Although my love for Thai noodle dishes will never wane – cold,
stir fried, smothered in a coconut broth, or engulfed in a fiery tom yum – it’s
a pleasure to see Chef Nuit and Jeff Regular’s newest restaurant, Kiin,
introducing Toronto to more refined Thai dishes, especially Royal Thai cuisine.
The difference is evident as soon as you enter the
restaurant, the dining room is light and airy with plenty of empty space
between the bar and tables. Gone are high-top tables and backless chairs of Pai
and in its place plush banquette seats and chairs that hug around you. The
vision of Chef Nuit, Kiin’s environment is pretty and serene, inviting guests
to relax and take things down an octave.
Even the dishes have a surreal artistic quality to them; the
age old saying of eating with your eyes first is certainly evident here. The chor ladda’s ($12) chewy jasmine rice
wrapper is naturally coloured with butterfly pea, an ingredient common in
Thailand that’s spreading to the Western hemisphere.
Inside each plump flower is a sweet and savoury paste of
finely minced peanuts, onion, pickled radish and coconut sugar. Not only do the
crispy garlic, bird’s eye chili, and baby romaine garnishes complete the floral
look, they also augment the flavours and textures of the chor ladda.
In Thailand, describing a dish as a salad, just means it’s
tossed. The yum tua plu ($15) puts
the North American leafy greens to shame with a base of diced crispy blanched
wing beans, which is like a cross between green beans and an Anaheim pepper. The
chili shrimp paste adds a fair amount of heat, while the toasted coconut and
peanuts a lovely rich crunch. Of all the dishes, this was the spiciest; yet the
dishes at Kiin aren’t overly hot and well balanced so if you prefer a medium
chili level it’s perfect.
The hoi nung ta krai ($14)
arrives in a gorgeous silver tiffin container, one layer holding the mussels
and the other for the empty shells. The seafood is steamed in a simple mild
broth, most of the flavours coming from the zippy lemongrass, lime, and garlic
sauce on the side, which gives them a refreshing quality. On a hot day, a
container of these with a cold glass of beer or wine would be heavenly.
Having had a taste of Chef Nuit’s pork jowl at the Destination Thailand media event, I knew the kang mo
yang nam jjim jaew ($15) would be delicious. The slices of grilled meat are
well marinated in sour tamarind and roasted red chili, but then further
augmented by being tossed with mint, roasted rice, and vegetables.
We’re instructed to have the hot meat followed by a bite of the
cold Thai kale stalk. Dutifully, I follow instructions, but find the mouthful
of plain broccoli like vegetable underwhelming. Personally, I’d rather pick the
leaves off and wrap the pork jowl, vegetables, and kale stalks into them like ssam.
Jeff advises that most of their ingredients are important
from Thailand, even the produce to ensure they’re fresh and the real deal: the
garlic is Thai garlic, lemongrass is fresh, and the fruits rarely found in
other establishments.
A dish that showcases all these ingredients is the khao yum ($24), which arrives as three
piles of coloured rice (a yellow turmeric, red beet juice, and blue butterfly
pea), before being tossed with diced beans, coriander, lime leaves, toasted
coconut, pomelo, fried chili, sprouts,
lemongrass, and edible flowers.
The khao yum could
use more of the tamarind and soy bean sauce, as despite looking colourful, it
was a tad bland. Overall, although gorgeous to look at, I’d rather have a bowl
of coconut rice any day ($5).
A bowl of this aromatic grain comes with the gaeng boombai nua ($28), a bone in beef
short rib smothered in a fantastic tamarind gravy. Along with the fragrant coconut
rice, it’s so satisfying that each bite made me instantly want more. Oh why
didn’t we order two of these for our table of four?! Don’t make the same
mistake we did.
Meanwhile, the mieng
pla ($32) is great for larger groups.
A whole salt-crusted sea bream is displayed at the table before being
brought back to the kitchen and fileted (be careful, we still found numerous
larger bones left in the fish).
The fish returns along with a platter of Thai kale leaves
and baby romaine topped with vermicelli noodles, thai garlic, basil, mint,
peanut, ginger, shallot and lime. Having been salt-crusted, the fish itself is
flavourful, but there’s also a citrusy chili vinaigrette to add even more taste
to the dish.
One can only imagine all the preparation and time it takes
to prepare the mieng pla – crusting the
fish, baking it, preparing all the ingredients for the wraps, assembling the
wraps, fileting the fish, and making the sauce. Everything arrives ready to add
a piece of fish and eat.
The use of intricate techniques and fresh vibrant
ingredients is what makes Royal Thai cuisine so special. All the time it takes
to perfect and create a dish is also why you rarely find restaurants willing to
serve the fare.
Although it sounds corny, you can taste the care that goes
into each dish. During our visit, Chef Nuit and Jeff Regular were both at the
restaurant: Jeff visiting tables to explain dishes, while Chef Nuit making a
couple of brief appearances from behind the kitchen. The Regulars have brought
something special to Toronto with the opening of Kiin. To them: khob khun mark ka and krab.
How To Find Them
Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 326 Adelaide Street West
Address: 326 Adelaide Street West
Website: www.kiintoronto.com
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____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
- Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
- 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
- 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
- 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
- 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
- 10 - absolute perfection!
Is That It? I Want More!
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