Kinnara Thai Food in Van Nuys
Two Saturdays ago, Brandon and I were lucky enough to get out for a date, which never happens because he never has Saturday off. When you date a chef you’re pretty much condemned to mid-week meals with one another, if you’re lucky,which isn’t so bad but when we do actually get to go out for a weekend night meal, it’s definitely a special occasion. Brandon made the trek out from Ventura (where he lives) to meet me in the valley after my long day of yoga studio duties, yoga practice, and yoga teacher training and we decided to get some local Thai food. Just a couple of blocks away from my house is Kinnara. Kinnara is a modern inspired Thai restaurant with an interesting elegant atmosphere, especially for being situated in a pretty dingy strip mall on Sherman Way, in Van Nuys. Kinnara moved to its new location, not very far from its old one, which is a larger more modern space next to a Starbucks. The restaurant had a modern appeal from the moment you walk in–the modern bar top awaits you and as you peek into the small dining room, people are dressed up or down to have a flavorful weekend meal.
We sat in a little bit of an awkwardly situated small table in the corner, but it wasn’t unbearable. Looking over the menu there were so many options for us to choose from. I was pretty indecisive about the whole thing, so it was nice to have someone choose a couple of dishes for me. We decided that we would have panang beef, lemongrass fried rice with chicken and shrimp, and lastly the 101 noodles. The food was served promptly and everything was prepared well. The lemongrass fried rice was served first; it had a lovely semi-strong flavor of lemongrass with a subtle spiciness, the chicken was a little over-cooked, which I find often happening in these type of dishes, and there were about 2-4 shrimp in the whole dish. I really enjoyed the flavor and it made a good bed for the panang beef. The tender beef was floating in a spicy and sweet sauce with all the familiar Thai flavors and lots of delicious coconut milk. The 101 noodles was a strange dish of sticky noodles and minced beef with romaine lettuce, tomatoes, and shitake mushrooms. The shitake mushrooms were the highlight of the dish and once you added some extra spicy Thai chilies and a little of the panang sauce, it was appetizing. Overall, for a tasty Thai meal in Van Nuys, at a very reasonable price, Kinnara made for a lovely time together eating some familiar flavors on a weekend evening.