Thai Vote

My 13-year-old nephew doesn’t remember a time before Thai restaurants. To him, squid rice noodles are no more exotic than a McRib sandwich.

We tried to explain this to our curious waiter at Thai Skewers after the boy ordered with nearly flawless Thai pronunciation. But the more we tried, the less the waiter seemed to understand, so he retreated to an infallible strategy: “Mild, medium or hot?” he asked.

With its French vanilla walls and jet-black exposed ducts, this new Glendale place looks like a postmodern cafe, but a gallery’s worth of Thai silk paintings and Buddhist figurines softens the interior considerably, and the folded red cloth napkins on the tables are positively charming.

The “skewers” in the name must refer to satay, but since we did not order that miniature Thai version of shish kebab, we never saw a single skewer here. Instead, we started with delicious deep-fried fish cakes flecked with basil (tod mun) and Thai Skewers chicken, which turned out to be the usual Thai barbecued chicken served on a sizzling platter with vegetables. Not bad, though I prefer chicken with sticky rice, the way it’s eaten in rural Thailand.

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This is a big, surprise-filled menu, full of flavorful, homey dishes. Take kai kaow, flat rice noodles tossed with chicken, big pieces of squid, eggs, green onions and bean sprouts. Or larb, ground chicken mixed with lime juice, toasted rice powder, onions and lots of red peppers.

One of the more innovative dishes on Thai Skewers’ menu is the odd-sounding pineapple roasted duck curry. The pieces of roast duck are steeped in rich coconut milk curry sauce, and any excessive sweetness seems to have been leached out of the pineapple chunks, resulting in a pleasing, subtle flavor.

There are plenty of classics here, too. You can get yum woon sen, the salad of transparent noodles, shrimp and chicken. The spicy shrimp salad pla goong smells exactly like a Thai marketplace, all lemon grass and fresh mint.

A few dishes could be improved. The huge, meaty Thai barbecued spareribs are completely coated with cloyingly sweet black soy sauce, and the meat isn’t quite tender enough. The spring rolls are oily, and the one dessert, sticky rice blanketed with a mustard-yellow coconut-flavored custard, is tasty but visually repellent.

My nephew ate the entire thing.

BE THERE

Thai Skewers, 316 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale. Hours: 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 5:30-10 p.m. Sunday. Beer and wine. Street parking. MasterCard and Visa. Dinner for two, $19-$36. Suggested dishes: Thai Skewers chicken, $6.50; fish cake, $6.95; larb, $5.95; kai kaow, $5.95; pineapple roasted duck curry, $6.95. Call (818) 242-2433.