With the recent warmer weather; the Missus has been craving some Thai food. Since we needed to make a Nijiya run on that day; I suggested revisiting Koon Thai. Our last three visits had been for takeout, all of which had been during Covid. Looking at my posts, it had been over 8 years since we’d actually dined in at Koon! Crazy how time flies!
We arrived right at the 11am opening time and were seated.
Looking over the menu; we went with three dishes, one we had seen on posters on the window, one an item we’ve been ordering for years, and the third was what the Missus was craving, which was the Larb (Chicken – $11.95).
Based on recent dining; we were quite surprised at the prices here! We ordered the larb medium spicy, which was too mild. The ground chicken was overly chewy, though there was roasted rice powder and good amount of cilantro. It definitely needed more heat to balance out the sour-acidity.
The one dish we’ve been ordering over the last several years is the Khao Karr Moo, which is also nicely priced at $15.95.
There was much less of the braised pork leg, with several chewy pieces. During the last few times I’ve gotten this, I’ve noticed that the amount of pickled greens has gone down…..such was the case today as well. On a positive note; the boiled egg was adequately done.
The rice was fine; though the sauce was overly sweet, throwing off that savory-sweet-herbaceousness that is key to this dish.
Since the other two dishes were quite inexpensive, we thought we’d order something a bit more “fancy” and went with the Basil Duck ($29.95). This would end up being our favorite dish of the day!
The duck had been seasoned and fried nicely; crisp skin, moist flesh, with that savory-gamy flavor. There were actually two legs included in this. The sauce which contained a good amount of green beans, onions, and carrots was a bit thin; but the flavor, herbaceous-savory tones and a hint of sweetness and anise went really well with the duck.
It also came with a large bowl of rice.
Overall, we didn’t think this was an expensive meal, though we were only impressed with the most expensive dish. We noticed the customers who came in after us and what they ordered…cream cheese won tons….a ton of pad thai…green salads…fried rice…interesting! The woman serving us was very nice and even helped me pack our leftovers to go.
For some reason, the dishes seemed quite mild to us. I think we’ll need to start re-exploring options with regard to Thai Restaurants. We’ve been kinda lazy as Koon’s location is very convenient for us.
Koon Thai Kitchen
3860 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Mon – Thurs 11am – 3pm, 430pm – 9pm
Friday 11am – 3pm, 430pm – 10pm
Saturday 11am – 4pm, 5pm – 10pm
Sunday 11am – 4pm, 5pm – 9pm
Good prices!
We were surprised at the prices Junichi!
hoping you can find an alternative
Yes, we’re going to try Kat!
I wish there weren’t always several chewy/stringy pieces in their Khao Karr Moo! I’ve gotten in the habit now of finding those pieces first by poking around with my silverware, and then shredding them so that the sauce has a chance to infuse them.
The portion and quality seems to have gone done Sage. Along with those tough bits; there’s much less pickled vegetable and the dish seemed way too sweet as well.
The prices are still pretty good here.
Yes, we were surprised ST!
That duck looks great! And so do those prices.
I miss Sab-E-Lee’s Linda Vista location, I always enjoyed the larb there and that they didn’t hold back on the heat. Their Black Mountain Road location is way too far for me, but maybe I’ll have to stop by one of these days.
You’ll be amused Mar! We recently revisited Zab Linda and were pleasantly surprised. That post will be upcoming!