Kin Len - Thai Street Eats

Back at the end of last year, a new Thai restaurant opened on 30th street, if I recall this used to be a pizza shop? Boy has North Park evolved over the years!

For some reason, I had to work to convince the Missus to check the place out. First, parking is always an issue, second, the Missus really hasn't found anything She enjoyed eating on this strip of 30th north of University and of course prices have gone up quite a bit over the last couple of months. But we finally found some time, on a Tuesday at 530pm, eating outside.

The only other party in the place finished up as we entered and other than a single diner who sat at the bar, we were the only folks eating here. The interior is quite charming with wood paneled walls, Thai knick knacks and vintage signs on the walls....and of course the ever present televisions; in this case two of them.

The young lady serving us on this visit was so very sweet. And though it says "Thai Street Eats" in the name of the place, you are paying a bit more than Soi 30th down the street, though I must say; the portion sizes of some of the dishes are quite large.

We must have been hungry, because we ordered quite a bit of food.

At the time of this visit we had been experiencing a bit of a warm spell, so the Missus had been craving Som Tom so we got the Issan style Papaya Salad ($11.95).

We had ordered all our dishes at a "level 3" on a scale of 1-5 in terms of heat. But this was barely spicy at all. It also had way too much shredded carrots to the actual shredded papaya, which was nice and crisp. While the sauce looked quite dark, it really wasn't very funky in terms of fermented fish/crab sauce. In fact, it was too sweet and seemed quite "Ameri-Thai" in terms of flavor.

Next to arrive was the Basil Beef (Kra Pra Neua - $14.95). Which looked quite nice with the fried basil on it.

 Looks however, were deceiving as the ground beef was really hard and chewy, this was quite bland, it really needed more fish sauce-oyster sauce-anything salty and savory. The rice was a bit too wet and mushy. The egg was a wonderful sunny side up; but had that "fishy" finish we don't enjoy. This was probably our least favorite dish of the meal.

The next dish to arrive was an appetizer, I'm thinking the time for frying delayed the dish. I was looking forward to the Tom Yum Wings ($10.95).

These wings were huge! We both enjoyed the seasoning; sour-salty-savory. I do wish the exterior was a bit more crisp and these being large wings, the meat was dry and too chewy. Overall, this was the best dish of the meal.

The last dish to arrive was the Hat Yai Chicken and Curry ($18.95). The Missus loves the Hat Yai chicken from Sovereign Thai and was interested to see how this compared.

 First off, that quarter chicken was huge! It was nicely fried if on the bland side; but due to the size the meat was really dry and tough. This really needed more flavor. The rice, like on the basil beef was on the mushy side. The curry was too sweet and thin for our taste. I did enjoy the roti; while a tad on the greasy side did fine dipped into the curry.

Well, while the portions were quite large and visually appealing, we found the food lacking in flavors we consider to be truly Thai and the poultry was quite dry and tough.

I really wanted to give the place another try, but the Missus was not agreeable to that, so I decided to revisit at 3pm on a Saturday. I wasn't sure how busy Kin Len was going to be since I had to park five blocks away, but the place was quite empty. So I decided to eat at the bar.

As before, the young ladies working here are so sweet and nice.

After perusing the menu; based on my last visit, I placed my orders.

On that previous visit, Kin Len seems to go a good job with deep fried items, so I started off with the Fried Enoki Mushroom ($9.95).

In spite of being in rather large "clumps" this was perfectly fried; though it really needed more seasoning. The "sweet chili sauce" seemed a bit watered down and just give this enough "umph"....just wondering how the Tom Yum Seasoning would have done on this? I hadn't expected this large a portion and it was deep fried and I had to finish it.

So most of my Gailan and Crispy Pork Belly ($15.95) was taken home, though I did eat some of everything and finished the egg. I ordered this dish at a level "4" heat.

 Even though the egg wasn't sunny side up this time; the edges were crisp and it had no off flavors. The rice was perfect on this visit as well, fluffy and fragrant. The crisp pork belly was nicely crisp on the exterior; but perhaps a bit too hard and chewy It was also a bit on the mild side in terms of flavor. The gailan was chopped in somewhat ponderous chunks some of which hadn't been blanched enough and was super hard. It was nice and spicy, but lacked anything much of anything else in terms of flavor and definitely needed a salty-savory boost in my opinion. I prefer the version at Soi 30th down the street.

The portion sizes are quite generous and items are fried nicely. The uneven seasoning and flavoring seems to fall short; perhaps it's bit to "Hipster Ameri-Thai" for me?

I'm hoping things will get better over time and perhaps I'll check them out again. Heck, if you've been to Kin Len and had an outstanding dish let me know and I'll head back!

Kin Len - Thai Street Eats
3934 30th St.
San Diego, CA 92104
Hours:
Mon - Wed 5pm - 9pm
Thurs Fri 5pm - 10pm
Saturday 12pm - 10pm
Sunday 12pm - 9pm

 

Comments

[Soo]

That's too bad the fried chicken was dry. I've always had good luck at Popeyes.

[Kirk]

They fry well; but the chicken is on the dry side Soo. Not quite the same prep of chicken as Popeyes, tough....