Kin - London

We saw this restaurant for long times on the market street and we’re so curious to try it, cause always fully booked when we tried to enter walking in. Expectations so, we’re high but didn’t really respected it then. Service is the mirror of the place, fast and not really accurate but good, a bit rustic. We had 2 starters and 2 mains with a side of salad, starting with fried calamari, they were really gummy and with no salt at all.. we though was a bad quality of calamari definitely. Dumplings, where we went against the same problem again with the salt and the dish was describe on a disappointing way on the menu. Thanks to the mains, we appreciated the taste and the quantity, but my khao soi was full of the crispy fried noodles, they were too many on top that after a while I had to ask for a plate to remove them. At the end we are okay with the restaurant for the generous portions, definitely ready to give “another round”.

This is a great Thai restaurant, and although the menu is pretty traditional, the flavour is excellent and portions fairly large, on that basis alone I’d definitely recommend a visit as one of the better Thai restaurants I’ve been to in London. Other reviewers have complained about the overly attentive waiting staff, and it’s fair to say you do see a lot of them, including clearing plates throughout the meal which is a little odd. So I’d avoid this place if you want to have a deep conversation, but for casual dining it’s not the end of the world and in fairness the staff are incredibly friendly. One other weird feature of this restaurant is that they bring starters and mains at the same time. While they do explain this when you order, it seems like a kitchen geared up for takeaway which can’t be bothered adapting to phased table service. To be clear, it’s understandable in small plates (e.g. tapas) restaurants to receive each dish as it comes, but this is not that you will literally get two plates of spring rolls/dim sum alongside two large bowls of Pad Thai. The waitress also warns you in their introduction that you should give them 10 15 minutes warning before you need the bill (it didn’t take that long in reality). This again gives a bit of an impression that the service is set up for the convenience of the staff rather than the customers. There appeared to be plenty of front of house staff and the restaurant is quite small, so I’m not sure why all these accommodations from customers are needed. I stress this point because this really is a great restaurant, that has just made some annoying choices with how they serve their excellent food. It’s still a four star place, with potential.

Someone came over to the table every 5 minutes to take plates, shove the card reader on the table, and actually argue with us when we said we'd just like a bit of time to relax and chat without interruption. Hospitality and good food this is not!

We ordered veggie food as this is our daughter’s preference. We are on a trip to London and as the hotel restaurant is shut we had no idea where to order from. Our daughter found Kin on deliveroo and we ordered veg pad kee moo and veg chilli oil wantons. We choose the right spice range for us with spicy to hot. The price was good and in recycle packaging. We have to say the food was amazing and would recommend to anyone. We are planning to either order again for our hotel room or to seek out the restaurant. Made our first night memorable…..thank you

The restaurant is a short walk from Farringdon station so very easy to get to for most. Upon entering there is a warm and cosy atmosphere, small enough to feel intimate, large enough to have a buzz. The service we received was attentive and super friendly and our food was quick, hot, fresh and ample sized. The flavours were just great, wonderfully seasoned down to the spring rolls, which for me, with no sauce can be a bit flavourless, but not here. I agree that it isn't a place for a romantic meal or a deep chat. The food all at once, was a bit different, but with our party all sharing along with the frequent clearing of plates we managed ok. We will definitely be retuning. Thank you, Kin and Emi, for making our Friday evening.