An Exciting New Thai Restaurant Hits the Heights This Week

Kin Dee Thai, a noodle shop that focuses on Thai cuisine from four distinct regions of the country, will open May 22 at The Market at Houston Heights at 1533 North Shepherd Drive.

The restaurant is the brainchild of Thailand natives and longtime friends Lukkaew Srasrisuwan and Miranda Loetkhamfu. Srasrisuwan grew up in the south of Thailand while Loetkhamfu grew up in the north, but both eventually ended up in Houston, where they met in 2014 at a networking event. They both also have hospitality experience — Srasrisuwan worked for a decade at her family’s beachfront hotel on the Gulf of Thailand, and Loetkhamfu was a chef-partner in Erawan Seafood & Steak, a popular Thai fusion restaurant in Queens, NY.

Kin Dee, which means “eat well” in Thai and is part of a traditional Thai blessing, will serve a menu of classic and modern Thai dishes like street-food-style grilled pork belly, Thai boat noodle soup, and green curry. There’s also a super-fancy dish called the Money Bag, which involves fried minced chicken that’s wrapped in edible gold paper. The cocktail list includes a margarita spiked with flavors of tom yum soup, and the Mango Sticky Rice, a play on the dessert of the same name.

Loetkhamfu, who will run the kitchen, plans to use ingredients sourced directly from Thailand, as well as some homegrown in Houston. Her dishes will focus on the unique culinary traditions of the Northern, Southern, Northeast and Central regions of Thailand, each with their own distinct heat signatures and flavors.

Kin Dee will be open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m, and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

• The Heights’s New Thai Restaurant Will Focus on Regional Dishes [EHOU]