A new Thai restaurant is coming to the Near Southside, and that’s never a bad thing. Three blocks west of neighborhood mainstay Spice, the new Ko Thai will open a two-story showcase restaurant in a new space at 721 W. Magnolia Ave., on the corner across Travis Avenue next to Brewed. Ko Thai is an expanded and dialed-up version of Koracha Thai, a family-run restaurant in Bedford.
The first floor will hold a craft cocktail bar with Thai-infused cocktails,with dining on the second floor overlooking Magnolia Avenue, partner “Nick” Thana Pornin said. Koracha Thai, 229 Harwood Road, and family members’ older restaurant, Thai O’cha in Kerrville, are both the top-rated Thai restaurants in those cities. “We want to take the concept upscale,” Pornin said. Ko Thai is nearly a $1 million restaurant, he said.
“We will have Thai chefs, Thai bartenders — everything,” he said. The restaurant will reflect more Thai culture and a Thai dining experience, a spokeswoman said. Ko Thai will serve the same pad Thai, tom kha and curries as Koracha Thai and other Thai restaurants, Pornin said.
But Ko Thai will add chef’s specialties, including two from the current menu at Koracha, he said: fried duck with Thai basil and jalapenos, and fried whole red snapper with Thai chili sauce. Koracha is unassuming. It’s a small, simple restaurant in a drab suburban strip shopping center.
But the decor is pretty, and the food at lunch one day this week exceeded the mundane setting. The sliced duck was fork-tender. The dish tasted primarily of duck, jalapeno and basil. a combination that sells well in Texas. The spice level was ordered as a “3.” But it came out closer to a “4.” This is not the dish for entry-level Thai food experimentation.
But the overall experience was much better than expected in the setting, and this kind of flavor could easily be a hit on the Near Southside. Ko Thai is expected to open this winter, Pornin said. The plans were first reported by CultureMap Fort Worth.
Source: YAHOO NEWS
