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In honor of our review of Mix Zone Cafe being published tommorrow in the Las Vegas Weekly, we thought we’d feature one of Chef Dan Coughlin‘s killer noodle dishes — a “salad” of chopped greens over flat, creamy rice noodles on top of a small, unctuous Thai omelet, all dressed with his special Thai-waterfall sauce.
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Kung Fu Thai & Chinese Restaurant isn’t the best Thai restaurant in town, but it’s far from the worst (recently, that would be Krung Siam directly across the street).
But we at ELV like it because their version of “medium hot” (or #5 on a 1-10 scale) is blow-your-off-head-slap-my-ass-and-call-me-Sally-hot.
And they make a mean yen ta fo — that rice noodles in red fish soup concoction that came to Thailand from China and found a home among that Thailand’s storied noodle soups. Fish balls are essential ingredients, but we like this version for its big, firm shrimp and scored squid, that share the bowl with a spicy-sweet-vinegary broth.
The braised pork shank is also a winner — heavy with the scent of 5 spice powder — and the squid salad is one of the best versions around (although, once again, heavily coated with chilies to the point where most gaijin can’t take it above a 2-3 on the 1-10 scale).
The funny part about Kung Fu is, it’s usually packed with loads of folks there for their cheap, Chinese lunch specials. Look around the room and you see precious few fellow travelers getting the good stuff. Truth be told, we’d eaten here several times before, and dismissed it as a mediocre restaurant until we were clued in to look for the offbeat Thai dishes.
They’ve also cleaned it up and put some new furniture in lately, removing the dowdiness that defined the joint for many years.
We still think Archi’s and Lotus of Siam kick its Thai patootey, but in a pinch, and when you’ve got a yen for some yen ta fo….Kung Fu will fill the bill, Grasshopper.
KUNG FU THAI & CHINESE RESTAURANT
3505 South Valley View Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89103
702.247.4120
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Remember when we went Thai restaurant hopping with uber-chef Jet Tila (Jet Tila’s Tale of Two Thais)? ELV put his choice of a Thai restaurant up against the Jet-sters and we had to begrudgingly agree that Tila’s choice that night (Krung Siam) was the fresher, more vibrant, and cleaner of the two when it came to bringing forth the flavors and heat of true Thai cooking.
We returned to both in the last two weeks, and can’t tell you who or what is wrong with Krung, but our simple meal there of shrimp in a Thai curry sauce, Thai pork jerky and papaya salad was the worst Thai food we’ve ever had. Continue reading “Return to OCHA THAI”