Nestled in the northernmost area of Williamsburg, KRU (190 N. 14th St.) brings inventive interpretations of traditional Thai dishes to North Brooklyn. The newcomer opened earlier this month without fanfare, but has already seen success.
“The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive from our guests who have never experienced this approach to Thai cooking before,” said the owners of KRU, husband and wife team Chef Ohm Suansilphong and Kiki Supap.
Supap is a third-generation Thai dessert maker and has wanted to open a restaurant with her husband for years. The couple’s dream finally came true with Chef Suansilphong managing the kitchen and Supap overseeing operations at KRU.
The team at KRU explained that in Thailand, instead of holding memorial events, wealthy families publish memorial books that include recipes. Chef Suansilphong is an aficionado of Thai culinary history and read about such recipes that used international ingredients like Japanese fish sauce, ham, olives and tomatoes. Chef Suansilphong took this knowledge and is now incorporating it at KRU, creating dishes inspired by ancient recipes that are rarely served in the United States.
KRU’s menu is large and includes small plates are meant to be served first, followed by relishes that remain on the table throughout the meal. The relishes, or savory dips, are followed by larger plates and curries.
The small plates section of the menu includes flavorful items like watermelon with fish crumbs, shrimp in sherry, grilled golae curried chicken wings, young jackfruit salad, crab meat pla style salad, cured beef salad, and five-spiced crispy pig ears.
The relish section includes two basic types of Thai relish — nam prik and lon. Highlights of the relish menu include fresh gooseberry nam prik made with smoked fish, grilled shrimp paste and gooseberries, and lon olives who are kalamata olives simmered in coconut cream and pandan leaves and seasoned with a medley of spices.
The larger plate section of the menu includes kaeng and other more substantial dishes that can be shared. The list of kaeng dishes includes kaeng hang le pork jowl-stuffed poblano peppers, kaeng kua lobster with santol, and kaeng pa beef tongue. There is also herb-roasted pork with braised vegetables, listed as an item to share.
KRU’s menu also incudes a section titled “Off the Menu” with at least one special menu item that will rotate. Currently featured is a dish of pineapple and dried prawns with noodles.
KRU’s wine selection consists mainly of organic and sustainable wines from the across the globe in a range of price points. Highlights are the Fuchs und Hase Pet Nat from Austria and the Punta Crena Rossese from Italy.
The restaurant itself fits in perfectly among Williamsburg’s attractive dining destinations. It was designed by Tong Chaiwong, who was inspired by arboretums when laying out the plan for KRU. The main dining room is very pretty and features high ceilings decorated with apothecary cabinets that are filled with Thai ingredients, mostly herbs and spices.
KRU features a roll-up door that can open fully during warmer months. The restaurant also has a beautiful backyard.
KRU currently serves dinner Tuesday to Sunday, 5 p.m. – 10 p.m., but told Greenpointers that they will be open seven days a week in the near future.