Kin Deum
Thai
2 Crucifix Ln, Bermondsey, SE1 3JW
££
Owners of Kin Deum Roselyn, Shakris and Bank are all siblings. Following in their fathers footsteps of hospitality and delicious cooking, they bought the establishment of Kin Deum off of him. Kin and Deum translates as 'eat and drink': an ode to the simplicity prevalent in the rest of the restaurant's setting. An Ikea-esque minimalism and Swedish/Japanese form follows function approach is the vibe, with wooden shelves holding potted plants and plain light blue/grey walls. This is offset, however, by the dining experience: the menu exploding with variety, flavour and excitement - the food eaten with beautiful copper cutlery off of finely decorated china plates.
I called at around 17:30 on a Saturday, and after some confusion and being handed over a few times to different people, managed to book a table for a couple of hours time sat up at the bar (the rest of the tables were fully booked). However, when we arrived we were told that we could have a counter seat near the window in the next 5 minutes - a much better option as there was more space generally and we didn't feel like we were inconveniently glaring at the staff behind the bar. The service following from this was pretty flawless all night - with a handful of incredibly friendly waiters happy to explain each dish and consistently checking if everything was up to standard (without being overbearing or annoying).
We ordered a Singha and a Chang (both £4), followed by some Brown spicy Prawn Crackers (£3), Thai Dumplings (£6.7), and Garlic Squid (£7). I feel like a stupid Brit when I say this, but I never really did get on board with the 'proper' prawn crackers, tending to prefer the greasy, paler kind. These were way more dense, peppery and, overall, not that good (subjectively, of course). The Thai Dumplings were tasty at first, however, the minced pork and prawn was indistinguishable and ended up tasting pretty same-y: needing quite a bit of sauce to be truly fantastic. The squid was of a similar nature, and although cooked PERFECTLY (tender, not chewy, flavoursome) was a tad too greasy, and I must say that I've had better batter.
To follow, we ordered a Crispy Red Curry Salad (£6.5), a King Prawn Pad Thai (£13.5), and a Beef Panang Curry (£11). The Crispy Red Curry salad was a beautiful fusion of crunchy and soft textures, accompanied with spicy, nutty and sour flavours. It worked beautifully, and was like no other dish I've tried before (not even during my month in Thailand). The Pad Thai was less impressive than those I'd had in Thailand but THE PRAWNS WERE INCREDIBLE. Like, seriously, the biggest prawns I have ever seen in my life - it felt like more of a lobster Pad Thai than anything else. By the time the Panang came I was pretty stuffed, but this was also impressive: thin strips of tender beef swimming amongst various vegetables in a warm orange bath of spicy coconutty goodness.
We asked them to package up the remainders of the Pad Thai and Curry, to which they happily obliged and sent us on our way with a little goodie bag. The whole experience took us just over an hour, despite the sheer amount of food. This was, however, due to our extreme hungover hunger rather than any pressure on their side. Overall, Kin Deum is a good place to sample some tasty Thai food. If you're lucky enough to have explored the street food of Bangkok, then you might easily find fault, however, as an original Thai in the heart of Bermondsey it comes across as pretty authentic.
OVERALL RATING: ****
https://www.kindeum.com/
