Thai USA

It's been several years since Thai USA introduced the seductive flavors of Thailand to the Huntington area, and the restaurant hasn't lost any of its original éclat. On a Saturday night, you'll find it packed. That's because the food remains an ongoing source of delight.
Start with the wickedly spicy tom yum gong; the crimson-hued hot and sour shrimp soup practically pulsates in the mouth. While the tom kha gai (chicken and coconut soup) hits all the right notes of lime and coconut, the pieces of poultry can be chewy and overcooked.

But the gently grilled skewered white meat strips in the satays are usually juicy, accompanied by a rich and piquant peanut sauce. A welcome change from fried calamari is the refreshing yum pla muk (grilled calamari salad); the squid, naked and tender, tossed with a mix of mint leaves, chile and lime. Mee krob, crisped vermicelli rice noodles with shrimp in a tamarind fruit sauce, is over-sweet and short on shrimp. But the not-very-Thai-sounding blackened tuna, served rare with wasabi paste, successfully melds the Cajun with the Asian. After all, part of the restaurant's name is "USA."

For a purely Thai high, try the gang ped puk, fresh local vegetables in a vibrant red curry sauce mellowed by coconut milk. Ped op krok comes off as the definitive duck dish, a succulent boneless bird whose crackly skin is glazed with a mixture of purple plum, mint and chile sauce. For a light take on red meat, try the yum nua, grilled sliced steak with tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, scallions, lime juice and chile on a bed of greens.

If it's available, savor a special of stir-fried shrimp and chicken in a teasingly hot sauce that straddles the line between pain and pleasure. A few forkfuls of the terrific pad Thai (rice noodles stir-fried with shrimp and peanuts) will soothe flaming palates. For those who favor the milder side, there's the delicious pad ta lay, shrimp, scallops and squid sauteed to pearlescence with vegetables in a light soy sauce. The tang of citrus informs the yum woon sen, cellophane noodles with shrimp, vegetables and cashews in lime sauce. Lime, again, is the keynote in the moo yum, grilled marinated sliced pork loin with ginger, orange and cashew nuts.

This is one of the few Thai restaurants with worthwhile desserts. Key lime pie is light and pleasing, while a pumpkin and coconut-laced baked custard offers an Asian kind of homestyle comfort. Preferable to the somewhat heavy fried banana is the refreshing sliced mango with sticky rice.

Keep in mind that Thai USA has a large and loyal following. Remember to call for reservations.

Joan Reminick