Kinhdo Restaurant--Uptown

For Vietnamese cuisine, Kinhdo is a great place to eat. I do not, however, consider this place to be a Thai restaurant. Vietnamese, yes. Thai ? I don't think so. I had a "farang" friend who tried to convince me that this was a Thai place. Trying to be civil (as I was really biting my tounge here), I told him that if he wanted real Thai cuisine, I offered to cook some dishes from my Thai mother's recipes or take him to a real Thai restaurant. As a person of Thai descent from the Los Angeles/Orange County CA area now living here in Mpls, I have tried various Thai restaurants in the area. One of my biggest pet peeves are restaurants that call themselves Thai that do not use true Thai ingrediants. Using jalapenos in place of Thai chiles, bell peppers in curries, and ketchup in pad Thai, and peanut butter used in satay sauce are 4 of the things that really chap my hide and dubbing it Thai food is a slap in the face to what I consider Thai cuisine. There are 2 restaurants that I have tried in the Cities that make dishes close to what my mom used to make: The Royal Orchid in Roseville and True Thai in Minneapolis. I am always open to trying new Thai places here in the Cities but to those that want to dub their food Thai using Vietnamese, Lao, Hmong, or Cambodian cooking techniques, call it what it really is...but don't call it THAI!!!!!

My mother and I visit Kinhdo every time she comes to town. Along with the excellent service (fast & friendly), we are consistently amazed by the deliciousness of every new dish we try. Everything is so savory, and with a touch of smokiness. The prices are great, too. Highly recommended.