Malai Kitchen image

Malai Kitchen

Restaurant Bar Cocktail bar Asian restaurant Lounge Thai restaurant Brewpub Vietnamese restaurant South east asian restaurant

Buzzy bistro serving Thai & Vietnamese fare & specialty cocktails in a sleek space with a patio. People often mention good, time, beef, rice, curry, Thai, sticky, great, service, nice,


Address

3699 McKinney Ave #319, Dallas, TX 75204

Website

malaikitchen.com

Contact

(214) 599-7857

Price rating

$$ $$

Rating on Google Maps

4.40 (1.9K reviews)

Open on Google Maps

Featured Reviews


Frequently mentioned in reviews: good (20) time (10) beef (10) rice (9) curry (8) Thai (8) sticky (7) great (7) service (7) nice (7)
Reviews are sorted by relevance, prioritizing the most helpful and insightful feedback at the top for easier reference.
  • 5/5 Mark J. 2 years ago on Google
    One of our go to places in the neighborhood. Happy hour here is perfect for us. Numerous gluten free food choices. Service has always been on point. Food is excellent quality and portions are generous. Great gluten free dessert choices. Our two favs are the coconut crème pie and mango sticky rice. In that order.
    4 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Bronson C. 2 years ago on Google
    Don’t worry, when you try Malai Kitchen’s curry you’ll see what the fuss is really about! Hands down one of the best Thai food experiences I’ve had. Everything we tried was absolutely delicious - Malai kitchen goes to immaculate lengths to execute incredible authenticity across their entire food AND beverage fare. As if this wasn’t impressive enough, they have their own fantastic line-up of beers brewed in-house. The coconut soup, lemongrass soup, red curry icelandic char, peanut crusted trout, and yellow curry all were total explosions of mouth pleasuring flavors.
    4 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 4/5 Roda M. 1 year ago on Google
    This was our first time trying Thai and what a great place for the first time! The establishment was very clean and the service was great. The food was very flavorful. The complimentary sticky rice app was a cute way to start, like unwrapping a little gift. The sampler appetizer was the way to go to try all the sauces and different items. I don't think we had anything we didn't like. Our favorite entree was the shrimp pad Thai, I cannot describe the flavor but it was spot on, the noodles were cooked perfectly. The beef dish had a very good flavor as well but if it had more sauce it probably would have been so much better and less dry. We did order a side of simple fried rice and the name said it, it was simple. Overall, we were very pleased and would definitely return.
    4 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 4/5 Sue Tao N. 2 years ago on Google
    Had a good experience on 12/20/2020, because the menu had gluten free specific items that were marked. We didn't have to wait because we had dinner reservations. The outdoor seating was perfectly temperature controlled. I enjoyed my drink and my food, even though service was a bit slow. My portion was good for the money, and I didn't want it to go to waste, so I took the rest to-go. I liked the decor, but it was a bit cramped, although that might have been due to it being peak dinner hours. Lastly, our server was very kind and accommodating.
    3 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 4/5 Kriti S. 2 years ago on Google
    The whole area around it so lovely with a lot of restaurants surrounding each other. This place was small inside but the outdoor seating was great. It was a little smoky because of the sizzlers maybe. Drunken noodles was great. The starter platter had everything nice except the chicken satay, which I felt was a little over cooked. But the staff is very humble and friendly. All the staff had a mask on. It’s a nice place to go for an evening dinner.
    3 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 3/5 Sue K. 2 years ago on Google
    There is plenty of parking in a nearby parking also limited street parking. Most staff wore masks, guests did not. Tables were definitely not socially distanced. There is indoor seating as well as “outdoor” (it was covered when we were there). The restaurant was fairly busy when we arrived. Luckily we were seated in the outdoor space. Our drinks and food arrived fairly fast. However, we specifically requested no cilantro in any dishes. Almost all of the dishes had cilantro in them…when we mentioned it to the waiter he half apologized and made the excuse he can’t control what the kitchen does. Then it took forever for us to get our second round of drinks…which ended up never arriving. Sticky rice (free appetizer): plain sticky rice, nice to munch on while we waited. Drinks: nice and strong and unique flavors Lemongrass mussels: very flavorful and easy to eat. I enjoyed the sauce a lot to dip the bread in. Thai Lemongrass soup: light enough broth to really drink enjoyably. Wish it came out warmer. Green Papaya Salad: we requested it to be extra spicy and they definitely delivered. I liked the fact that it did not have the fishy flavor. Jungle Curry Hot Pot Shrimp: definitely not the typical curry I have had before. There was no curry flavor at all. It was meh in my opinion. Chilean Sea Bass: very light, but the sea bass dissolves in your mouth. Drunken Noodles: not spicy, but taste pretty good. Spicy Basil Chicken Fried Rice: not really spicy in my opinion. Egg could be more runny, so it mixes better. Overall pretty good! Roti: wish it came out warmer. Not as crispy as I have had before. Also typically there is a curry sauce that you can dip in but there wasn’t. Mango Sticky Rice Smash: an unique twist to the mango sticky rice dessert. The mangoes tasted pretty fresh. Overall a bit more sweeter than what I have had in Thailand. For the price, the service just wasn’t there. The food was not bad. Not something I would go out of my way to eat.
    2 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 4/5 Grace P. 7 months ago on Google
    Was in Dallas for work and my team dinner got canceled. Swung by for a quick bite and was blown away by their Pad Kee Mao. The best I've ever had, the noodles were doughy and chewy and the waitress informed me they make their own noodles. Also very impressed by their own hot sauce brand! Service was great, they offered me complimentary sticky rice. Only con was a bit hard to hail down a waiter, but likely due to the restaurant being extremely packed.
    2 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Katie H. 4 months ago on Google
    This is one of my favorite places to go. I have tried a lot of things here and they have all been delicious. Seriously, never been disappointed. And, shout out to the server Anthony! Every time he has waited for my table, he has always been super attentive and gives good recommendations!
    2 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 3/5 findjoselyn 4 months ago on Google
    I have a love-hate relationship with this location. The food is so delicious and flavorful. I love to dine on the covered, patio portion of the restaurant. Lovely views of the surrounding shops, and you get people watch. My biggest complaint is… Every single time I order the mango, sticky rice, whether I order it while dining in, or to go. The server always tries to deter me from ordering it. It is my favorite dessert in the entire world, and I love everything about it! However, I have had a full on war every time, just trying to order it. Things escalated so much I had to talk to a Manager. I understand that they want the dish served a certain way, but it’s on the menu. Call me old school, but I like to order it every time. I am looking forward to checking out the other locations.
    2 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 1/5 Amari S. 1 year ago on Google
    I went with my mother we usually get multiple dishes to test out, we just got a couple here. There was a stinky sour smell for 2-3 dishes we got. The lemongrasses Mussels where the only thing that where good and the desert. Plus we got a piece of hair on the side with our sticky rice and spicy sauce for entrée unfortunately. The Waitress said the hair was from the banana leaf but obviously it was a piece of hair with the root attached. Rate 1-5 1/2 the drinks where good. Ps if you don’t like peanut get them to the side or nun at all!
    2 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 4/5 Eb K. 1 year ago on Google
    I enjoyed this nice little spot. It's in a shopping area with stores all around, so it's a great location to get out and walk all the good food off. The food was good. I had Pad Thai which is always a solid choice, but it had some extra add ons that were not needed but overall tasted decent. I had a meatball appetizer, they were not like regular meatballs and looked like little patties, but they were good, kind of sweet and I enjoyed the sauce that came with them. My cousin had a seafood soup of sorts that she loved! It was so flavorful she asked if it had pork in it which it did not. The waitress was amazing and patient. It was our first time there and she talked us through our options. I would return!
    2 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Janus Young-Hee H. 1 year ago on Google
    Awesome service! Big heavy silverware, dishes and glasses. Asked for curry as spicy as they make it (out of 5), didn't disappoint. $9 beer flight delivered. It was probably the most well conceived and executed Thai fusion I have ever had. A+++
    2 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 4/5 Sunil K. 5 months ago on Google
    Nice cozy place to dine in and enjoy some good Thai & Vietnamese cuisine along with cocktails. We tried grilled chicken satay, drunken noodles and Thai green curry. We liked all three dishes although the grilled chicken satay was was a bit overcooked. Must try is their different curries, the green one we tried it was yum!! Definitely, recommend to try out this place.
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 4/5 Nagarjuna 1 year ago on Google
    We were there for my cousin’s graduation dinner party. I went to lot of thai restaurants before but I feel this one is something different than those, the ambiance was good and staff was sweet. The food is so good and authentic, every dish we ordered was good except the Banana dessert, it might be cause of my taste I didn’t like it much. I missed the sugar cane juice which I wanted to try but it was not available, I would like to try it next time for sure.
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 3/5 Allith G. 1 year ago on Google
    Lowdown: I was expecting something different, I loved the vibes. Would I go back? Yes, but not for pho. I was looking for pho on maps and this popped up, I was expecting to have a more diverse pho offering, but it only has beef and chicken noodle. I was expecting more traditional pho with a bigger selection of meat cuts, veggies (tripe, beef round, flank, tendon, bean sprouts etc), vermicelli, etc. I eat pho regularly and have a sense of what too expec, so a large didn't scare me. This was beef with pho, more beef than pho. It gives a very fatty, thick and bloody tasting soup. Naturally, beef has fat, so it's not the broth. The more beef, the more fat. If you have ever felt that there is not enough beef, your are going to absolutely love this place. It has too much beef!🙉 The chicken spring rolls were burnt, very nasty charcoal flavor, I've included a photo of the charred chicken breast. The strong IPA taste like a warm IPA, I actually drink both Cold and bitter IPA. I don't recommend it, it has an aftertaste (for an IPA, I drink stardust, el chingon, Double IPA, voodoo, etc) I loved the server was very nice. The service was subpar, but maybe it was late. However the music is awesome 👍👍, they continually played deep house songs that I constantly play on my daily. Who ever runs the playlist is awesome.

  • 3/5 Little O. 1 year ago on Google
    Overall food is good. If you are fine with Asian Fusion then it is okay. It is not authentic enough. The Bangkok Street Rice was good. The portion is decent. The Vietnamese meatballs are different, although it is very good, it is not the authentic Vietnamese Xiu Mai. Drunken Noodles with beef tastes like Vietnamese Bo Luc Lac which has good seasoning.

  • 4/5 Claudio Serviere M. 4 months ago on Google
    The food is delicious and the prices are not as high as other places these days. The amount of protein (tenderloin) in the drunken noodles is very small. The service from the staff is exceptional, there are very friendly and attentive. The place may need a very deep cleaning, they have stuff hanging close to the kitchen and they are full of dust.

  • 5/5 Deborah H. 4 months ago on Google
    I had such a wonderful time here last night! We sat out in the patio area, it was quite and very calm. The atmosphere is great. Our server, Anthony, was absolutely amazing! He was very attentive and provided excellent service. He answered all our questions about menu items and drinks. 10/10 would recommend this place and ask for Anthony!

  • 5/5 Ashish B. 4 months ago on Google
    Lots of vegetarian and vegan choices. Excellent taste. Anthony who served was so good, had lot of knowledge about each item. We will visit again and again.

  • 5/5 Claudia Braz de O. 5 months ago on Google
    Celebrated our wedding anniversary here and it was a delight. Wonderful time and food served was so delicious. Our waiter was so pleasant and nice.


Call (214) 599-7857 Open on Google Maps

Amenities


  • Parking
    • ✓️ Free parking lot
    • ✓️ Plenty of parking
    • ✓️ Free parking garage
  • Payments
    • ✓️ Debit cards
    • ✓️ Credit cards
    • ✓️ NFC mobile payments
  • Offerings
    • ✓️ Beer
    • ✓️ Wine
    • ✓️ Coffee
    • ✓️ Alcohol
    • ✓️ Cocktails
    • ✓️ Quick bite
    • ✓️ Hard liquor
    • ✓️ Comfort food
    • ✓️ Small plates
    • ✓️ Vegan options
    • ✓️ Happy hour food
    • ✓️ Healthy options
    • ✓️ Late-night food
    • ✓️ Happy hour drinks
    • ✓️ Vegetarian options
  • Popular for
    • ✓️ Lunch
    • ✓️ Dinner
    • ✓️ Solo dining
  • Accessibility
    • ✓️ Wheelchair accessible seating
    • ✓️ Wheelchair accessible entrance
    • ✓️ Wheelchair accessible restroom
    • ✓️ Wheelchair accessible parking lot
  • Dining options
    • ✓️ Lunch
    • ✓️ Brunch
    • ✓️ Dinner
    • ✓️ Dessert
    • ✓️ Seating
    • ✓️ Catering
    • ✓️ Breakfast
  • Service options
    • ✓️ Dine-in
    • ✓️ Takeout
    • ✓️ Delivery
    • ✓️ Curbside pickup
    • ✓️ Outdoor seating
    • ✓️ No-contact delivery

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