Thai, Cambodian, meet at Kyu Bochi

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This article was published 16/11/2017 (3221 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Kyu restaurant family — which so far includes some popular food trucks and the Kyu Grill at The Forks, as well as Kyu Bistro and Kyu Slice — has expanded again, this time taking over a modest spot that specializes in Thai and Cambodian food. Kyu Bochi seems like a puzzling compromise, with neither the fusion cool of the Kyu brand, nor the hole-in-the-wall authenticity of the former Thai Bochi.

The nine-table restaurant is located along a sparse stretch of the Dufferin Industrial neighbourhood, which means the view is a little stark but street parking is really easy.

There’s no exterior sign up yet, and the interior is basic, with acoustic tile ceilings and vertical blinds on the windows.

There’s nothing wrong with basic when the food is good and cheap, but the current fare is a little uneven, and prices have gone up.

First let’s look at the good stuff. Lemon-lime spiced basa is gorgeous, the fish is crunchy with a panko coating and drizzled with a citrusy sauce.

Cambodian chicken panang combines thick strips of crisped, red-skinned chicken with rich curry, and lok lak khmer beef with peppery slow-cooked onions is tasty, though the accompanying tomatoes were cold and pallid.

Kyu Bochi lets you customize your spice level from zero to four, and many dishes allow you to choose your protein (options usually including chicken, pork, beef, shrimp or tofu).

The sauce for a green curry was tasty, but over-thickened to the edge of congealing.

Green curry soup, with big chunks of potatoes and chicken, was a better bet, offering the same complex creamy-but-hot flavour (I tried out level three on this one) with a better consistency. It came with rice on the side, and like many of the soups at Kyu Bochi, it was served in a massive, metallic bowl.

Basic pad Thai is good, though the nicely sauced noodles could use more ingredients for contrast and crunch. (Tamarind and curry variations are also available.) Ditto for the Cambodian dry curried vermicelli noodles, which were tasty but plain.

Fried rice gets rich flavour and creamy texture from coconut milk, but relies on that always slightly sad, frozen vegetable mix of corn niblets, cubed carrots and peas.

The Thai fish cakes were a real letdown — over-browned but not crisp, the texture rubbery and the taste only vaguely fishy. Spring rolls, on one night, were stiff and tasted old.

Service is very friendly but hampered by some small lapses — dishes came to the table without adequate serving utensils on one night — and the lunch rush in this small venue can be busy.

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Java junkies will welcome a recent opening in the South Osborne area. Park Line Coffee (685 Osborne St, 204-421-8383) is a welcoming little spot with a friendly neighbourhood feel. Along with the promised coffee, you can get a range of tea from Northern Delights and the Algonquin Tea Company.

Like a lot of other indie coffee places in town, Park Line also partners with other Winnipeg makers, bringing in fresh baking from Oh Doughnuts — a recently sampled white chocolate and raspberry doughnut was to-die-for — cinnamon buns from Jonnies Sticky Buns, and cookies from the Cookie Girl. Aschenti chocolate, from the local artisanal bean-to-bar chocolate maker, is also for sale.

The design also follows the contemporary coffee place template. The newly renovated space is bright and clean-lined, with mostly black-and-white fittings, Tolix-style chairs and a wooden bar looking out full-length windows onto Osborne.

alison.gillmor@freepress.mb.ca