Kin Shop

469 6th Ave., West Village, NY

8.8

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Neighborhood
West Village

Cuisine
Thai

212-675-4295

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By Chris Stang
November 18, 2010

For some reason, I have always associated Thai food in New York City with faceless BYOB establishments that cater mostly to neighborhood takeout and post-grad dinners out on the cheap. That’s probably my fault, for having yet to make it out to some of the legendary places like Sripraphai, and also for living in Murray Hill in my early twenties. But as we started hearing all kinds of crazy good things about Kin Shop, it made us realize that there really hasn’t been an exciting Thai restaurant in New York for a very long time. So, after several full on freak-outs from people we trust, we decided a few meals at Harold Dieterle’s (winner, Top Chef Season 1) new restaurant were in order.

Here’s what we have to report back: Kin Shop is incredible. Imagine all the classic Thai flavors, executed in new and exciting ways that make you remember how f*cking good this food can be. Also imagine those flavors jacked up to eleven, to the point that each dish is like eating a delicious hand grenade. Every single thing we had at Kin Shop was incredibly tasty and somewhat intense, but always balanced and satisfying. A few tips – anything and everything with duck in the description should be ordered for your table, and the Pan Fried Crab Noodles might be the best noodle dish in town right now. Also, Crispy Pork and Fried Oyster Salad. Enough said.

Food Rundown:

Warm Sliced Snap Peas with Diver Sea Scallops
This is an excellent starter with a few scallops, some crunchy snap peas, and coconut sauce that is both delicate and full of flavor. Scallops usually get skipped when we’re ordering these days. We’re glad we didn’t skip them this time.

Spicy Duck Laab Salad
Almost like a ground duck lettuce wrap, that’s been marinated in lime juice and fire. It’s the spiciest item on the menu, and you definitely should not mess with this if you can’t handle some heat. The first few bites are incredible, but ten minutes in and you start to feel like you just ate a handful of angry hornets. Tasty, angry hornets.

Fried Pork & Crispy Oyster Salad
Pork belly, greens, and perfectly fried oysters all on one plate, tossed with a chili-lime vinaigrette. Pretty much the perfect Infatuation dish. Don’t you dare not order this.

Pan Fried Crab Noodles
Wow. It’s been a while since we’ve had a bowl of noodles that completely blew us away, and this one did exactly that. Peekytoe crab and super thin noodles make for an excellent, though expensive ($21) noodle experience. So, so good.

Fresh Egg Noodle & Maitake Mushroom Broth
Almost like a Momofuku ramen, but with poached duck egg and spinach. Very satisfying.

Red: Roasted Duck Breast
Big pieces of perfectly cooked duck breast with a red curry that you wrap up in a crispy roti, drizzle some tasty sauce on, and subsequently freak out over.

Green: Steamed Red Snapper
Red Snapper with a green curry. This is a very nice piece of fish, but honestly, you need to be eating some meat while you’re here.