Kim’s has a pretty long history in Fresno. When I say long history, though, I’m talking in relation to the past few decades, starting from right before Fresno experienced its boom in growth around the mid 1990s. Kim’s didn’t use to be about Seafood. It used to be known as Kim’s Vietnamese before, and it also used to be located at Shaw and Maroa. That all changed when a huge fire charred its innards and the restaurant had to be rebuilt from the inside out. Back then, Kim’s Vietnamese had a pretty good crowd every time I visited. Even with the fire, and with the time it took to be rebuilt, there were always people eating at Kim’s. That was back when I’d like to think my prepubescent mind was slightly capable of pondering the future of Vietnamese food, and possibly ethnic food in general, in North Fresno. Those were the days. Anything could happen! But then Kim’s moved to its current location across from the mall, just a few miles down the road. It was still the same food, just in a bigger and fancier location. Yet the crowds dwindled. Then they changed their name and changed their menu (not a good sign). When I ate there recently, it was empty–we even had to try for a few minutes to find somebody in the restaurant just to seat us. Just what happened?
Maybe I was right. Fresno has become more and more bland in their choices of cuisines. Vietnamese is being phased out of peoples’ palates.
Fortunately, the slowing business at Kim’s has affected their food…too much. For a really quick lunch, we ordered dishes that we have come to known and love.
We started out with an order of shrimp and pork rolls. Four giant rolls of rice noodles, bean sprouts, shrimp, barbecue pork, and lettuce and wrapped inside rice paper and cut in half. It’s served with a side of peanut sauce, which is basically liquid peanut butter with some spices and topped with carrots and crushed peanuts. I’ve been eating these ever since I’ve been eating Vietnamese food. They’re always good, have a light taste with some meatiness and some crunch. It’s a light appetizer, unless of course, you’re like me and eat 5 pieces before the main course.
The hot beef salad is basically an average salad with run of the mill pieces of veggies, topped with sauteed beef. The beef is a little chewy, and is slightly spicy and citrus-y. I don’t like the scant ratio of beef to salad, but then again, if there were more beef, it wouldn’t really be a salad, would it?
To finish lunch, we ordered Thai style pan fried noodles, or what used to be known as pan fried rice noodles. Why call it Thai style? Is it because everyone and their mom in north Fresno loves Thai food now (a couple years ago, no one knew about Thai food, and now there’s a place on every other block), or because it really is a different dish? It tastes the same as the ones I’ve had in years past. And it’s definitely not pad thai. Maybe it is because everyone is familiar with Thai food now. Anyway, it’s usually a good dish, but this time the noodles were a couple minutes short of al dente. These were like half raw noodles, and I felt like they were going to expand in my stomach after soaking up gastric juices and cooking more. The noodles could’ve used a couple more minutes in the pot before being mixed with the other contents.
It’s sad to see restaurants become shells of what they used to be. Who know? I may be wrong about Kim’s; they could be doing extremely well and we could’ve just gone at an off time, but judging by the loss of staff and the condition of the restaurant, I can’t help but wonder. I really like the place, and hope it doesn’t go the way of culinary diversity in Fresno.
Kim’s Seafood4965 N Fresno St Fresno, CA (559) 225-0406
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