When it comes to Thai food, it has to be Keo’s

Jo McGarry
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Friday - April 20, 2007
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Jose Alcasid: mum’s the word on celeb diners
Jose Alcasid: mum’s the word on celeb
diners

The first time I went to Keo’s was in 1990. I was immediately impressed by the food, but something about the design of the restaurant and the graciousness of the staff made even more of an impression. It was my first taste of Thai food and, as it turns out, I could hardly have had a better one. After I went back home to Scotland, I searched for Thai dishes and ingredients in our cosmopolitan capital city, but Edinburgh in 1990 was not the international dining mecca it is today. So when I came back to Hawaii for good in 1992, I headed straight back to Keo’s.

At the time, Keo’s was known as a celebrity destination. Walls were decorated with photographs of Keo with almost every visiting celebrity who came to town. Today, Keo still attracts his share of celebrity clients, but you’re as likely to see more floral displays or sculptures decorating the floors of the restaurant .


Keo Sananikone graduated in architecture from the University of Washington, so it’s no surprise that the interior of his restaurant exudes a certain style and beauty,but nowadays much of the beauty comes from the giant displays of tropical flowers grown on his North Shore farm, where he started growing herbs and flowers as a hobby.When I stopped by the other morning to take pictures and chat with staff, trucks were being unloaded outside on the curb - fresh flowers straight from the farm brought in by the bucketload and armfuls of fresh herbs headed for the kitchen. Another delivery truck packed with produce from other local growers sat waiting to be unloaded.

If you want to eat fresh, local food, then make it Keo’s.

The menu has a number of Thai staples - ones we’re used to seeing in the cities fine collection of thai restaurants, but Keo’s has more. With a nod to the obvious tourist trade, and perhaps to those who don’t eat Thai food too often there are numerous seafood and steak selections on the menu.

We always start at any Thai restaurant with the green papaya salad. It’s one of those dishes that’s an easy measure of how the rest of the meal may be. This one is faultless - although if you like it with some heat, make sure to ask the waiter. Most of the dishes at Keo’s will come mildly spiced unless you state your preference. Our preference is for lots of heat, and we got it.

The waiter suggested king crab legs with a Thai curry dip on the side along with drawn butter. He also recommended the whole fish of the day (it happened to be mahimahi) with a red chili sauce. Can I say fabulous often enough? The crab legs come split and ready to eat and the combination of sweet white meat and intensely flavored curry is so delicious, I wonder why I’ve never seen it before. The whole fish, a staple of Chinese restaurants, works incredibly wel,l and we literally picked every piece of firm white flesh from the bones.

Diners at a table next to us and across from us seemed so impressed with our plates and our enthusiastic mumblings through mouthfuls they all ordered the sam things-and thanked us profusely for the recommendation.


If you love Thai food, Keo’s has a menu where choosing one or two dishes is almost impossible. I wanted to order Fresh Hot Basil with Chicken, ($14.95),Thai Style Pork Chops ($16.95), Bangkok Duck ($14.95), and the Spicy Panang Stir Fried Soft Shell Crab with Peas and Cashew Nuts ($19.95), but had neither the time nor the room.

Keo’s offers valet parking,or self-parking just a short walk from the restaurant, and you’ll find the staff a friendly, well-informed and professional group. As you might expect, many of the staff are like family. Jose Alcasid started working with Keo 20 years ago, and is now a manager at the Waikiki store. “It’s like family working here,” he says from his post at the restaurant entrance where he can be found each morning taking reservations, “and we see lots of local families who come here for special occasions, like wedding receptions or anniversaries.”

Appropriately tight-lipped about the celebrity guests he’s served over the year’s, Jose does admit to a favorite. “Pat Sajak is a very nice man,“he says.“He loves Hawaii and he comes here whenever he can.”

Keo’s Waikiki 2028 Kuhio Avenue 951-9355

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