Blossoming Bangkok Flavor

Describing the appetizers at Bangkok Chef is not easy. It’s difficult to dawdle over slight flavor profiles when you are inhaling food at a rate that would make Joey Chestnut proud. Call it an occupational hazard. But if you’ve tried them you know what I mean.

Chicken Sateh ($7.90) is served with lettuce, sliced cucumbers and one of the greatest dips in culinary history, a creamy and very slightly spicy peanut sauce. By the time the bowl of brown heaven was empty, I had eaten every barbecued skewer, the veggies and two or three napkins.

Spring Rolls ($6.90), made with ground chicken, bean threads, carrot, black fungus, onion and taro, are the crispy pupu standards that you can’t seem to do without. Wrapped in lettuce with a sprig of mint and dipped into a light dipping sauce, they’re exactly what appetizers are supposed to be: Tasty, easy to handle with enough to share.

If you like your wraps deconstructed, try Chicken Larb ($7.90). Watch it, it does have a kick, but boy is it tasty. Made with minced chicken, herbs, onion and a special lemon sauce, this salad bursts with flavor and presents the kick that just seems necessary in any good Thai restaurant, and Bangkok Chef is a very good restaurant.

This family-run eatery has many menu items that let you mix sweet with salty or sour with spicy — combine all four and you have Mango Salad ($8.20). Made with shredded mango, carrots, shallot, Chinese parsley, chili peppers and cashews in the eatery’s house-special sauce, the dish is both satisfying and refreshing. It’s listed as “spicy” on the menu, but the fresh ingredients reduce the kick and allow the flavors to blossom.

Bangkok Chef