Read Luke Tsai’s article about Nyum Bai today and he mentioned the name Nyum Bai means “eat rice” or “let’s eat” in Khmer language. That reminds me of Kin Khao, which has a similar meaning in Thai. So I figure I’ll start a thread of ‘which restaurant has a non-English name and what do they mean’, as a way to celebrate the diversity of our restaurant scene as well as the courage to name themselves in potentially tongue-tying (to English speakers) but meaningful names in their local language.
I’ll start:
Nyum Bai. “Eat Rice/ Let’s eat” / Khmer
Kin Khao. “Eat Rice/ Let’s eat” / Thai
Tashi Delek. “Blessings/ good luck/ hello.” / Tibetan
La Ciccia. Someone says its a slang for friends/ buddies (fat/ belly translated directly) in Italian?
What’ve you got?
