Built by celebrity owners including TV hosts Pauline Lan (藍心湄) and Momoko Tao (陶子), Kiki franchises have become well-known spots for Sichuan cuisine in Taipei. With Kiki Thai Cafe, a relatively new member under the Kiki imprint, the growing restaurant group takes a stab at Thai food while using strategies that have proven successful for its other restaurants: prime location, a chic setting and good, home-style food.
Since neither my dining partner nor I have stayed in Thailand long enough to become familiar with home-style Thai cooking, we cannot validate the restaurant’s authenticity. But if you’re looking for something sour and spicy, Kiki Thai hits the spot. The restaurant rates both the spiciness and sourness of its dishes from one to three stars, and judging from our couple of visits, the three-star dishes are not for those sensitive to strong flavors. The good news is that diners can always ask for toned-down versions.
For appetizers, a popular item is Thai green papaya salad (青木瓜鹹蛋沙拉, NT$180). Kiki’s version mixes crisp papaya slices with a variety of spices and minced salted egg, resulting in a piquant combination of textures and flavors worthy of its three-star rating. Stir-fried pork with basil, preserved egg and spicy sauce (泰式九層塔炒豬肉, NT$260) is another peppery dish seasoned with chopped garlic and slivers of chili. It is deceivingly mild on the first bite, but a few mouthfuls later your taste buds face the consequences. In my case, several sips of icy Singha beer (NT$80) barely eased the burning.
Photo: Ho Yi, Taipei Times
As a counterpoint to all the tanginess, the crispy fried shrimp pancake (炸蝦餅, NT$280) is comfortingly flavorful and won my favor. Served with sweet and sour plum sauce, the golden crispy pancake explodes with juicy shrimp meat when you bite into it.
For a main dish, we chose the masaman curry beef in coconut sauce (馬薩曼咖哩牛肉, NT$280). It turned out to be relatively mild, though the meat was too tough and gamey for my taste. My carnivorous dining companion, however, felt fine with the beefy flavor.
Other dishes recommended by the food bloggers I surveyed include stir-fried chicken giblets with basil and spicy sauce (泰式九層塔炒雞雞, NT$260), Thai-style grilled chicken leg with spicy sauce (泰式烤雞腿, NT$260), perch in sour plum soup (梅子鱸魚湯, NT$320) and crispy fried chicken wing with lemon grass (檸檬草炸雞翅, NT$220).
Photo: Ho Yi, Taipei Times
Service at this breezy establishment in Taipei’s East District (東區) is accommodating and efficient. Our food was whisked to the table within 15 minutes after ordering. And when we complained about the small size of our table for two, the waitstaff promptly moved us to a table for four.
A decent selection of tea, coffee, juice, beer and wine are available. The most popular option on the dessert menu is banana cake with vanilla ice cream (香草香蕉蛋糕, NT$150).
For information on other Kiki franchises, visit www.kiki1991.com.
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