Kin Shop, West Village - He says...

This past week we went to Kin Shop with a friend.  We owed him a dinner for winning our 3rd ‘Top Chef’ bet (i.e. he chose Richard Blaise to win).  We thought it appropriate that the dinner be at the latest restaurant of the first Top Chef winner, Harold Dieterle.  Kin Shop is his homage to Thai food.  It’s not Thai food per se, but it’s definitely Thai inspired.

One of our 3 appetizers was the fried pork & crispy oyster salad, which was my kind of salad.  Together, the hunks of pork and oysters were perfectly rich and salty for me.  It was topped with a chili-lime vinaigrette that had a sharp spicy and sour accent that I also liked.  The celery added a light crunch that was refreshing with all the strong flavors.  We also had the diver scallops in coconut curry.  The scallops were cooked perfectly but the sauce was a bit too sweet for me.  Bone marrow was also on the menu and of course we had to get it (we’re suckers for it).  For the most part, it was prepared traditionally: cut in half, roasted, and simply seasoned.  The changeups were a creamy yellow bean sauce and some puffed rice pellets.  And instead of toast, it was served with roti.  It’s all that fatty goodness we loved with a touch of curry, a light crisp, and a Southeast Asian bread vessel.  The changes weren’t major and, to some, maybe not that ambitious or creative.  But I appreciated the minimalist treatment, especially when dealing with bold Thai flavors. 

Our main courses were a bit more traditional.  We ordered the massaman curry with braised goat, a curry noodle soup with grilled lamb, and wide wonton noodles.  As tasty as they were, the sweetness was a bit much for me and probably not something I’d order again and again.  But one entree I did really like was the sausage and steamed duck egg in congee with razor clams.  The dish was simple but very pretty, especially when we mixed the runny egg in with the congee.  The sausage had a pronounced meaty taste, almost a little gamey.  The congee was a bit more subtle but its savory flavor still managed to stand out, even against the sausage.  It reminded me of breakfast at home – meat, eggs, and rice – with a little more kick.

For dessert, we were excited to try the Thai iced tea ice cream.  The ice cream seemed like it was freshly made and the Thai iced tea flavor was perfect in this solid form.  We were pretty full after everything but I don’t think a Thai dinner would have been complete without the taste of a Thai iced tea.

I definitely enjoyed the food at Kin Shop but I don’t necessarily see myself going back very often.  There were definitely dishes I’d go back for and other dishes I still want to try, but I’d rather not to have too many sweet elements in my meals.  But despite my preferences, I can still appreciate the food at Kin Shop and recommend it to anyone looking for a new and exciting contemporary Thai restaurant.

Social Eatz, Midtown East - He says...

We decided to try Social Eatz on a whim; it isn't uncommon for us to make spontaneous decisions about our dinner. We're big fans of the TV show Top Chef so we were excited to eat food at Angelo Sosa's new restaurant.

The food at Social Eatz was described to us as 'comfort food with Asian flavors', which isn't surprising for anyone who's watched the show or eaten at his late restaurant Xie Xie. Being the ambitious eaters we are, we decided to start with the menu's 3 appetizers: the ribs, the wings, and the egg rolls. The ribs and wings were perfectly cooked with juicy meat. The one odd thing about them was the sauce. My palate may not have been refined enough to notice, but their sauces tasted relatively the same to me. Not that it's a bad thing. The sauce was really tasty - sweet with a slightly sour and spicy finish. But it would have been nice if the 2 of the 3 appetizers had distinctly different flavors. The egg roll was also good. I really liked the crunch and the salty filling, especially when dipped in the sweet sauce, which we thought was some sort of guava puree.

For my entree, I ordered the tilapia taco. The pieces of fish were so nicely cooked with a perfect even browning and a flaky inside. It also had a sort of finely chopped 'pico de gallo' with a sweet and sour taste like a relish. The taco as a whole would have been perfect except for one element I didn't notice when I ate the first of two tacos...it had guacamole and I'm allergic to avocados! As soon as I noticed, we had to switch (something we probably would have done anyway to share). She ordered the bulgogi burger, which I thought was just as great. The burger was tender and topped with thinly sliced cucumbers, which gave it a nice sour contrast and some crunch. The sauce added a nice richness but also made the burger kind of messy. I think the bread could have been toasted more to add to the texture and hold up the burger with the filling.

Finally, we ordered the yuzu cream puffs. For someone who loves key lime pie, this was the perfect dessert for me. The bread was almost like a freshly fried doughnut but much lighter and fluffier. The filling was perfectly tart and sweet. I loved it and would come back regularly just for that.

There were definitely other dishes I wanted to try, like the bibimbop burger, so we'll definitely be visiting Social Eatz again. Still, I wish Angelo would do a restaurant with more refined food, like he does on Top Chef.