Krung Thai

Krung Thai
580 S. Winchester Blvd
San Jose, CA 95128
(408) 248-3435
www.newkrungthai.com

Vitals:
M-F: 11 am - 3 pm, 5 pm - 10 pm
Sat-Sun: 12 pm - 10 pm
kid friendly
Reservations accepted for groups of 6 or more

Thai food is one of my favorite cuisines and after taking a Thai cooking class and traveling through Thailand, I’m become more critical of the dishes that are served at Thai restaurants. That being said, this restaurant serves some pretty authentic Thai food and has a extensive menu that will satisfy most tastes. New Krung Thai is a sister restaurant to the older restaurant down the street, but I prefer this location as it is nicely decorate, newer and seems cleaner. There is one large dining hall, which can get pretty noisy at night so I wouldn't recommend this place if you're looking for a quiet place to have an intimate conversation.

The Tom Yum Goong soup here disappointed me (ranges from $8.95 for the small to $17.95 for the extra large). Tom Yum soup is a hot and sour traditional soup that is found all over Thailand. Sweet, salty, sour and spicy tastes are all balanced in this aromatic soup. Generally, the stock is made from shrimp shells and lemongrass, shrimp paste provides the sweetness, fish sauce provides the saltiness, lime and tamarind provide the sourness and Thai chilis provide the spicy taste. The soup at Krung Thai didn’t have the right balance of sweet, sour, spicy and salty. It was a bit bland and definitely too sour. It basically tasted like lemongrass soup with some lime. Pieces of lemongrass floated in the soup (which should have been strained out). I want authentic darn it and I’ll keep searching until I find a perfect bowl of Tom Yum Goong soup.

The Tod Mun (fish cakes) is a good appetizer ($7.95). The fish cakes are patties of ground fish mixed with green onions and other spices and is served with a dipping sauce that is sweet and sour sauce with cucumbers and chilis. The fish is deep fried and has a slight saltiness and chewiness that is balanced by the sweet and sour sauce. The appetizers are generally around $7.95 and are good as well, such as the Satay (chicken, beef or pork) or the Angel Wings.

The curries here are adequate ($10.95 for the chicken, pork or beef, and $12.95 with prawns). Thai curries are generally made with coconut milk, which made the curries a bit sweet and cuts the spiciness of the curry paste. The Penang Fish Curry (red curry with basa) was particularly good, but any of the curries are good. However, the curries could use more vegetables and/or meat.

My favorite dishes are the ones with basil and chili (Pad Gra-Paw) ($8.95 for chicken, beef or pork, $9.95 for calamari and $12.95 for prawns). In particular, the squid with basil and chili is good as the squid is not too chewy and the sauce nicely complements the blandness of the squid. The flavors are strong and complex with the combinations of garlic, fish sauce, pepper and basil.

If you’re in the mood for noodles, the Pad Thai ($9.95) and the Pad See Ew ($8.95 with chicken, beef or pork and $9.95 with prawns) noodles are good. The Pad Thai noodles were slightly chewy and firm and was is covered in a savory somewhat sweet sauce and comes with tofu, meat (such as shrimp), bean sprouts and crushed peanuts. I really like that they make the Pad Thai the traditional way (it doesn’t look like they use ketchup when making the sauce). The Pad See Ew noodles are good as well. The rice noodles are soft and covered in a slightly sweet black soy sauce and mixed with vegetables and choice of meat.

When in season, try to save some room for the dessert made of mangoes with sticky rice. I think that this is one of the more perfect desserts in terms of texture and taste. The glutinous rice complements the texture of the mangoes and the sweetness of the mangoes mixes well with the sweet coconut flavor in the sticky rice.