{"id":11515,"date":"2017-07-04T23:22:34","date_gmt":"2017-07-05T07:22:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/?p=11515"},"modified":"2017-07-05T12:39:30","modified_gmt":"2017-07-05T20:39:30","slug":"kin-kao-thai-dishes-meant-shared","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickydiners.com\/www\/kin-kao-thai-dishes-meant-shared\/","title":{"rendered":"Kin Kao – Thai Dishes Meant to be Shared"},"content":{"rendered":"

I always warn people about going to fine dining Chinese restaurants\u00a0like Shanghai River<\/strong> and Kirin<\/strong>. For such\u00a0places, it’s better to go with a bigger group of people because most of the dishes are meant to be shared. Only if I had known that the name of the Thai restaurant, \u00a0Kin Kao<\/strong>,\u00a0\u00a0means “eat together” in Thai when I was here with a friend, my dining experience would have been a lot better.<\/p>\n

Driving down on Commerical after tennis, I was browsing for a dinner place with Brian. We were intrigued by the chic and tasteful design of Kin Kao and decided to give it a try.<\/p>\n

The price seemed a little high on the menu. \u00a0I don’t remember having seen Pad Thai at $16 at any other Thai restaurants.<\/p>\n

They have quite a few local craft beers on rotation. However, I ended up getting a Chang Beer<\/strong> ($7) from Thailand. The taste really reminded me of the beers I drank in Asia.<\/p>\n

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I was trying to eat something healthy and asked for the Grilled Tiger Prawn Salad<\/strong> ($15), but I really should have read the description a little more carefully.\u00a0The salad came with grilled tiger prawns tossed in fish sauce, lime juice, lemongrass, Thai chili, shallot, mint and lime leaves, but there were no\u00a0leafy greens\u00a0in the salad.<\/p>\n

Although the waitress had warned me about the spiciness of the sauce and my tolerance was assessed in between mild and medium hot, it was actually pretty\u00a0spicy for me. I added an\u00a0extra fried egg ($1) for the salad, but it was still difficult for me to\u00a0eat\u00a0the salad by itself. So I had to\u00a0order a bowl of rice ($1).<\/p>\n

Don’t get me wrong, I did not hate the salad at all. Actually, it was bold and flavourful. However, it was hardly a meal by itself,\u00a0 even for someone who loves spices, as there was not a lot of substance.<\/p>\n

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Brian ordered the Phat Thai<\/strong> ($16) (which is normally spelled “Pad Thai” at other places) for himself. \u00a0I had a little taste of it too. \u00a0We both thought it was very tasty. However, the portion was on the small side, especially for the big boy who just played 2 hours of tennis. \u00a0It was really nothing special compared to the other dishes spelled “Pad Thai”.<\/p>\n

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We left the restaurant still feeling little hungry and decided to get some samosa nearby.<\/p>\n

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Before I started this post I found out what Kin Kao means in Thai – “eat together”. We could have ordered a couple shareable dishes between 2 of us and shared some rice, which would have been a much more enjoyable experience. The Grilled Tiger Prawn Salad that I ordered, although tasty, is not substantial for a meal for one person, even with an extra egg and a bowl or rice. I wish they had warned me that. \u00a0But if you have a bigger group of people and quite a few dishes to share, this dish would impress with its big flavours.<\/p>\n

Kin Kao\u00a0actually reminds of Bao Bei<\/a>, the popular spot known for Chinese dishes with modern twists. But are those “twists” worth the extra money we pay for here? I really can’t say yes based on this particular experience. However, I’m willing to give it another try with more friends sharing more dishes.<\/p>\n

Website and menu:<\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.kinkao.ca\/<\/a><\/p>\n

More reviews:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Kin<\/a><\/p>\n

Location:<\/strong><\/p>\n