Maa Kiin

Happy to see this Thai restaurant in the heart of Columbia City! The space is nice and welcoming, with friendly staff. Service was a little on the slow side even with not many other guests in the restaurant! I got the chicken kee mao noodles with 2 stars (out of 4). It wasn't spicy at at all. The dish was good with lots of vegetables however, the noodles themselves lacked some flavor. I would return here and try other items and overall I thought the food was good but was not blown away.

When I saw a new Thai place had opened up with good reviews, I knew I had to come check it out.Tom yum soup- 4/5 hit the spotPad see ew- 4/5 this was pretty good, it has the wok hey taste (kinda reminds me of chow fun)Khao soi- 5/5 I love ordering khao soi at different Thai restaurants to compare them. This one is def up there! I didn't even end up using the spicy sauce (shocking because I looove spicy food) because I didn't want it to mask the curry taste.Also everyone who worked at the restaurant was soo sweet. Someone mentioned that khao soi is from their hometown and they make it taste exactly that way.The quality and the price is unbeatable! There's been too many mediocre thai places that have popped up with ridiculous prices in Seattle so it's really refreshing to find a solid Thai place again!

Maa Kiin is a new Thai restaurant on Rainier, in the middle of Columbia City. This puts them in competition with Bua 9 Thai, a few blocks further south. Now, don't get me wrong, Bua 9 has great food, but it is more of a take-out joint. Sure, they have seating, but there is zero atmosphere or ambiance. Maa Kiin, on the other hand, has a gorgeous interior. The food is beautifully presented as well as delicious. I'd happily go on a date there, and they have a few dishes I hadn't tried before, such as the Khao soi. There's an interesting cocktail menu, too, that I look forward to experiencing. We're lucky to have such a great new restaurant open in our neighborhood!

A fantastic addition to Columbia City!The ambiance is trendy and modern inside, and the staff is incredibly nice and attentive. We ended up ordering the cashew chili rice plate with added pork belly, and it felt comfy and home cooked. We greatly enjoyed khao soi - the curry was creamy and flavorful. We asked for level 2 spicy which didn't really feel spicy at all. Their glasses of wine are currently $12, and their bottles are currently $35, which I think is a good deal. They have creative cocktails for $12 as well.I think this restaurant can really shine in the small Columbia City downtown area. We definitely hope to come back again!

Update: At the request of a friend I went back, and have to say I was pleasantly surprised. They've got their service kinks ironed out, and the food was excellent. So glad they got it together, this neighborhood needed a high quality Thai restaurant and now we've got one.

Super tasty Thai restaurant now open in Columbia City! The pad see ew reminded me of eating in Thailand - flavorful and charred/stir fried well! The panang curry was the perfect consistency, not too thick or thin. The juices/flavor of the sizzling beef was soo tasty and easy to chew (not too fatty). And also went well with the garlic green beans! We were saying how the green beans reminded us of the ones from Naam (in Madrona) and we found out they're owned by the same people and Naam's head chef preps sauces and some food for them. To top it off, we had the mango sticky rice! Mango is in season and was perfect! I wish the sticky rice had a bit more coconut flavor (from the coconut milk/cream) but that's just my personal preference. Pretty standard Thai iced tea and fun cocktails that are reasonably priced.I also went a second time and got chicken pad thai, which was average. It had good flavor but I wish it was pan fried a bit more (maybe more sauce..?) as the noodles look sort of plain. The spice levels aren't that spicy, so if you like spice I'd recommend asking for chili oil/flakes. Prices are pretty decent for entrees ($14-18) but add $2 for beef, $3 for prawns, and $5 for seafood. Overall, 10/10 would recommend! I'll definitely be back to try out more dishes and to have pad see ew + mango sticky rice again!

Ended up at Maa Kiin because the restaurant we actually chose was unexpectedly closed, and so happy we did! We ordered a few things to share: Crispy Crab Wontons, Green Bean Garlic with crispy pork belly, Mussamun Curry, Larb Gai, a mojito, and a Thai iced coffee. Everything was way better than expected. Spice levels are 1-4, we ordered a 3 expecting it to be nice and spicy. Only the Larb Gai came out with any heat on it though, and it was still more mild than expected. Spice level was the only thing that would have made the meal better. Service was fast and friendly, and the restaurant was clean and comfortable. Highly recommended!

Came here for early dinner with a couple friends. Small restaurant felt intimate and trendy with exposed brick and booths outfitted with cushions to lounge on. We were the only ones in there, I think, aside from a few people who came in to pick up carry-out orders, so our visit was quiet. Our server was pleasant and mostly left us alone to visit after taking our orders and dropping off our food. They have a good looking cocktail menu. I ordered a Havana Sidecar which was a bit on the sweet side for me. I'll order something else next time which hopefully will be easier on the syrup. Green curry is not my usual go-to for Thai, but it sounded good this day and was tasty. I'm a leftovers person, but I ate it all in one sitting. And they offered to split our bill for us which was helpful.

I've tried this spot twice, once sit down and once to-go. This is a review for the to-go food! Got spice level 2 for everything and probably will get 3 next time because the 2 wasn't very spicy the first day, but got spicier the second day as leftovers Pad see ew: pretty good, but didn't have much of a caramelization flavor that I typically love. I want to try more noodle dishes here though!Tom yum fried rice with beef: my favorite Tom yum fried rice is at Ocha in Renton (I don't gatekeep restaurants!), but I'd say this one comes second! Has the savory, the sour, the meats! Pad Cha Gang Pa: got this curry because it comes with different proteins, enjoyed this with the rice and having the Thai eggplant was so interesting! Definitely not a veg I see oftenTom yum soup: enjoyed this, it has all the key flavors! Should have gotten spicier

This is a super sweet place with delicious food and almost anything can be gluten free. Love it!