Laotian in Dallas

Darkoo's Chicken Shack is the latest concept (and replacement, if you will, of Khao Noodle Shop) from Donny Sirisavath. Here he partnered Jimmy Niwa of Niwa Japanese BBQ and they serve Asian-style fried chicken.

Like a Khao, the menu here is tight. There are four chicken options on Darkoo's menu along with 11 sides and five house-made sauces. For the mains Lao gai, Lao grilled chicken, comes in two or four-piece buckets with fries or rice. Karaage, chunks of mostly dark meat coated and deep fried, is also served with a side of fries or rice. Panko chicken are all-white meat tenders with a thick crust of panko. A plate of Khao mun gai is poached chicken served atop seasoned rice. Finally, "incogmeato" are vegetarian tenders. 

The sides are a hopscotch of cultures. There are the traditional sides we'd expect to find at an American fried chicken place: macaroni salad and coleslaw. Then there's "eLAOtes," a nod to the Mexican street food often found in East Dallas. Plus traditional Lao and Thai dishes. We tried the spicy cucumber salad that comes with dismembered crabs; a pincher here and leg there throughout the salad. The cucumbers are soaked in a vinegary sauce and aren't too spicy. But the crabs pack heat; be careful sucking the juices and meat out of those as those little guys. They hoarded some serious spice before becoming part of the menu here. 

While Thai restaurants in North Texas are plentiful, not many offer Isan food, a cuisine originating in the northeast region of Thailand that has some Lao influence. Tomyumkung Thai Café in Carrollton, however, is one of the few that does, along with a variety of other Thai dishes served up in an authentic manner occasionally with a modern spin by Brenton Rodriguez, who along with his wife took over an existing Thai restaurant at the end of 2020 and have since made it their own. They offer duck noodle soup, duck pad Thai, crispy duck Thai basil, and duck fried rice to choose from. Try the duck fried rice. The meat was not dry but also not fatty, and the skin perfectly crisped, and sat upon a large portion of Thai fried rice, complete with the requisite tomatoes, egg, green onions, all in a light fish sauce. It was wonderful. The crispy-chewy-meaty pieces seasoned to perfection stole the show. Serving sizes are large and most come with a cup of tom yum soup. All dishes offer not four, not five, but eight spice levels to choose from. Talk about fine tuning.