The lights are on, the tables are set and doors are once again open for business at 6 King Street.
Mai Thai, a new restaurant featuring authentic Thai cooking, has opened up in the Old Seaport Inn. Local designer and architect Rich Makus worked with restaurant owner Woody Tongrugs on creating a special look for the new restaurant.
Step inside and behold “Naga,” a nine-foot mythological Oriental sea serpent twirling down from the second floor rafters and coming to rest about nine feet above the brushed aluminum serpentine bar. Naga appears to be a distant and more cheerful relation to the basilisk that Harry Potter discovered lurking around in The Chamber of Secrets.
Simplicity is in the décor — from the polished wood table tops, leather chairs in brilliant reds and oranges, and complemented by the stems of orchids stretching out from mottled colored bottles set on each table.The restaurant includes inside as well as sidewalk dining, weather permitting.
Restaurant owners Woody and Udom Tongrugs have chosen a selection of their favorite Thai recipes for the menu. Seafood, duck, beef, pork, chicken and vegetarian soups, appetizers and entrees are available, in addition to fresh noodle and fried rice dishes.
Menu items are rotated and selected based on seasonal freshness and availability. Tongrugs describes the menu as “tasty with a balance between sweet, sour and spicy.”
Suggested selections for diners new to Thai cooking include Pad Thai [Thin rice noodles stir-fried with chicken, sliced red bean curd, crushed peanuts, bean sprouts, scallions and egg in tamarind sauce]; Ka Pow ***[Choice of beef, chicken, pork or combination seafood sautéed with fresh ground pepper, garlic and Thai basil leaves]; Crispy flounder [Crisp whole flounder, served with your choice of spicy chili, garlic sauce*** or black bean mushroom ginger sauce]; Shrimp basket** [Jumbo shrimp, lightly battered and deep fried, then sautéed with fresh ground pepper and garlic sauce. Served in a basket of taro and string beans].
***hot
**medium