KIN — Restaurant in London

I had heard very good things about Kin and was looking forward to eating there. We arrived at just after 9:30. Even though a sign on the door says "Last orders 10:00" we were forcefully warned that they close at 10:30 the clear message was "don't order leave now!". Instead we ordered immediately and the food came within 10 minutes. We had Potstickers & Hoisin Duck to start followed by Katsu Curry and Pad Thai washed down with Singha beer (why do these places insist on charging £4 for a tiny bottle of beer!?). The food was delicious.

The staff obviously had somewhere better to be which ruined our meal. The sign on the door says open until 10:30 what that really means is the staff leave at exactly 10:30. At 10:00 we were surrounded by chairs on tables and staff vacuuming round us. A deeply unpleasant experience. If you have no intention of working 1 minute past 10:30 then close at 10:00, clean up and you can be out the door at 10:30.

The staff clearly don't care less about their customers and shouldn't have a job that involves dealing with the paying public.

EDIT: Wow! You had me at “sorry” and lost me at “intoxicated” and “rude”.

Forcefully - adverb: in a forceful, powerful, or emphatic manner. I really would have said aggressively if that were a more accurate description. Intoxicated? I am deaf and my voice may sound strange but I’ve never been accused of sounding drunk. Dismissing pesky complaining customers by suggesting they were drunk is a weary trope used by lazy hubristic restaurateurs. How was I rude? I didn’t order or pay the bill - I avoid talking to strangers because of exactly the reaction you exhibited. I thanked the person cleaning the stairs for not tripping me up with the snaking flex and moving her vacuum cleaner so I could leave. I don’t think I spoke to anyone else the entire visit. Perhaps another incorrect inferral?

In the interest of pursuing the upfront, open transparency so central to your philosophy you should change the sign outside that says “Last Orders 10pm” unless of course you are wrong by stating the kitchen closes at 10pm. If as you claim the front of house start cleaning at 10:30pm I would not have eaten my meal surrounded by chairs on tables and the carpet being vacuumed.

A bit of wilful misdirection there - It was never suggested, nor expected, that you remain open past your normal opening hours. We arrived a little after 9:30pm and left before 10:15pm. If your staff weren’t quite so keen to start cleaning before 10pm instead of, as you say, the normal 10:30pm so they could leave early - and in the process ruin our meal - my review would have been very different.

So having read your reply a second time, and putting your incorrect inferral aside, I’m not sure what events you disagree with?

The time spent penning your reply would have been far better employed training your front of house how to behave in...

It's probably a 3.5.. Large generous portions...however, I'd rather eat more Thai style smaller portions/plates and less expensive so one can order more dishes. As we did not get to try all the menu my comments are only on the food we tried and I wish we had ordered more spicy dishes - as there was no way enough spice! Salt & pepper squid and chicken wontons were really tasty. The Som Tam was weak and not very Som Tam at all in either spice or the balance of the dressing. So if you order it request it to be made "Thai Style". The pad Thai was tasty but this is not a spicy dish anyway. Nasi Gorang .. again isn't really a spicy dish in Indonesia, however, described as one and it wasn't and a bit dry. Then finally the spicy vegan red curry (it says there is a milder option avail) was again lacking in spice. Overall tasty, warming, cosy food, but not very authentic Thai. I will go back again and try the Pad Krapao as that is usually a good benchmark. Really nice wine and service. Table pretty small and overall really loud so difficult to chat. Also, really annoying no menu printed or on a board. I find menus on phones so "covid years" and quite annoying. The last thing people want is to be looking at their phone when out to dinner, it's so unsociable. And it's difficult to choose, scrolling etc. If you are using the green excuse for not printing, then write things up on a board! We would have ordered more food and spent more money had we all been able to look...

I had eaten here years ago and was curious to see what it was like after all that time. I’m delighted to find that the food is as good as I remember and the service was excellent.

The menu is accessed via a QR code (I miss the old physical menus!) but the staff take your orders. You can tailor the spice levels for dishes and they also offer an excellent 2 cocktails (the margaritas are properly salted and tasty) for only £15.

We ordered the chicken wings and slat and pepper calamari for starters. The chicken wings were slightly too thickly coated but the meat was juicy and served with sweet chilli sauce. The calamari was springy and seasoned nicely.

Our mains consisted of prawn pad thai and prawn Pad Kee Mao. We asked for extra spicy and the chef delivered, to the point that my friend was unable to finish his pad kee mao so beware if you’re testing your taste buds. There was a good amount of prawns in each dish and I would probably just stick to the recommended spice level next time.

We had no room for dessert which is a shame as I wanted to try the banana fritters so will make sure to leave room next time.

The team working at the restaurant were engaging, checked in on us without being overbearing and were in such good spirits despite the wet weather outside. A dining experience can be affected by the restaurant team and I’m glad to see Kin get this...