Banana Thai Kitchen
Words by Angelina Feronti / Photos By Sajin Poos
Banana Thai Kitchen sits at the conclusion of a drab, gray, Northwest Expressway-adjacent strip mall immediately north of Warr Acres. Its highlighter-yellow sign catches your eye as you zip down the six-lane road.
If you enter with an American notion of Thai cuisine, you might expect familiar fare: pad Thai, Thai curries, stir-fry noodles, and fried rice. Owner-chefs Rianthong and Khamjuan Namwichai, along with their son Nui, refer to this as their template menu. The real gift is the special menu, which offers Namwichai’s family recipes and regional dishes beloved by Thai locals. Not to be confused with a secret menu, the special menu is encouragingly handed to patrons first. It is, according to manager and friend of the family Kantamas Lewis, “what they want to represent.
On a deeper level, Banana Thai Kitchen represents the resilience of a family horrifically split across an ocean for almost a decade. In 1997, Khamjuan was tricked into moving from their small province of Udon Than Nee, Thailand, to Hawaii to work as a farmer, in a case of human trafficking. Eventually, U.S. officials rescued Khamjuan from the illicit operation. By 2006, his wife and son reunited with him in the States.
The Namwichais moved around from California to Connecticut, then from Chicago to Salt Lake City, working at various Thai and Asian fusion restaurants and learning the ropes of restaurant operation. After decades of working for others and their own meticulous planning, they were ready.
The golden ticket was a Facebook post that Nui stumbled upon advertising the sale of Banana Thai Kitchen. Given Oklahoma’s comparatively low start-up and living costs, the Namwichais saw an opportunity to make their mark.
With the ownership transfer of Banana Thai Kitchen came its boilerplate menu. But Rianthong preferred her family recipes. “I wanted my own flavor,” she said.
She pours this flavor into the special menu, offering signature dishes like Som Tam Had Yai, a street food-inspired dish of papaya salad paired with crispy bone-in fried chicken, sticky rice, and peanut sweet chili sauce. Kantamas says, “When you eat papaya salad, you have to eat it with sticky rice and fried chicken.”
For something brothy, the Khao Soi Chicken is a rich soup with yellow curry, fresh coconut milk, lime, lemongrass chicken, egg noodles, and crispy noodles. The showstopper here is the chicken drumstick—bone gently resting on the rim of the soup bowl, the authentic Thai way.
Other special menu items include crab fried rice and Gra-Pow Kai Dow, a minced pork rice dish with Thai basil. Both are lesser known in Thai American cuisine but staples in Thailand’s restaurants. On occasional weekends, they offer limited-edition, special items like Sai krok Isan, a sausage from Northeastern Thailand. Rianthong wants their patrons to “experience real Thai flavor.”
Nui elevates these flavors and recipes through his creative, director-esque vision for food presentation, making sure looks match taste. His displays include colorful Thai orchids, dried chilis, radishes, basil, paper umbrellas, and given the restaurant’s name, banana leaves. “Nui is particular about presentation,” Kantamas says.
While his parents prep and cook, Nui works the front with a presence exuding kindness and warmth. He jokes that he hasn’t gotten to explore much of Oklahoma City yet, cycling his time among home, the restaurant, and the grocery store. Amid seasonal inventory changes and weekend rushes, Nui elevates presentation. “It’s art,” Kantamas says. If so, that makes Banana Thai Kitchen the family’s studio—a place for creativity and freedom, where their art appears in many ways, reflecting pieces of their home and of themselves—and they welcome you in with open arms.
Quotes were translated from Thai to English with the help of Manager Kantamas Lewis. Thank you.
Banana Thai Kitchen, 6220 NW Expressway, Oklahoma City, (405) 506-0661, @banana_thai_kitchen
