KIN KAO (Tai Wong Street East) — Restaurant in Hong Kong Island

Worth considering to go.

Thai boat noodle with broad rice noodle: 6/10

I was denied the lunch set because I ordered with a different noodle, even though it wasn’t stated on the lunch menu what noodle is specified for the set. I wasn’t given a drink because of this.

The noodles were nice and chewy and was given a lot. The toppings were very generous and a lot of vegetables were added. The soup, however, did not taste like boat noodle soup. It tasted rather plain and lacked pork or beef blood and spices, which makes a boat noodle soup. I had to add extra fish sauce to get some flavour. Samsen holds more of an advantage when it comes between the two.

Pork skewers: 7/10

The pork was tender and tasted fine. Lacked some char that would make it taste even better. Quite expensive for what it is. Costed almost the same as a main.

Hainan chicken: 9/10

The chicken was extremely tender and juicy. The sauce was quite delicious. Would be nice to get chicken soup on the side to wash it down and it would’ve been perfect. I recommend ordering this.

It was quite an expensive lunch between the two of us. I think overall it was around $250 HKD?

Service was good from the waitresses, they were lovely. One waiter was quite rude and short with me and it felt awkward whilst ordering. Maybe he was having a bad day. I recommend going for their broad rice noodles as it has an addictive chewy texture. Just hope they can flavour their soups and noodles more...

Kin Kao is a Thai restaurant on Tai Wong Street East in Wan Chai. I am always amazed by the number of seemingly good restaurants on that street, as well as the two streets next to it.

Dining alone always makes ordering extra hard, especially when there are so many things that you want to try — pad thai, Hainan chicken rice, and soup curry. I finally fixed my mind on this mild red Thai soup curry, as it’s kinda special.

When I was served, to be honest, I was a bit disappointed. For HKD$88, I expected more crab meat than the only few bits in the soup curry…And the colour tone was really white… Nevertheless, the Thai rice noodles was very delicious. They were stuck together though, and I ate them like Japanese tsukemen — used the soup curry to separate them and the dipped them in the soup curry. The soup curry was quite nice though, very smooth and rich due to coconut milk, and its spiciness was very enjoyable.

I wasn’t really full after the meal…probably due to insufficient protein…should have ordered pad Thai or...

Welcome addition to the restaurant scene in Wam Chai. Tasty and authentic Thai food at a reasonable price. Menu is quite extensive as well with a lot of choices on the menu. Restaurant space is quite spacious for a restaurant at this price point so you can seat comfortably a party of four. This is not that easy to find in Hong Kong at a Thai restaurant at this price point.

Food: 4 stars Value: 4.5 stars Overall: 4.25 stars Recommendations: Khao Soi, pad see ew, lime soda

The noodle dishes are what I enjoyed the most here. The khao Soi is one of the better versions I have had in Hong Kong. The broth had a rich fragrant curry and coconut milk taste with a little bit of spice. The chicken thigh was nice and tender and really had a nice curry flavor as well. Samsen is the gold standard for pad see ew in HK. However, the version here is close to as good and at a 35% discount. Highly recommend ordering this dish as well.

They do have lunch sets on the weekdays so definitely worth checking out for a work lunch if you work...