Eight Tables but Lots of Thai Atmosphere

5050 Sunset is both the address and name of a new Thai restaurant opened by Tom Sunnanon, who also owns Rama Thai Cuisine in Van Nuys. The new spot is bandbox neat, bathed in a pink glow from neon signs in the windows, and presents its food with delicate artistry.

The restaurant has only eight tables, plus another that is often occupied at night by schoolchildren doing homework, which indicates that this is a family enterprise.

One night, orange flowers sprouted from every dish, testifying to the Thai love for pretty garnishes carved from vegetables. Another time, pale radish and parsnip flowers joined the carrot blossoms.

The ubiquitous caramel-sweet Thai noodles, mee krob , are feathery light here, without a trace of stickiness. Just as light, crisp and addictive are the noodles in the appetizer called sarong . Usually, sarong is made by winding noodles around a ball of pork filling in an orderly pattern, much as one would roll a ball of yarn. Here, the filling dwindles to a speck that is almost lost in the loose swirl of fine, crisp noodle strands which upstage the pork.

Thai restaurant menus are endlessly repetitive, and it is rare to find a dish that you haven’t tasted before. However, 5050 has come up with connoisseur chicken, a bright blend of chicken, potato and pineapple in coconut curry sauce. The pineapple cuts through the rich blandness of the coconut milk, and fresh ginger shreds add to the tingling heat of the curry paste.

The regular chicken curry, on the other hand, was overloaded with potatoes and lacked both chicken and flavor. Path pick king goong --shrimp with red curry paste and fresh green beans--also contained more vegetable than shrimp. But the sauce made the dish worthwhile: Ground peanuts, shredded kaffir lime leaf and sugar joined the already complex flavors of the curry paste.

Shrimp in garlic and pepper sauce were as peppery and garlicky fragrant as one could want. And the classic Thai hot-and-sour shrimp soup was a fine example of this dish, aromatic with fresh lime leaves, lemon grass and devilishly hot small chiles.

Unfortunately, a couple of components were not at their best in the seafood pot, at $10.95 the priciest dish on the menu. The concept is sound--an assortment of seafood, tender ears of baby corn and translucent noodles soak up the broth. But fish chunks contributed an unpleasantly strong flavor. And the huge crustaceans that dangled their feelers out of the pot were all show and shell. The meat portion was small and rather dry. They were, incidentally, freshwater lobsters imported from Thailand.

Over-iodined clams marred another combination, called Chef’s Choice, but good shrimp, scallops and crab compensated for that lapse. And the sauce was intriguing, a typically Thai blend of hot, savory and sweet.

Egg rolls have been around forever, but 5050 does a good job with them, frying the rolls to order so they are fresh and crackly. Sate is satisfactory, and so are the Thai salads, which blend beef, squid, shrimp or a noodle and meat combination with hot and sour dressing.

Prices are so reasonable that two can eat well for $20 or less. There are also inexpensive combination lunches and a new, multicourse early-bird dinner for $7.95.

Recommended dishes include connoisseur chicken and mee krob , which are each $4.25; egg rolls and sarong , $3.95; thom yum goong (hot and sour shrimp soup) and path pick king goong (shrimp with green beans), $5.95.

5050 Sunset, 5050 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles; (213) 913-1656. Open daily for lunch and dinner. MasterCard and Visa accepted. No alcoholic beverages. Street parking.