KINNAREE
On 29 September 2007 (Sat.) D and I went to Kinnaree Thai restaurant, near The Mailbox. It is a high-end restaurant (at least £20 for three courses), but it offers £4.95 express menu for lunch time. We went to see what they can do.
The restaurant is the gound floor of this new building. It is not very visible and not the best location. Although we don't pass here in the evening, I don't think it is doing very good trade.
This is the interior. A huge nonsensical ship sculpture is at the centre of the restaurant. The place is quite large, and the capacity might be as high as 200.
Apart from this ship, there are many other art-ish sculptures. Some would say it is exotic, but for me it was bad-taste. It looked as if some nouuveau riche invested some money to spear without thinking really about its acceptability for the general public.
There were two waiting staff when we visited; one was a middle-aged woman in beautiful Thai dress, but the other was a young guy wearing sandals with his 5-finger socks on. If it pretends to be an high-end restaurant, it should not allow waiter to were sandals (I have no objection if it were in cheap Chinese cafe).
When we arrived at around 2 o'clock, there were only two guys eating. Two more couples came in during 1 hour and a half while we were there. (It is really not indicative of anything, as it was not really standard lunch time in Birmingham)
The restaurant is very long and one side is entirely covered by clear grass and we can have a view (and we are viewed by the passers-by). This is the view from our table; the construction site of The Cube. lol.
When it will be completed, we will be able to have better view, but as it is now, there is little to admire. When we were about to leave, there was a dog pissing onto one of the pillars close to the window. The couple eating next to it looked disgusted.
This is the jasmine tea that we ordered, for about £1.50
I have never seen such a jasmine tea, or at least I don't remember to have seen it. It tasted nice, and especially beautiful. They gave us also a small pot of hot water to refill.
As I fancied something hot, I asked the waitress which dish was the hottest in the lunch menu. She pointed number 9, Pad Gaprao; meat (choice of beef, chicken or pork) or king prawns (with supplement) stir-fired with chili, garlic, onion, bamboo shoot, fine beans (I am not sure if it was French beans or snake beans), holy basil, served with jasmine rice.
Unfortunately it was not "hot" in Thai cuisine sense, even though I saw some fresh red chili. And it was too sweet, probably because of sugar. The biggest let-down was chicken; it had the texture of imported frozen chicken brest. I hope they don't use such an ingredient for full-priced dishes (but I would not risk to try).
This is Khao Pad Tra Krai, fried rice with lemon grass. We had the same choice of meat and shell fish.
It is just a regular fried rice with lemon grass; ok, but not particularly good either.
For both of the dishes, I was most disappointed in lack of particulary Thai ingredient like fish sauce, fresh coriander, and fresh green chili. If you don't like these, but fancy Thai, this is the place for you. But for me, without these, what is the point of eat Thai food?
Among many bad-taste sculptures, this is I thought was the worst; naked woman on elephant's nose, with a fountain of more half-naked women.
We had also two cups of coffee, and the total bill came to some £16, so we left £18. It is as much as we pay for dim sum, but the result was much less satisfactory. I could have done better at home.
It was not bad, but I will not go again.
AddressF22, Waterfront Walk, Birmingham, B1 1SN
Phone: 0121 665 6568 Fax: 0121 665 6569
