Silk Thai

The little neighborhood place Silk Thai is at the border of Beverly Hills and Century City. When I say little, I mean ten tables, all full of locals lunching when I drove by, but by the time I found parking just one block away at a meter, one table had emptied just for me!

It's always a good sign when a small place is filled with regulars and locals rather than tourists who may be there based purely on hype or a past reputation. It's also good when the service is friendly even when the restaurant is swamped; there is only one waitress for the entire place and she also cleared, set, and delivered the orders after taking them! They offer take out and the delivery bicycle man was making runs throughout my meal (the bike is parked in front with a milk carton basket to carry the food, just like in Manhattan).

The decor is very calming, with touches of brightly colored cushions and flowers on every table. They offer a great lunch time special for only $8.95 which includes a small salad with very thick peanut dressing (I liked the flavor but not the consistency), two mini vegetable spring rolls, and a choice of entrees with rice. I chose the beef with basil and brown rice (so nice to have brown rice as an option) pictured above. The flavors were rich and flavorful, but not very spicy; probably a good thing for all the people who had to go back to work after lunch. Other options include a yellow curry chicken, tofu with cashew nuts, and broccoli with your choice of tofu or meat. You can also order off the regular menu of noodle and rice dishes which all run under $10; they have a vegetarian tofu alternative for nearly every dish that is made with meat or shrimp.

As a nice refreshing finish to a very good deal in Beverly Hills, they serve a very colorful scoop of frutti tutti sherbet after the meal; it made everyone (including me) smile like a kid when we got our desserts.