Kin'D pronounced Kin Dee is a place I stumble upon when a friend told me their chive pancake was so good. What the heck is a chive pancake??? I didn't know therefore I must try this restaurant, yes I'm that easy to convince.
Kin'D is a Thai restaurant located in Fresh Meadows, corner of Union Tpke and 192nd street. It's almost diagonally across from Cunningham Park making it an ideal location especially for parking! Parking is great around the area from metered parking on Union Tpke to street parking on 192nd and 193rd street so no headache on that.
The restaurant seems to be busy majority of the time (the couple of times I've been here), which is great since that means good food but it also means be prepare to wait especially if you have a big party.
Kin'D have a very modern farmhouse feel from the long tan wooden table, to the yellow plates and flowers on each table. The restaurant is clean, bright and what I like most about Kin'D is how roomy it feels- they don't try to squeeze as many table as they can in the restaurant but instead the tables are far apart enough to allow for breathing room.
The menu in Kin'D is pretty extensive from your appetizers to fried rice/noodles to curry, all are filled with many selections in each category.
The awesome thing about Kin'D is you can't go wrong with what you choose. I've tried multiple rice/ noodle dishes and all of them tasted solid. But since there are so many options, please allow me to narrow down some choices for you.
1. Crispy Duck on anything- aren't you tired of chicken yet? This option is going to cost you a little bit more but it's definitely worth it in my book. You can select crispy duck on any of the noodle, curry, fried rice or sauteed entrée dish. I had the crispy duck with Pad Se-Ew (always a great choice for starters in Thai Cuisine) the first time I was here and I couldn't believe how good it was. First and foremost, the crispy duck here (as the name suggest) is crispy- it is truly amazing to find crispy duck here because we all know how bad Un-crispy duck taste like (Peking duck with soggy skin anyone?). Second, the portion was pretty amazing considering the price, duck is expensive and when they give you 6-7 pieces of boneless duck meat w/ crispy skin- that is a testimony of value. Third, it is flavorful, tender and will keep you coming back. So yes definitely try the duck.
2. Chive Pancake- reason I'm here. I can't tell you anything about appetizers here because I only had one and since then never tried anything else. I never had chive pancake before and Kin'D made me a believer. The best way to describe chive pancake to anyone who never had it before is it's like a savory mocha filled with chive cut into triangle shape and then deep fry. So imagine with me, biting into a chive filled mocha that's crispy on the outside and soft, chewy and piping hot on the inside. Can you see that? Yes you burn your mouth did you but it's totally worth it! Btw don't let the black appearance fool you, it's extremely delicious and it comes with honey soy sauce, making it even more dangerous. I probably can eat 2 orders by myself if I'm allow to... too bad wife is on guard duty.
3. Thai Iced Tea- Gotta wash it down. I know we are supposed to be all food here but the Thai Iced Tea- SOLID. What's not to like- it's cold, creamy, intense tea flavor and makes your tongue orange. Seriously try it at least once, you won't regret it. Btw at first I thought the copper Moscow Mule the Thai Iced Tea came in was small but I was wrong, totally wrong so drink up.
Service: Excellent- very attentive waiters and waitresses, water was refilled quickly.
Price: Very reasonable- Anything with crispy duck will run you $16 and I think that's a very reasonable price to pay. But if you are on a budget, go chicken or pork ($12). One thing to note was their portion changed slightly (to smaller) the last time I was here, it's not major but while we are on the price topic. Hopefully it doesn't change again or else this review will have to change.
Overall: A gem in Queens so far, hopefully that won't change any time soon. With delicious food, reasonable price and excellent food plus plenty of places to park. It's a no brainer that Kin'D will be my go-to for Thai food in Queens (at least for now) read more