My spouse and I
dined at Khe-Yo for lunch on a Sunday afternoon in mid-August 2017. Khe-Yo is
open daily for weekday lunch, weekend brunch, and dinner. We booked our table
using the online Open Table reservation system.
Khe-Yo (a name which
reportedly means “greens”) opened in July 2013 on Duane Street (between
Broadway and Hudson) in Tribeca. The larger-than-expected space features
exposed brick walls hung with plants, wood plank floors, and distressed wood tables
that display colorful designs. Each side of the long room contains a padded
banquette with tables and chairs in front; some corner tables (like ours) have
banquette seating on two sides in an L-shape. Free-standing tables fill in the
center of the spacious-feeling room. The front of the restaurant features an
L-shaped bar. One semi-private small-group table is positioned in the front
window, and a raised semi-circular booth is located across from the bar. Restrooms
are on the basement level, which you reach via a rear stairwell beneath a
chalkboard sketch of an elephant. Marc Forgione (of “Iron Chef” fame) co-owns
the restaurant with its Laotian-born chef.
Khe-Yo serves Laotian/French Colonial food. Our round of
drinks included one cucumber-Thai chili cocktail that was particularly tasty. We shared the
traditional pork banh mi sandwich as an appetizer, although it is large and
listed as one of the main dishes. (The only true starter option on the smallish
brunch menu was chicken wings.) As our main courses, we shared the sweet
sausage fried rice (served warm and topped with two fried eggs) and the ginger
prawn market bowl (served cold atop your choice of rice noodles, sticky rice,
jasmine rice, or lettuce/greens). We passed on dessert, because the only choice
offered (which was not the rice pudding) did not appeal.
We enjoyed our lunch at Khe-Yo; the food was great, the
service was good, and the atmosphere was energetic.
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