Kinn Kao Northern Thai Kitchen — Restaurant in Portland

I debated leaving a review only for the reason that I selfishly want to keep this place all to myself. I should start by saying that food is absolutely amazing...and as the menu is from northern thailand..there are many dishes that you wont see anywhere else in portland. The Fried chicken is to die for...and the khao soy is one of the best things ive ever eaten in my life. The happy hour is every single day..you can come in with a date...order 5 different dishes and two cocktails and barely break $40. I would come here everyday if the main bartender gal Johnny worked everyday (Ive expressed this to her before lol) She is super easy to talk to, knows what shes talking about without coming off as a know it all, makes absolutely amazing cocktails, and works her butt off solo. My partner and I have watched in awe as she runs food up and downstairs, muddled delicious craft cocktails, and deals with cranky customers to boot all on her own. My only bad thing to say about the place is I'm not mistaken there are two other lady bartenders that work...we came in on a Sunday and were surprised not to see our usual bartender..the gal working acted as if we were interrupting her lunch break even though there was no one in the restaurant. She was rude and snapped at us when we were puzzled by receiving a different drink than we were used to even though we ordered the same thing. "I'm not johnny! " she said in anger. Seems to me there is a reason there is no one at the bar on the nights this girl works. Another time we came in on tuesday and the gal seemed like she never had tended bar, was on her phone the whole time, and rushed us out a half hour before they were set to close.

As long as you dont go in on Sundays or Tuesdays you will have the best experience, eat the most delicious food, sit in an adorable basement bar, and drink amazing cocktails from an absolutely delightful young lady. We love Kinn Kao! I could go on about the food all night! Just close your eyes and point at the menu and you will get something...

Raving about this place! First off, we are from Minnesota and have visited Portland several times. We love the diverse food scene here.

We were searching for a place for Thai and it was close to 11pm when we walked in. First off, we were confused because they have a sign with 4 Thai restaurant names on it including Kinn Kao. We weren’t sure if we were in the right place. You HAVE to be able to climb stairs in order to access the restaurant. The restaurant was well decorated, light and airy. With white table cloths and nice place settings, we felt we were in a higher end restaurant. Later on, while enjoying our meal, it felt like we were having dinner in a Thai family’s formal dining room.

I can’t say enough about the quality of the food here! We’ve traveled to Thailand and eaten all over Bangkok and Phuket over 10 days. While there, we often found ourselves enjoying the hotel restaurant food quality more so than most of what we found for sale on the street. Our American palettes are used to the rich Thai flavors we find here in the US.

We had the pad thai, duck larb salad (duck is the best protein to pick for larb because it’s a fattier meat and the umami is on point), a chicken green curry dish, and a fried trout dish with mango papaya salad. I have been looking for a really good spicy green curry like you can find on most street corners in Bangkok and it’s been tough to find stateside. This one was pretty tasty.

We were the only dine in customers this late in the evening but we saw at least 10 people come in to pick up take out! I believe they have a back patio but with it being winter and rainy, we didn’t view this area.

I had one delicious rum cocktail that put me to sleep immediately upon arriving home. You should head on into this place when you’re...

I can’t really rate the restaurant overall so I gave 4 stars for atmosphere and service bc I don’t want to be unfair. I ordered delivery but I wasn’t happy with the food at all. I love thai food so when I’m in a new city I always try something there and this wasn’t it. The food was pretty bland and very dry. I got extra hot and they pretty much just threw a bunch of chili peppers on top of my food. Disappointed because I heard good things about it. Hopefully it was just a one time thing. Either way I appreciate restaurants that keep consistency for the quality of their meals and they definitely did not. I got both their pad thai and pad kee mao. Both were bland and dry but the beef on the pad kee mao was...