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
Which came with a side of sticky rice; which was actually more hard and dry than "sticky". The dish consisted of two whole "wings" and another odd piece. The chicken was nicely fried, more crunchy than crisp, and very moist. The flavor seemed to be a bite "off" though. There was a hint of lemongrass and garlic; but it seemed to need a bit "more" savory-salty tones, and came thru as being on the bland side, an adjective that one really doesn't associate with Lao cuisine.
Well, this was quite a hefty lunch! The miso soup was fine; not watered down like many other versions these days.
The rice was moist, tender, and fragrant; though the portion size was a bit too large for me. I think if I go solo again I'll make sure to get a half portion of it. I was really heading into 
I waffle between getting the filet or loin cut….after this meal, I guess I'm back on "team loin"? I really like the meaty texture, fat content, and the porkiness. The sauce tends to the sweeter side in my opinion, so I use it sparingly.
 
 First off, I actually thought the basic “wagyu” (heavy on the quotes) beef, while rather scarce was cut thinner, thus seemingly more tender. I liked the thin slices of oyster mushroom, which added a nice sweet-earthiness to the plate. To me, that egg is a must.
 
 Which smelled heavenly. It came with a bowl of broth that had decent cilantro – white pepper tones, but was quite salty. And the dipping sauce, which did have a bit of spice was not my favorite as I prefer the Hainanese style white, ginger-garlic, pungent style sauce.
 
 As for the chicken; well it was deboned, making it easy to eat, while being very moist and tender. It was a bit on the milder side in terms of flavor though. Again, if I had that ginger-garlic based sauce, I’d have been really happy. I ended up making sure I had some “chicken soul stealing” rice and chicken in each bite.
The hard boiled egg was nicely cooked, no off colors or flavors.
The curry was a bit "thin" for what I think of with regards to panang curry, which is usually quite thick. I was happy that it wasn't overly sweet and a nice, restrained touch was used with coconut. There was a faint kaffir lime flavor as well. I would have enjoyed it a bit richer and thicker. It also was not very spicy; but I noticed that you can chilies at the counter.
It came with a variety of "cuts"; I went for the chicharron right away. 
The Server recommended I get the rice noodles with this which reminded me of pho. It was perfectly prepared with a nice stretch to them.
I was happy to note that they actually use the appropriate noodle, the curly-rolled rice noodle sheets known as kway chap in this. Nice and chewy! 
The broth didn't have any spice, seemed a bit more porky and rich than the boat noodles. I ended up using the chili oil, which also had some nice acidity, and some chili flakes to help cut the richness.
The rice and egg were the same on this dish as well. The Missus loved the crisp, earthy-vegetal gailan. The spice was quite good for just a "medium". The sauce was closer to the saltier side of the scale, but was quite enjoyable. The hints of garlic, sweet, and the spice balanced things out nicely.
