Restaurant: Kinnara Thai Restaurant
Location: 15355 Sherman Way, Van Nuys, CA 91406. (818) 988-7788
Date: November 18, 2022
Cuisine: Thai
Rating: Slightly modernist Thai
The Foodie Club lunch crew and I went out for Lunch Quest to Go’s Mart, but he was oddly closed, so we ended up here:
At this “slightly trendy” Thai place.
Interior is pleasant.
Good sized menu (as usual for Thai).
TOPAZ SHRIMP. Cooked shrimp with yellow curry and crabmeat. Interesting modern one bite format. Ultimately a yellow (turmeric) curry shrimp dish. The shrimp was very tender though and the curry nice and bright with a tiny bit of heat.
FILET MIGNON SKEWER. Grilled filet Mignon with white curry sauce. Hmm, maybe a green curry sauce? Pretty tender filet skewer doused in a very tasty spicy/sweet green curry — shot it afterward.
Pork Rib Lemongrass Soup. Pork rib soup with mushroom, mint, cilantro with spicy and sour soup. Lovely sour broth with medium tender pork chunks and button mushrooms.
Condiments.
CHAING MAI PORK BELLY. Crispy marinated pork belly with spicy chili sauce. Super addictive crunchy pork belly with a really nice green chili sauce. Delicious.
Spicy Chai-Yo. Chicken and shrimp sauteed in spicy topaz curry and finely cut green bean. The spiciest of our dishes, but not super spicy. Sort of a chichen larb in yellow curry with more tender shrimp.
Panang Soft Shell Crab. Crispy soft shell crab with panang curry sauce. Awesome crunchy soft shell with a great mild red curry. The crispy basil really took it up too. Delicious dish and not that different than the Chinois lobster.
911 Catfish. Crispy filet catfish with green peppercorn and chili garlic sauce. A bit fried but very tender with a nice (only mildly spicy) chili garlic sauce. Too much bell pepper but it was nice to see the green peppercorns.
Pretty tasty Thai with a bit of a modernist spin. Flavors are very classically Thai, however, which is a good thing. The chef apparently has gone to Vegas. Haha.