Kiin — Restaurant in Adelaide

We had a dinner at Kiin last Friday, it was crowded but the atmosphere was nice. We sat right in front of the open kitchen where we had the privilege to watch the foods getting prepared and served which was very interesting. Loved the vibrant colours of every dish. We ordered prawn and lychee pop stick, massaman mushroom arancini, thai pork sausage & squid skewers, salmon & kingfish crudo, grilled broccolini, squid curry, and a steak (scotch fillet I think). The steak and pork sausage & squid skewers were our favourites but other dishes were still good. To be honest we were not very familiar with a lot of spices that were used so it was an adventure for us but we enjoyed it!

The only issue we had was an unpleasant interaction with our server. When she was taking our order she asked us if we would like some rice or chips, and we asked if we should order some rice with what we were ordering. She said something like that we should definitely order some rice, “especially with the squid”, so we ordered rice as well. Then when we were getting our mains served we realised we got pork scotch curry instead of squid curry. We immediately notified a staff (not our server) of what happened and she took it back saying we would get the squid soon. We were completely fine with it because these things happen at restaurants and it wasn’t a big deal. Then later our server who took our order came to our table, showed us the piece of paper that she was writing on when she was taking our order, and said that we definitely ordered pork scotch not the squid. Then she said “but it’s okay, we will get you the squid”. We asked her if she could remember what she said about getting rice with the squid. She didn’t answer that question (honestly she didn’t look like she was listening to us properly) and kept saying “it’s okay”. She was quite dismissive and looked like she was just wanting to end the conversation. We were confused, was it really necessary for her to come to us and show us the paper? Once again, we understood that miscommunications and wrong orders happen and didn’t even complain about it. Anyways we got our squid shortly after. We spoke to other staff about it, and she said that she had told our server not to do what she did but she did anyways. She was apologetic and offered some free food/drink however we declined because we already ordered enough food. Other staff came to us when we finished eating and apologised for what happened. Would’ve given 5 stars if it weren’t for that particular staff’s service, we were not expecting to be blamed for an incorrect order at all. We would definitely return for the...

Had dinner here tonight as per a very good friend’s recommendation. If we talk solely about the food - it is innovative and mostly tasted really good (i.e. buratta and roti). Definitely would recommend to do a degustation rather than ala carté - as the pricing is way above midpoint price. A single piece of an arancinni is $8! It is tad too expensive for such restaurant with such casual atmosphere. In saying that, I gave Food a 4 because there was a missed opportunity to appreciate the other flavours in the dishes due to the build up of spiciness of the dishes (which may be due to the sequencing of the degustation). It felt like it was almost masking the taste. I do acknowledge that Thai food is spicy, but surely it is not the only single flavour which made it among global cuisine favourites. They should take it down a notch, really. But other than the price and level of spiciness, this fusion restaurant offers an interesting version of Thai cuisine.

Atmosphere is good, too. Be mindful though that the tables are squished and close to each other.

Service - where do I start? Upon arriving, did not expect anything really. Nothing special, front of the house was very transactional - I did not feel any attempt to establish rapport with patrons. The guy named Thor was knowledgeable, he was good actually and made conversation with the entire table. The rest of the staff was just, I dunno, not really present in the moment. Then came this tattoed guy who collected the plates and simply said somewhere along the line of “just an fyi, i will be bringing the bill as the next guests will be arriving, ok?” I guess it is how business works, transactional. Nothing wrong with that, though not what you expect from a restaurant. That was truly a lowlight - a bit imposing. The service was rushed - not the level of service you expect especially when you just spend half a grand. I guess it’s the 2-hour booking policy hence the rush but for an 8-course feed-me menu - it’s too rushed. We settled the bill and off we went. The front of the house did not say anything, no thank yous. They saw us leaving but, nothing. We did not feel the service level this restaurant takes pride of.

Food is a must-try but the service made us not to rush...

My wife, some friends and I thought we would try Kiin for lunch after seeing it mentioned on a few social media pages and getting very good reviews.

The venue itself is beautiful, really tastefully done and very comfortable. I love being able to see into the kitchen in restaurants and this one was a hive of activity, with pestle and mortars pounding, fire on the grill raging and cocktails being shaken at the bar. Seeing the chefs plating beautiful plates with care and precision was exciting and very interesting.

We were seated, ordered cocktails and awaited the beginning of the set menu we asked for. Attentive, friendly staff kept our glasses topped and expertly explained menu items and made sure we were happy. Exceptional staff and service could not be faulted.

As the first dishes hit the table (quite quickly) we were all very happy with the delicious fresh flavours. Yummy oysters and lychee prawn pop sticks were a hit! The cheeseburger was great with some big flavours in there but the Star and possibly the favourite dish of almost all of us was the burrata nahm jim. The flavours in that sauce were absolutely mouth watering and left us wanting more!

The next dishes were all quite tasty but I felt it went in a heavier direction, with kingfish collar in a thick jammy chilli sauce, pork scotch in a rich curry based sauce and the chicken in a kind of underwhelming bbq sauce. Apart from the chicken, all the dishes were very tasty but we were all searching for a bit of freshness to balance the heavier dishes and hoped the delicious looking peach salad would be our refresher, unfortunately it was incredibly spicy. I usually love a bit of spice and am not shy of chilli but be prepared to start sweating. Most people at our table couldn’t tolerate the heat.

The desert was enjoyed by all and was a welcome sweet palate cleanser.

The cocktail list was very creative and expertly executed and the wine list is very extensive.

The lunch was enjoyed by all and I would return to try a few other menu items which sounded delicious. All in all a lovely experience. Thanks to the...