir-fried crispy pork belly on rice and basil-redolent pad kra pao (minced chicken or pork fried with eggplant and long beans) were inspired by the home-style food chef Tang Phoonchai grew up with in Bangkok. Ultimately, we opted for red curry squash (tonnes of bamboo shoots in a drinkable lime leaf-coconut broth) and, the night’s winner, beef salad with red grapes. Sweet, spicy and savoury, it was everything we wanted.

Well, the pint of 33 Acres … we wanted that, too. —Adrienne Matei

Kin Kao Thai Kitchen, 903 Commercial Dr., Vancouver, 604-558-1125, www.kinkao.ca