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Kalaya, the hit Thai restaurant, opens for weekend lunch

Chef Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon will offer 10 main dishes, some from the dinner menu.

The dining room at Kalaya, 4 W. Palmer St., as seen by daylight during a friends-and-family test of the new lunch menu.
The dining room at Kalaya, 4 W. Palmer St., as seen by daylight during a friends-and-family test of the new lunch menu.Read moreMike Prince

Four months after Kalaya’s move to larger, swankier quarters in Fishtown-Kensington, chef Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon and Defined Hospitality are adding weekend lunch to the Thai destination’s repertoire.

It starts March 18.

Along with some dishes from the dinner menu, they will offer pad thai goong (with river prawn, tofu, bean sprouts, peanut, egg, and tamarind); taohu (fried tofu with sweet chili jam and peanuts); kanom pak gaad tod (turnip cake stir fry with dried shrimp, peanut, Chinese sausage, egg, bean sprouts); khao soi nua (beef khao soi with egg noodles, coconut milk, mustard greens, chili crisp, crispy noodles); khao mok gai (chicken biryani with basmati rice, turmeric, clove, curry leaf, prik nam pla); soup see krong (short rib soup with potato, fried shallot, lemongrass, lime, tomato); khua kling kwang (dry-toasted curry with ground venison, fried egg, green peppercorn, lime leaf); kanon jeen gaeng pu (colossal lump crab curry, rice vermicelli noodles, soft boiled egg, house curry paste, lime leaf).

Pad thai, incidentally, is not on the dinner menu.

For dessert, there will be sweet black sticky rice served with longan fruit, as well as durian sticky rice. Alas, the signature shaved ice is only available at dinner.

Figure on $12 to $22 for appetizers, $22 to $40 for entrées.

» READ MORE: Critic Craig LaBan's review of Kalaya

The lunch menu is not yet online; hours will be 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, with last seatings at 2 p.m. Reservations are through Resy, though potential walk-ins can give it a shot.

When the weather gets warmer, Kalaya will also open the three large doors facing Palmer Street, which will add an indoor-outdoor effect.

» READ MORE: Craig LaBan's visit to Thailand with chef Nok

Suntaranon has won plenty of accolades since the original Kalaya location opened in early 2019 in Bella Vista. She was named The Inquirer’s 2019 Chef of the Year, and Kalaya earned Esquire’s Best New Restaurant award for 2020, multiple James Beard nominations, and was a featured stop on Netflix’s Philadelphia-themed Someone Feed Phil.