Oh my, it’s Thai
Finally Logan has a place to get great yum pak krob, satay and kao ka prao. On Oct. 1, Kamin, the only Thai restaurant in Logan, opened.
Varaporn Musicabud (Jo) is the manager and part owner of Kamin. Her fiancé Sawin Chindakul, a senior in marketing at USU, is also a part owner and manager. Both from Thailand, they met when Musicabud came to USU for an exchange program. After spending a year in Logan, she returned to finish her degree in economics from Thammasat University in Thailand.
“We wanted to open a Thai restaurant because we both started here. There’s no Thai restaurant and so many people wanted one,” Musicabud said.
Waitress Sierra Skabelund, a senior in social studies teaching, has been working at Kamin since its opening Oct.1. She agrees that Logan needed a Thai restaurant.
“A lot of people come in that have wanted something different. I think Kamin fills a niche that needed to be filled,” Skabelund said.
Skabelund served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Thailand one year ago and she heard about the job opening from a friend. Skabelund thinks the food at Kamin is very similar to what you would eat if you were in Thailand.
“It’s probably the best Thai restaurant I’ve been to,” Skabelund said.
Kamin has more than 40 items on its menu with dinner items ranging from $8.99 to $16.99.
Musicabud and Chindakul came up with the menu themselves and Jo even spends time in the kitchen preparing some of the food. According to Jo, one of the most popular dishes is the pad thai. It has rice noodles, chicken, bean curd, peanuts and bean sprouts stir-fried and seasoned with lime juice, Thai sauces and herbs.
A popular appetizer is satay, skewers of marinated chicken or pork grilled and served with fresh cucumber and peanut sauces.
Skabelund’s favorite dish is the kao ka prao, which is ground pork stir-fried with basil leaves, garlic, soy sauce and chilies. It is served over warm jasmine rice and topped with a sunny-side-up egg.
“In Thailand, people use a lot of eggs,” Skabelund said.
According to Skabelund, some of the more unusual dishes at Kamin are the yum pak krob, a crispy vegetable salad with a sweet, tangy sauce and the gang ped pet yang, a roast duck curry.
“The yum pak krob is spinach leaves dipped in a tempura batter and deep fat fried,” said Skabelund. “It’s very good.”
Musicabad doesn’t want people to think that the food at Kamin will be too spicy.
“We love spicy food, but not everything is spicy,” she said.
A traditional ingredient found in Thai food is curry. At Kamin they use many different curries and all have a different flavor and color.
Musicabad and Chindakul remodeled what used to be the Cottage restaurant. They started planning about a year ago and the actual remodeling took about two or three months.
Most of the décor, right down to some of the wallpaper in the restaurant, was shipped from Thailand. Musicabad wanted people to feel like they were in Thailand, so she used a bright, warm color palette to decorate with.
Skabelund described the atmosphere as “colorful, bright and relaxing.”
Jo and Chindakul return to Bangkok about once a year. Musicabud points out the stark contrast between Cache Valley and Bangkok.
“Bangkok is a very crowded, big city,” she said. “Logan is peaceful and the scenery is pretty, but we don’t like the snow.”
“We only have two seasons in Thailand – hot and hotter,” Chindakul said.
Kamin is located at 51 W. 200 South in Logan. Currently open for dinner only, they are planning on opening for lunch soon. Hours are 5:30 to 9:30 Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday and from 5:30 to 10:00 Friday and Saturday – closed Mondays.
-nnaylor@cc.usu.edu