San Diego Eats: Koon Thai
Thai is one of the cuisines that's kind of hard to find in Spain. Sure, there are "Thai" restaurants that are fast food joints where you choose the ingredients and sauce and the cooks stir fry everything together. Everything comes out tasting about the same despite your choice in sauce - sweet and very salty -, and are about as Thai as teriyaki chicken is Chinese.
A rare bird is a Thai restaurant that serves your typical green curry, massaman curry, etc. And pretty much nonexistent is any restaurant that goes beyond this selection.
So I was super excited to try Koon Thai on Convoy St., where I was introduced to a menu full of things I'd never encountered before, and where they warn you in advance that when you order mild, it is the equivalent of spicy at other joints!
We started out with Larb with ground chicken, a dish I haven't had in years. I especially appreciated the noticeable nuttiness from the roasted rice powder.
Next we had a dish that was recommended by quite a few reviewers, and the waitress herself. Pad Cha Pork Wing is a pork shank served on hot cast iron with veggies, basil, and green peppercorn. The pork shank was so super-tender, shredding with just the slightest pressure on the fork.
Finally out came my favorite dish of the meal, Khai Jeaw Foo Poo. This is an omelette with blue crab. It was delightfully crispy throughout - so much surface area to be fried! Yet it wasn't greasy at all. We polished this off, leaving no leftovers.
I so want to go back to Koon Thai to work my way through the menu. I'm sure even their more commonplace dishes like green curry and massaman curry must be excellent.
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Koon Thai
3860 Convoy St #102, San Diego, CA 92111, USA
