Sripraphai

Hadn't visited Sripraphai since its expansion from a hole-in-the-wall to a much larger, simply decorated space. For a weekend lunch, the pretty backyard garden wasn't open, so I shared a table inside with my friends Jeanne and Francis, and his friend Gabby. We started with an appetizer special of crispy rice squares ($6) ready to be topped with a chunky, tangy sauce of shrimp, chicken, coconut milk, and chili. The first four went very quickly; for the fifth, our server gladly fetched more sauce.

Our ground pork salad with ginger, chili, peanuts, and lemon juice (at left; $6.50) was best appreciated in small tastes, not only because of the chili heat but also to appreciate the many other flavors lurking within.

A much tamer but just as complex roasted duck salad ($8.50) was best in those bites with a little skin.

Sauteed drunken noodles with beef, chili, and basil leaves ($7) were accompanied by additional hot sauce, but I thought the broad, flat noodles were more than adequate at capturing the standard chili heat. Penang curry with chicken ($7.50) arrived spicier, as requested, but I thought it overpowered the coconut flavors. Gabby suggested an approach from her childhood in Mozambique — spoon out the meat from a glass of coconut juice ($2) and use it, rather than rice, as a platform for the curry.

For lunch two days later, shredded green mango salad with shrimp, squid, and chicken (at left; $8.50) also sported whole cashews and chilis as well as onion, coriander, and lemongrass in a sweet yet biting brine. When my entree arrived, I carefully reserved the rest of my salad; eventually the juices would be soaked up by my leftover rice.

Most of the rice accompanied my sauté pork stomach with mustard greens ($7), which lent the dish a slight, pleasant sourness rather than heat. The pork was al dente, not chewy at all; the chunky stalks of the mustard greens also retained considerable body. Not a complex dish, but it will make a nice winter warmer in a few months.

For dessert back at the office, I pored over the refrigerator case and shelves up front before picking out some tamarind yee (6.30 oz.; $1.50), a sweeter, seedless version of this sour, preserved treat (for a slightly hotter version, with seeds, try tamarind klug). I also picked out a serving of kaaneo nagoonk (at left; 5 oz.; $2), which topped yellow, coconut-milk-flavored sweet rice with bright orange shredded coconut, touched with a little parsley and zinged with garlic. "This rocks!" asserted my co-worker Sari.

Though I held back today, I noticed that Sripraphai also carries the very tasty tom yum crisp distributed by Bangkok Center Grocery. Sari has also suggested that if I wanted to put together a "tasting menu" to help me recognize Thai herbs and spices, that would be the place for one-stop shopping. Sounds like a plan.

Sripraphai
64-13 39th Ave., Queens
718-899-9599
Closed Wednesdays