The meal was served family style, which gave us an excuse to over-order. To start, we had diver sea scallops with snap peas, fried pork belly and crispy oyster salad, roasted bone marrow, and an eggplant chutney. The scallops and bone marrow were easy choices, and both were as tasty as expected. The snap peas added a nice fresh crunch to the scallops, which were served on top of a sweet coconut sauce. The bone marrow was standard - delicious bites of rich, decadent fat. It was served with crispy roti instead of bread, a savory Thai pancake that's slightly chewy and greasy. The grease took away from the marrow flavor a bit, and I missed the crunch of toasted bread, but it's hard to find fault with nicely roasted bone marrow.
The biggest surprise of the appetizers was the salad, which we rarely order. The crispy pork belly was juicy, and the oysters were large and deep fried perfectly. The best part of the dish was that the salad actually made the crispy proteins taste better. The vinagrette was fresh and acidic, celery added additional freshness and crunch, and the greens were just peppery enough to balance the heartiness of the fried ingredients.
For the entrees, we ordered stir-fried wide wonton noodles with chicken sausage, braised goat with massaman curry, chiang mai sausage with steamed duck egg over a red onion congee, chiang mai curry noodle soup with grilled lamb, and a side of stir fry aquatic vegetables. The wonton noodles with chicken sausage was a tasty, clean version of pad see ew. It was mildly sweet and could have used a bit of spice, but the noodles weren't oily or heavy. The chiang mai sausage was the most unique dish that we tried. The sausage was savory, moist, and spicy. We broke the duck egg yolk over the red onion congee, which created the perfect gooey base for the dish. My favorite dish of the night was the chiang mai curry noodle soup. It was a simple dish with very comforting flavors. The yellow noodles were served two ways: al dente and crispy. The al dente noodles absorbed the delicious curry sauce, while the crispy noodles served on top provided a great textural contrast. The grilled lamb, cut into bite-sized pieces, was the perfect meat to complement the curry. If it had arrived earlier in the meal, I could have finished the entire bowl. The main downside to the dish was that it was our most expensive plate, $24.
Overall, Kin Shop preserved the sweetness and spice of traditional Thai food well and presented dishes that were both creative and elegant. I should probably have started with the disclaimer that Thai is one of my favorite comfort foods, so I wasn't looking for fancy dishes or impressive techniques. The flavors were delicious and bold, yet balanced. The restaurant achieves a neighborhood atmosphere that I really enjoyed. If we lived in the West Village, I would probably be visiting this place more than he would like. Dieterle is 2 for 2!
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