King & I Thai

12/09/09

Still the best !!

by Gael G at Citysearch

I've been frequenting the K&I for ten years and it has always been and remains to be of stellar service. I find it hard to believe anyone who is looking for an all around good night out fails to find it in its lounge/bar. Those that cannot (like, ahem, a certain previous overly-nostalgic reviewer) obviously have some control issues or must be living sadly to the tune of purposely finding the "bad" in everything, perhaps to the ruin of self-fulfilling prophesy. Eh, more for those of us that are addicted to it! All the bar staff, which are only a handful, are very courteous, attentive, and talented (especially blondie guy! How lame is that to personally attack someone in a review?).

But of course, I do believe good service is a privilege, not a right. If you are respectful to a place like this, the people in it are VERY good to you, ten-fold...dare I say "royal" treatment? With an err of court-jestery-ness no doubt.

It brings a certain elegant decadence to the table (literally) reflected not only in the service mentioned, but also in the atmosphere and especially the food.

The the eclecticly genred local dj's it features late give it a neighborhood cred while making it a place to be all week for newcomers. It's laid back vibe makes it comfortable any circumstance, whether after work happy hour, by yourself, date night, or a group of friends (I swear, there must be a birthday party there like every night). The downstairs enclosure feel, accented with dark mood lighting, makes it feel hidden, like a local secret. An inviting warm womb in the winter and a cool dark escape from muggy summer months.

The aforementioned exquisite indulgence is most evident in it's large portioned dishes. All the curries are to die for, the 34 red pepper sauce dish is good with any protein, and there are many others but hint: you can enjoy the spicy basil sauce (also used in an entree or rice dish) in the cheaper mussels appetizer, which are giants individually as well. Make sure and ask for a wheel-of-fire Thai chili spice tray with anything mild, if you like the burn! Chef Bou is amazing!

• Pros: Unique food and drinks, swanky dim atmosphere, fun staff
• Cons: Nothing, if it's not too busy to find a spot

06/09/09

Not what it used to be

by Harold423 at Citysearch

This used to be a regular destination for me and many of my neighbors when I lived in Loring. K&I had amazing happy hours, great company, awesome bartenders, perfect mood making DJ sets. Sadly, those days are long gone. I recently came in with a few friends to show them my former 'cheers' bar and all we got was attitude attitude attitude from the spikey haired blond bartender. I didnt recognize him from the old days he seemed like he would not be out of place pouring drinks downtown but this is Loring Park and not what i want to pay for.

We ordered some astronomically priced curry dishes which were pretty tasty but still, I didn't feel very welcome this time around. Along with the upbeat neighborhood feeling, also gone is the Wednesday 2-for-1 special. Possibly worst of all to anyone who likes to close a bar, the place now closes at 1am. The DJ sound was garbage too. With so many other choices in the neighborhood (Market Barbecue, the 19, and the thrilling new Indonesian treat Bali) I don't see myself returning to "The King" any time soon.

• Pros: Great food, live DJs, new sunday hours.
• Cons: high prices, snarky server attitude

02/15/09

Several cuts above most Thai restaurants

by pollysigh at Citysearch

My wife and I dined here last night, 14 February. It was our first time and I hope not our last. We have many years' experience at Thai restaurants, and this was one of the best, based on this one visit. We had: King's special egg roll to start. As some reviewers have noted, it was a bit pricey at $9.25 but was quite good as were the accompanying sauces. For entrees, we had Thai-style sweet and sour with a dozen large shrimp and a very tasty and complex broth. Excellent and definitely not over-priced at $19.50, and Gaeng Puk, a red curry prep with tofu (chicken optional). This was wonderful and also not overpriced at $17.50. A large bowl of rice is included with the meal. Aside from the excellent quality, the quantity exceeded our stomach capacities by a long shot. For dessert we split a small and inexpensive mango cake and mango ice cream. Very nice and refreshing. The staff, from the hostess to our server was very friendly, the server particularly so, in addition to being very efficient. The ambience is quite pleasant and several degrees nicer than most Thai restaurants. Those who complain about the food here being overpriced either (a) don't get out much or fail to take into account (b) the higher costs of downtown venues, (c) the quality of the aesthetics of this restaurant, (d) the quality and quantity of the preparations, or (e) all of the above. It was our first visit, admittedly; perhaps a second would be less positive. Of course, many of the critics of this restaurant probably had dined here only once as well.

• Pros: Decor, superior and more complex preps than in most Thai restaurants, reasonable prices
• Cons: None, based on this first visit

10/04/08

Good food, but unfriendly service

by MNelum at Citysearch

Our food was good, and the appetizer's were great! I loved the Cream Cheese Puffs and would recommend them to everyone! However, the price was a bit high, but I suppose that's what you get for eating in the city. Another negative was the service. The waiter fine but not very friendly and didn't appear to care much for her job. I felt like such a burden on her. After working in a restaurant myself, I know that this is not how a waiter should come across. I just would hope that, after paying such a high price for a meal, that I would look forward to coming back and not dread the servers.

• Pros: Food, Cream Cheese Puffs
• Cons: Price, Service

06/11/08

worst restaurant ever

by Shalisha at Citysearch

This is absolutely the worst place ever!! The wait staff is awful and so unhelpful. For such a pricey meal, I would expect much better service. I was there with a large party of people and our waiter only took half of our orders and then walked away. Our food came out inconsistently and the pad thai was the worst I have ever had. The restaurant was mostly empty and yet we could barely wave down our waiter. He seemed to disappear for hours. I would not recommend this place at all. If you want good Thai food head to Tum Rup Thai in Uptown, because you won't get it here!

• Pros: decor is nice and ambience is pretty. Fancy drinks are novel
• Cons: food is overpriced and not very tasty. Staff is not well trained nor knowledgable

02/27/08

I've created your meal for you!!! Best Thai I've had in Town.

by mgs316 at Citysearch

I've been eating here since it was still located on Nicollet Mall (until Target tore it down.) People who just order noodles and rice, as noted in other reviews, might be disappointed.

If you don't play it "safe" you will be rewarded: (I always order the shrimp where available, they are huge, plump, and tender) 1. Holy Basil Sauce with beef, ask for no mushroom, just onion, the mushrooms wash out the flavor. Very hot and one of the best meals I've ever had. Beef is tender and semi shredded. 2. Roasted Hot Pepper Sauce with cashews, peanuts, and shrimp. Sweet and hot, the shrimp are great. 3. Thai-Style Sweet and Sour with batter-fried shrimp. A smokey sweet sauce, probably the best sweet and sour I've ever had. 4. Tom Yum - clear tangy soup with shrimp, the best Tom Yum in town. Very spicy, very crisp and clean flavor. Most Thai restaurants don't push the flavors enough when making a Tom Yum, they make it weak for Minnesota tastes. 5. The curries are great, can't remember which i had last time but very solid.

I prefer to eat in the bar area, though dining room is a tad more formal. Make reservations normally, it gets busy. Trust me on those dishes, I don't think you will be disappointed.

• Pros: If you know what to order, best Thai in Minneapolis
• Cons: A little more expensive then it used to be, but after I'm done eating, I have no regrets.

02/22/08

Amazing & Creative Martini's

by Montgomerytb at Citysearch

First of all, the ambiance is great. I come here for the selection of martini's and appetizers, none of which I feel you can go wrong with. My favorite after-work order: Cucumber basil martini with chicken satay. Fabulous!

• Pros: Selection of martinis
• Cons: no nutrition information available on menu items

02/05/08

the BEST thai restaurant

by arturse at Citysearch

I have eaten at many, many Thai restaurants and this has always come on top. I eat there about once a month.

• Pros: FOOD, service, atmosphere
• Cons: a bit pricey

12/19/07

Avoid this dive

by brandon2010 at Citysearch

I have heard good things about this place- all of them were not true. My girlfriend and I were driving around and could not find parking for Lotus. So we decided to throw the $5 towards the valet parking and go to the Kind and Thai- bad bad choice. The wait staff took about 10-15 minutes to take our order for drinks and then was pushy about taking our food order at the same time- even though the dinning room was maybe a 3rd full. The food was bland, the fried rice tasted like plain white rice- it was $15. We told the waiter and he gave us soy sauce and told my girlfriend that she should use the oil out of the pepper sauce to "make it have flavor" even after she said she does not like too much spice. Place was a huge disappointment! dont waste your money!!

• Pros: none
• Cons: all

10/22/07

Ambiance, reservation recommended

by ackermanamy at Citysearch

My husband and I had a great time at King and I. The ambiance is more bistro/lounge than a typical thai restaurant. I imagine in the warmer months, dinner in the courtyard would be beautiful. We didn't have a reservation and so we sat at the bar, where they offer the full menu. I ordered the ginger martini and my husband orded some chili martini - they were both great. For an appetizer, we had the oyster mushrooms. They were breaded and came with a nice sauce. They weren't slimy as some mushrooms can be - perfect texture and flavor. We split the shrimp pad thai for dinner since portions are very large. It was not the best pad thai I've ever had, but it was really good with a lot of shrimp. Highly recommended for a nice dinner out. I think it can be a little noisy, but that may just be in the bar area.

• Pros: Service, ambiance, drinks
• Cons: need a reservation