Thai Bayshore

The proprietors of Thai Bayshore, from Bangkok, have been operating Thai restaurants locally for almost a decade, but they moved to their current location a few years ago. Husband Pat Siri runs the front of the house and helps in the kitchen; his wife, Nida, cooks; a daughter occasionally waits tables. The Siris have decorated this charming space with warm brick and honey-colored wooden floors, painted the walls deep maroon and butterscotch, and decorated sparsely with carved wooden screens, stately statues of the Thai Buddha, and a great stone relief sculpture, all chosen personally and shipped from Thailand. A sound system plays unobtrusive classical piano music. Tom yum kai soup is state-of-the-art, served in an elegant geometric white bowl and flavored with lemongrass, lime, and supremely "chickeny" chicken pieces in clear broth; curry puffs are composed of sweet potato and minced chicken. Entrées are delicious, authentic, and beautifully presented: fresh vegetables with thumb-sized rolls of squid piled artfully in the center of a white plate; a seafood curry of pale, apricot-colored coconut cream curry with shrimp, mussels, scallops, and squid arranged with bamboo shoots and thin strips of carrot.