Kin Khao

Cuisine	Thai
Price	$$$$ (51-100)
Rating	8/10
Last Visit	Nov. 17, 2022
Location	SFBA: San Francisco: Downtown + SoMa

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General Notes

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Wonderful Thai restaurant in the heart of downtown. On the more upscale / pricey side, but it's absolutely worth it. The food is incredible. They offer a fairly concise menu and execute on them well. I appreciate the variety of offerings that they have, which go far beyond what typical Thai restaurants might offer. The dishes are all designed to be shared family style too. It can be somewhat difficult to get a reservation here. I didn't know this at the time of booking the reservation, but apparently Kin Khao actually has a Michelin star! Considering the food that I had there, this was well deserved.

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Negatives

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> Their sticky rice doesn't hold well -- it gets an unpleasant texture if you let it sit around too long. I would definitely either eat the sticky rice quickly, or just stick with their regular white rice.
> Overall, I found their dishes to be a touch too salty (which is something that I rarely experience). The green curry especially would have benefitted by having a little less salt.

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Dishes Tasted

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• ★★★☆ Khun Yai's Rabbit Green Curry -- Devil's Gulch rabbit leg & saddle, rabbit + pork meatballs in Kiew Wan curry, coconut milk, apple eggplants, Thai basil. The rabbit and the overall flavor of this dish are incredible. The rabbit + pork meatballs are a little weird (they have a somewhat odd texture), and it's a touch too salty for my taste, but overall an amazing dish!
• ★★★★ Caramelized Pork Belly -- sweet, savory, voluptuous pork belly cooked in a cast-iron pot. This is INCREDIBLE. Voluptuous would be a good way to describe it indeed. Perfect ratio of fat / lean meat, so tender / juicy / savory, and flavorful -- the caramelized glaze is to die for. More of a Chinese style braise, but that's a minor detail.
• ★★★☆ Namprik Long Nua -- spicy, umami-bomb kapi shrimp paste relish, caramelized pork belly, crispy catfish, seasonal vegetables. "Umami bomb" is a pretty good description -- the flavors are so intense. I like to take a piece of vegetable, use the relish as a dip, and eat it with a little bit of rice altogether -- the rice helps balance out the flavor. The relish itself is incredible -- some of the vegetables went really well with it (fried eggplant, carrot, radishes), but others were just strange (green beans).