Proprietors of Chinoiserie and L’Oeuf, Celeste Thornley and brothers Jasper and Ludo Maignot’s newest venture is Kiss Kiss in Balmoral. Modeled on a Chiang Mai style dining hall, the decor is pink, eclectic and like nothing else in Auckland.

Street food is what’s on offer here and patrons sit at long communal tables sampling the Northern Thai inspired dishes.Floral vinyl tablecloths line the tables and fluorescent lighting adorns the walls with novelty viewfinders available at the tables to view the cocktail menus.

The menu is split into Noodles, Rice, Sweets, Bar Snacks, Buns, Shared and Sides. Kiss Kiss also serve breakfast from 7am where you can feast on items such as french toast as well as Thai specialties including coconut black sticky rice.

Of course we were always going to start with the buns! We chose two out of the three options and went for the Pork Belly Bun with som tom salad, peanuts and coriander which was crispy and succulent. We also sampled the Free Range Lemongrass Chicken Bun which came with sriracha mayo, house made Thai red cabbage sauerkraut and coriander.

Look at that crackling!

The chicken was crispy on the outside and soft and moist on the inside. The red cabbage provided that acidic kick and the bun was soft, billowy and perfectly steamed.

Best dish of the night was the Sii Khrong Moo Yaang – Thai style pork ribs served with Jaew sauce. This sauce was to die for and the rib meat just fell off the bone!

Next we went for the Khao Phat Muu – Thai style fried rice with pork mince, egg, spring onion and corinader. This was one of the best fried rice dishes we have had in Auckland and the satay sauce really was amazing.

We also ordered the Phad Si Ew – large stir fried rice noodles with gai lan and soy with pork. The noodles were soft and expertly cooked and the sauce made the pork moist and soft.

Our final dish was the Neua Naam Tok – Isaan pulled beef vermicelli salad with spring onion, birds eye chilli, red onion, coriander and fresh mint topped with crushed peanuts.This salad was fresh and clean and the chilli gave a real hit of spice.

For a fun, different restaurant experience in a funky environment with tasty street food, we would definitely recommend Kiss Kiss. Remember to grab a lollipop with a bug encased inside on your way out!

Kiss Kiss

1 Rocklands Avenue

Balmoral

Auckland

Tel: 09 600 3076

https://www.facebook.com/kisskisseatery/