Solid Thai fare along Boston's busiest thoroughfare.

The Scene
The sleek look (lots of black lacquer, mirrors, a black tile floor, Thai decorative objects kept minimal) suits this middlebrow part of Newbury nicely, though the long, narrow garden-level space tends to get very noisy as soon as one patron raises his voice and everyone else speaks up to be heard. Parties of at least six can reserve the bamboo-mat rooms with classic low tables.

The Food
Noon or evening, start with a heavenly rendition of chicken coconut soup seasoned with galangal, lime juice and hot chilies. This is the best version of this soup we've tried, but the rest of the dishes, while uniformly good and accurately rated for spiciness on a scale of one to three chilies, don't quite match it.