Tapas learn to speak another language

The grazing craze of the ‘80s may have come and gone, but in practice we’ve always been grazers -- of sushi, dim sum, tapas, you name it. Today there’s a whole new crop of “grazeterias” featuring “small plates.” Possibly inspired by this, the creators of Rambutan Thai, a smartly designed spot between a liquor store and an auto parts shop in Silver Lake, are hoping we’re ready for ... Thai tapas.

With more than 300 Thai restaurants in the L.A. basin, you might suspect a marketing ploy. In fact, the idea is drawn from Thai tradition. Noshing is a national pastime in Thailand. From dawn to after midnight, legions of street vendors sell sates, dumplings, noodles and little sweets called khanom.

At Thai bars and nightclubs, dinner is an array of little plates. Bar food is typically in the style of northeastern Thailand, shockingly spicy or ripely fermented, to be washed down with beer or rice whiskey.

In Thailand, the treats might include khai mot daeng (red ant larva) or maeng daa naa (rice field water beetles with chile dip). Rambutan Thai doesn’t serve anything quite so exotic. Its food and drink seem to fit seamlessly into L.A.’s taste -- as does its modern design. Coral-hued silk covers one padded wall, a smart row of beveled mirrors lines another. The dark wood bar attracts clusters of chatty young women in colorful clothing.

You’ll notice rice whiskey is absent from the list of libations. Instead, there are a number of moderately priced wines. I’m not sure they perfectly complement this food, but the tables of Thai twenty- and thirtysomethings seem to prefer wine. A dozen international beers and several good sakes are also on offer.

The kitchen has a good eye for presentation and does a gentle balancing of traditional flavors that gives the mostly familiar Thai dishes a Euro-Asian look and taste. A wine-garlic-cilantro dipping sauce comes with crunchy fried calamari. The thumb-sized crab spring rolls, in crisp filo-like rice paper, are swathed in red lettuce with a single basil leaf and presented on rectangular plates. There are shredded Chinese pickles and dried shrimp on a plate of sauteed green beans, but they scarcely make their presence known.

A few of the tapas are stylized versions of funky northeastern Thailand bar snacks. Larb, the dish of minced beef or chicken with a sharp jolt of lime and chile, is served elegantly in six dainty mounds on cabbage leaf triangles, arranged around a salad of baby greens. Nuea kem -- nearly dry, intensely beefy strips of marinated meat -- arrive with a searing chile dip. Traditionally, as the menu suggests, you eat these with a little ball of sticky rice rolled between your fingers, but Rambutan Thai doesn’t offer the rice unless you request it.

Salads, though not listed under tapas, fit the small-dish theme. With its thin slices of roasted duck breast on lightly dressed baby greens, the duck salad has a spare quality that’s true to the style here.

Rambutan Thai has a full Thai menu alongside the 16 tapas and wants guests to linger for dinner. In practice, the dinner dishes are actually cheaper. Though the tapas average $6 each, a full meal of them can get expensive, while the $8 stir-fried noodles from the dinner menu is a hefty serving loaded with chicken and vegetables.

Entrees listed as “from the grill” or “seafood” tend to be served Western fashion. Take the garlic-marinated Siam pork chop: Split, grilled and lightly anointed with soy vinaigrette, the thick, juicy chop comes with rice and vegetables. However, the curries, rich with coconut milk and a moderate glow of heat, come in serving bowls, family style, in the Thai manner.

The desserts are all of Western heritage and quite good. “Chocolate cake, cheesecake with raspberry sauce,” a waitress recites. Coconut-cream caramel, for instance, is flawless, down to its bronzed sauce and fresh berry garnish.

As for the Thai tapas, I’m betting their time has come.

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Rambutan Thai

Location: Rambutan Thai, 2835 W. Sunset Blvd., Silver Lake, (213) 273-8424.

Price: Tapas $5 to $7, entrees $7 to $18, desserts $6.

Best dishes: Crab rolls, calamari, duck salad, Siam pork chop, duck curry.

Details: Open 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Sunday. Beer and wine. Parking lot.