Kalaya Thai Kitchen in Fishtown to introduce lunch menu this weekend

Starting this weekend, foodies will have a new choice in Fishtown for a midday meal.

Chef Chutatip "Nok" Suntaranon will begin offering lunch service on Saturdays and Sundays at Kalaya Thai Kitchen, at 4 W. Palmer St. Weekend lunch, featuring a number of dishes from the dinner menu plus new additions, launches Saturday, March 18.

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On the lunch menu diners will find a variety of authentic Thai dishes, like taohu (fried tofu with sweet chili jam and peanuts); pad thai goong (pad thai with river prawn, tofu, beansprouts, peanut, egg, tamarind); kanon jeen gaeng pu (colossal lump crab curry, rice vermicelli noodles, soft boiled egg, house curry paste, lime leaf) and khao soi nua (beef khao soi with egg noodles, coconut milk, mustard greens, chili crisp, crispy noodles). For dessert there is black sticky rice, made sweet and served with longan fruit.

As the weather warms up this spring, Kalaya will begin propping open its three large doors facing Palmer Street, giving the restaurant indoor and outdoor elements.

"We always planned on adding weekend lunch, and after months of recipe testing and execution, we are finally ready to welcome in guests during the daytime," Suntaranon said in a press release. "We put a lot of hard work into this menu, and we are very proud to bring it to life."

Kalaya, which has been serving southern Thai cuisine in Philly since 2019, has earned several accolades. In 2020, the Kalaya was named Esquire's Best New Restaurant in America, a James Beard Foundation finalist for Best New Restaurant and one of Food & Wine magazine's Best New Restaurants in America. Suntaranon was a finalist for Best Chef Mid-Atlantic at the 2022 James Beard awards, and is currently a semifinalist for 2023. 

The restaurant moved from the Italian Market to its new spacious 144-seat spot in late November. Mawn, a BYOB Cambodian noodle house, now occupies Kalaya's former space at 764 S. Ninth Street

Weekend lunch will begin at 11 a.m. with final seatings at 2 p.m. Reservations for up to 10 people can be made online, but those looking to book parties of nine or more or host a private event should contact the restaurant directly.