Oakland's Thai chicken-rice classic comes through James Syhabout's Hawking Bird, the casual Temescal sibling to two-star Commis. Poached chicken on garlic rice.
Kao mun gai is Bangkok's hawker staple, a one-plate dish of poached chicken over garlic-and-ginger rice with chili-soybean sauce. James Syhabout, raised in his mother's Thai restaurant in San Leandro, brought the dish to Oakland in 2017 with Hawking Bird on Telegraph Avenue. The room runs the dish under fifteen dollars in keeping with its hawker origins.
3 editor picks for Kao mun gai in Oakland, ranked by editorial score. All Oakland signature dishes · Kao mun gai across every city.
Champa Garden ★ 4.4
san-antonio · 2102 8th Avenue, Oakland, CA 94606
Champa Garden on 8th Avenue has cooked Lao and Thai cuisine in Oakland's San Antonio neighborhood since 2006. Family-run, lunch and dinner daily.
Hawking Bird ★ 4.3
temescal · 4901 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, CA 94609
Hawking Bird is James Syhabout's fast-casual Thai fried chicken room on Oakland's Telegraph Avenue. Kao mun gai and double-fried garlic-ginger fillets.
Vientian Cafe ★ 4.3
fruitvale · 3801 Allendale Avenue, Oakland, CA 94619
Vientian Cafe in Oakland's Allendale neighborhood runs a Lao-Thai-Vietnamese counter that locals have voted into a regional Lao standard for two decades.