The stylish, very flavorful Kin presents us with the question: What cocktail goes best with an order of Nutty Chicken Stir-fry?
My beverage of choice with Thai cooking has long been Thai iced tea — which is, as a rule, so strong, it destroys my REM cycles for days. That said, it’s probably a fine beverage to chug when heading for a few days of Texas Hold’em in Las Vegas.
If iced tea doesn’t work for me, a nice cold Thai beer is always a treat; Singha is especially tasty. Chang and Thai Amarit, too, if you can find them.
The choice is usually easy because most Thai restaurants don’t offer mixed drinks. No martinis, no margaritas, no mai tais. But Kin doesn’t follow that game plan. There’s a sizable bar near the entrance, with lots of bottles of liquors both high end … and more generic. I counted seven vodkas, 12 tequilas, six rums, and 18 whiskeys, Scotches and bourbons.
The drink list includes a selection of both “classic cocktails” and “signature cocktails” — though the headings seem kind of random. Listed under “classic” is a Smoky Watermelon Margarita and a Cucumber Saketini. Under “signature,” there’s a Mystery Mule and a Margarita on Fire — the fire being Thai chili. Like I said, beer is my beverage when gobbling some nice crispy Money Bag dumplings.
Money Bag dumplings contain a mixture of minced pork and shrimp. Add a little sweet and spicy sauce, and you have a near-perfect combination of what makes our taste buds happy — crunch, sugar and tang. The Money Bags sit a couple of spots away from a Thai appetizer standard — Crab Rangoon — a dish unknown in Thailand, or in Rangoon (which is now Yangon, capital of the country that was Burma, and is now Myanmar). The dish was invented in the 1950s in Oakland, Calif., by restaurateur Vic Bergeron — the Vic of Trader Vic’s.
He thought filling a dumpling with cream cheese and crab meat was a good idea. He was apparently right — Crab Rangoon can be found at Asianesque restaurants all over the world. (He also invented the mai tai. And inspired Joe Coulombe to change the name of the Pronto Market chain to — you guessed it! — Trader Joe’s!)
More Merrill: The Bungalow in Long Beach is a winner in more ways than one
But let’s get back to Kin. It sits in the space that used to be home to Blue Heaven Thai. A sign on the wall informs us that “Kin” is a verb, which the sign doesn’t translate as “eat” — though that’s the meaning. Instead, the sign says, “When you are bored and there is nothing else to do.” Gee, I don’t know. Eating and drinking aren’t what I do when I’m bored. They’re what I do to live.
Kin does something very unusual on its menu. On the flip side, there are photos of 15 of the most popular dishes, with lines coming out of them ending in arrows pointing to a description of each one, that repeats the description on the other side of the menu.
Just in case you’ve missed the pleasures of the spicy wontons, the barbecue pork rib, the Colossal Crab Meat Fried Rice and the garlic noodle shrimp. It’s all very … artistic, and filled with temptation as well. I mean, who can resist the spicy pad Thai, made with “small rice noodles, chicken, eggs, bean sprouts, green onions, onion, bell peppers, ground peanuts and spicy tamarind sauce” … with shrimp substituted for the chicken for $6 extra, and mixed seafood for $11?
Like the setting with its elegant skylight, its modern lamps, and its polished wood surfaces, the food is almost architectural in its arrangement. It’s not a large menu — small as Thai menus go, in fact. But it’s very much a greatest-hits collection, with delicious chive pancakes, strikingly tender chicken satay, both larb chicken and larb salmon, both avocado and mango curries, and spicy seafood medley of scallops, shrimp, squid, New Zealand mussels in roasted chili paste with veggies.
For dessert, there’s both coconut and green tea ice creams … and mango sticky rice (in season). Or, I guess you could finish up with a cocktail like the New Paradise, made with lychees, passionfruit, coconut cream, vodka and lemon juice.
In either case, there’s nothing boring about this cooking. It’s life-affirming. It’s joyous. As mothers all over Thailand no doubt tell their children … “kin”! Eat up! It’s good for you!
Merrill Shindler is a Los Angeles-based freelance dining critic. Email mreats@aol.com.
Kin
- Rating: 3 stars
- Address: 740 E. Broadway, Long Beach
- Information: 562-317-5142, www.kinlongbeachkitchen.com
- Cuisine: Some of the most sophisticated Thai cooking in Long Beach, in an oversized space that used to be home to Blue Heaven Thai, with art on the walls, an open kitchen and a blessedly large parking lot.
- When: Lunch and dinner, every day
- Prices: About $30 per person; reservations helpful
- On the menu: 15 Appetizers ($6.95-$12.95), 6 Salads ($9.95-$16.95), 9 Soups ($7.95-$23.95), 6 Stir-fried Entrées ($14.95-$15.95), 5 Rice Entrées ($7.95-$22.95), 5 Curry Entrées ($15.95-$18.95), 9 Noodle Entrées ($14.94-$22.95), 7 Signature Dishes ($16.95-$23.95)
- Credit cards: MC, V
- What the stars mean: 4 (World class! Worth a trip from anywhere!), 3 (Most excellent, even exceptional. Worth a trip from anywhere in Southern California.), 2 (A good place to go for a meal. Worth a trip from anywhere in the neighborhood.) 1 (If you’re hungry, and it’s nearby, but don’t get stuck in traffic going.) 0 (Honestly, not worth writing about.
"tasty" - Google News
October 27, 2023 at 05:49AM
https://ift.tt/uLHQt8Z
Thai food in Long Beach is a tasty treat at this restaurant - Long Beach Press Telegram
"tasty" - Google News
https://ift.tt/zRIeDbw
https://ift.tt/8XAn5ZF
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Thai food in Long Beach is a tasty treat at this restaurant - Long Beach Press Telegram"
Post a Comment