Bangkok Thai specializes in comfort food at comfortable prices

If I were living in a Thai suburb, I could well imagine Bangkok Thai serving as the spot where neighborhood friends chill out together at the end of the day.

Around these parts, most neighborhoods have zoning restrictions that preclude such establishments and so they are generally tucked into strip centers, as is the case with Bangkok Thai. For several years, the restaurant operated two doors back from Kinko's on U.S. 41. It recently moved slightly north, to a renovated storefront a couple of storefronts away from Amazon Grill and across the parking lot from India Palace.

While the space is brighter than the previous store front, it's still modestly appointed and unpretentious, its 12 tables dressed in neat turquoise linen beneath a layer of glass, illuminated by with red paper lanterns overhead.

The menu covers the usual ground — traditional soups and salads, curries, noodles and stir fries, with your choice of meat, seafood or tofu. The menu notes that any dish can be made vegetarian, making Bangkok Thai a darling of the meatless set.

Our recent dinner began on a zesty note with po thak, a hot and spicy broth containing shrimp, squid, scallops and crabmeat. It came in a cylindrical pan with flames shooting up through the middle, keeping it warm, not to mention posing a challenge when spooning the soup from serving dish to individuals bowls. We'd ordered the soup moderately spicy (the rating system runs from 0 for mild to 5 for ultra hot) and that's how arrived, with flecks of chili pepper floating about in the broth.

Pad prik khing is a stir-fried dish with green beans and mushrooms. This version features scallops as the protein, but chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, squid and tofu are other options.

The server brought our shrimp salad at the same time. It, too, had some kick, with shrimp, onions, lemon grass, cilantro, lettuce and red onion bathed in a chili sauce dressing. The mix of spicy, crunchy and cool ingredients blended well, illustrating how Thai cuisine combines simple flavors to create dishes with complexity.

Entrees arrived before we'd finished our appetizers. Considering that we were one of two parties in the dining room at the time, the kitchen could have timed the courses better.

KAREN FELDMAN / FLORIDA WEEKLY Thai doughnuts with a sweet milk-based dipping sauce do a fine job of chasing away any lingering burn from a well-seasoned meal at Bangkok Thai.

However, both dishes were fresh and fragrant and the cool salad proved a palatable contrast to the hot fare.

One entrée, pad prik khing, consisted of stir-fried mushrooms and tender-crisp green beans in a brown-hued chili sauce. Diners may choose their protein and we picked scallops, which were plump and juicy. The dish had a mild bite, but the heat didn't overpower the rest of the seasoning or the flavors of the beans, mushrooms and scallops. Steamed rice added yet another texture, enhancing the mix.

Our other entrée, red curry with fried tofu, contained a bountiful mix of green peppers, cabbage, carrots as well as coconut milk, which gives Thai curries a creamy richness. All of the ingredients were fresh and properly cooked so that the vegetables retained a pleasant crunch.

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Since both dishes were somewhat spicy, we ordered Thai iced tea — which is liberally diluted with sweetened condensed milk — to cut the heat. (For the uninitiated, water only serves to intensify the burn, hence a sweet drink is best to offset it. The same principle applies to spicy Indian fare and the yogurt-based lassi beverages that are often served with them.)

We finished the meal with a plate of Thai doughnuts, little fried segments of dough that resembled three-pointed crowns, served with a dipping sauce containing milk, sweetened condensed milk and chopped peanuts. The doughnuts themselves didn't have a lot of flavor but they soaked up the sweet sauce well.

Dinner at Bangkok Thai is a low-key affair. Customers trickle in, choose their own seats and dine family style, sharing made-toorder dishes filled with fresh ingredients. The lone server working the night we visited made us feel welcome and, if he lacked some of the polish of the staff of more worldly restaurants, nonetheless worked hard to ensure we enjoyed our meal.

Much like a pair of well-worn jeans, Bangkok Thai has a comfortable, familiar feel. It's the sort of place in which you can relax and unwind after a hectic day. Combine that with a solid menu and moderate prices and you have the makings of a peaceful haven from the everyday grind. It may not be in the neighborhood, but it's not far off.