Kin Thai owners launch second Lansing Shuffle eatery

When Pan Yang’s youngest son, Teddy, was a baby, he struggled to pronounce the name of his older sister, Charlotte.

As Yang recalls, it came out something like “Lala.” The nickname stuck.

Yang and her husband, Yace Hang, are the owners of Kin Thai at Lansing Shuffle. When the couple were given the green light to open a second restaurant at the food hall, they decided to name it after that memory. Lalafish, a hand-rolled sushi concept, was born.

Yang smiled when she told the story of how Lalafish got its name. Originally, Charlotte was a picky eater, but she’s come around to enjoy sushi, her mother said.

“I honestly didn’t think that this day would come, and here we are,” Yang said with a grin.

They soft-opened the restaurant in November but will hold an official grand opening from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Jan. 18. The first 25 customers will receive free drinks and appetizers, while all customers will be entered into a multi-prize raffle.

At present, the limited menu features six sushi rolls: more traditional entries like California, Philly, spicy tuna and shrimp crunch rolls, plus a crunchy sweet potato roll, which includes tempura sweet potato, avocado, spring mix and eel sauce, and the Snowday roll, which is filled with shrimp tempura, cucumber, avocado and topped with kewpie mayo and crab mix. The eatery also serves sushi bowls and sichimi fries, crinkle-cut french fries with curry mayo.

Lalafish's sushi bowl (top) and a Cali Roll (bottom).

Yang said she and her husband are still deciding on how large the final menu will be.

“For the soft opening, we were just focusing on the more popular types of items that you’ll get when you go to a traditional sushi restaurant, so right now, our menu is kind of small,” she said. “But we want to do more, and we’d like to add more things like appetizers and other fun, small bites going forward.”

Yang, who was born and raised in Lansing, moved to Grand Rapids with her husband for about 10 years before returning to the area around five years ago. The pair operates Rak Thai and Juju Bird at Grand Rapids’ Downtown Market in addition to their Lansing Shuffle eateries.

For the couple, food service is a family affair. Their four children — Teddy, 10; Charlotte, 12; Max, 14; and Alex, 16 — help out in the kitchen alongside other family members, though Yang notes that she’s looking to hire additional help at Lalafish.

“A passion for food is something I picked up when I got married,” Yang said. “We’re all foodies in this family, and feeding good food to people is something that always brightens our day. We love cooking, we love hosting, and I would say it’s just who we’ve become.”