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Revitalized Bangkok has same great food

By LAURA MOYER

Date published: 2/6/2003

THE FREE LANCE-STAR

It's nice to see a favorite restaurant revitalize itself. That's why I was so happy when I walked into the Bangkok Cafe with friends the other day for a casual dinner.

I've long liked Bangkok, because it was among the first restaurants to offer Thai food in the Fredericksburg area and because of its downtown location and pleasant setting.

But in recent years, that setting got a little bedraggled. The glass covering the white tablecloths hadn't really done the job of keeping the linen unstained. The place often looked like it could use a spruce-up. And in the winter if you sat near the front door, you froze when anyone came in and out from the street.

Those problems have been addressed. New tabletops are of the wipe-clean variety, with neat painted Thai scenes and words under a laminate. There's new artwork on the walls. And the restaurant has enclosed its foyer so heat doesn't whoosh out every time the door opens.

The menu remains the same, and the food as good as it was in 2000, when the restaurant was last reviewed in this space.

There are tasty choices aplenty from appetizers through dessert.

Satay ($4) is one of the simplest appetizers and a good way to introduce children or timid adults to Thai cuisine. Four strips of chicken, beef or pork are skewered and grilled, then served with vinegary chopped cucumbers and a thick peanut sauce with hints of coconut and red pepper.

Wonton soup ($3, $5), tom yum and tom kha gai ($4, $6) are available by the small or large bowl.

Tom kha gai strikes me as the Thai-est of Thai soups, with slices of white-meat chicken, whole straw mushrooms, fresh coriander, lemongrass and bay leaf in a coconut milk broth.

Like other dishes, this can be ordered mild, medium, American hot or Thai hot.

A Thai hot version of tom kha gai comes loaded with chunks of green chilies that look deceptively like spring onions. It's not for the faint of palate.

I prefer the medium, with just a bit of red-pepper fire but not enough to overwhelm flavors of coriander and coconut.

The entree menu is extensive, with chicken, pork, beef, tofu and seafood dishes.

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Date published: 2/6/2003