An enjoyable take on Thai dishes

The three Thai partners who opened Pho and Thai in Belmont's Waverly Square - Sasirat Wyckoff, Tusnee Wutimongkolchai, and Aporn Vongsavat - probably had no idea that whatever they did would be compared to Patou Thai in Belmont Center, a restaurant about a mile away. The stunning Patou sets the standard not just for Thai cuisine, but for graciousness and service.

Pho and Thai is mostly Thai, though Vongsavat, who established the menu and does the cooking, feels confident in Vietnamese, Malaysian, and Korean cuisines. "In Boston now," she tells me on the phone, "the people like noodle soup." Thai food is more expensive than Vietnamese, she says, and the economy is down. So to a classic Thai menu of tom yum soup, many variations of pad Thai, curries, and steak, salmon, and duck dishes, she offers several bowls of pho, the big-flavored Vietnamese soup, and the traditional bun, made with rice vermicelli noodles and a mound of fresh mint, peanuts, and bean sprouts.

Alas, this isn't Patou. Pho and Thai is figuring things out in the kitchen and in the dining room, but you can eat well and enjoy Vongsavat's take on many familiar dishes. Satay, the classic skewers of marinated beef or chicken with peanut sauce ($5.95), is made with thin, well-flavored beef one night, and long lumps of tasteless chicken another. Steamed shumai, filled with vegetables ($5.95), come in very tender dumpling wrappers. Edamame ($4.95) are hot and plump.

Irresistibly crunchy green papaya salad ($8.95), the papaya cut into long shreds and tossed with a hot dressing, is delicious, though the shrimp are gummy. Fresh rolls ($5.95) are moist and crunchy. Tiger's tear salad ($11.95) is the outstanding appetizer here, with luscious strips of rare sirloin in a spicy sauce, accompanied by cool greens.

Pho ga, or chicken soup ($7.95) is a good bowl but without the depth of a pho ladled out in a Vietnamese restaurant. Pho beef meatball ($7.95) comes with slices of a dense meat with the texture of tongue. The classic Vietnamese vermicelli salads called bun also don't seem authentic, though they're very good. Vongsavat explains that she makes the hot dressing stronger than the traditional one. Her steamed tofu, in large squares, is remarkable.

Crispy pad Thai looks like crumbles of shredded wheat and tastes wonderful in its rich mixture of egg, bean sprouts, and peanuts. The star of the pad dishes is pad see eaw with wide rice noodles, Chinese broccoli, and egg in a sauce based on black beans and vinegar. All the pad variations come in chicken, tofu, or beef ($9.95) or shrimp or seafood ($10.95). Shrimp complements a light dish like crispy pad Thai; pad see eaw needs something stronger, like beef; that version is one of the menu's most successful dishes.

Kra-pow ($11.95), another outstanding entree, is a mixture of spicy ground beef (you can also order chicken) with onions, green peppers, and mushrooms. The description of salmon teriyaki ($14.95) promises homemade teriyaki sauce but it tastes bottled, and the fish is overcooked.

Vongsavat opened Sweet Lemons in Weymouth half a dozen years ago and keeps an eye on what her customers are ordering. She says she goes to Chinatown every day to shop, vegetables come from A. Russo and Sons in Watertown, and she buys items like tofu freshly made at the factory. So she's bound to smooth out the rest of the little things. Then she'll no longer be compared to Patou Thai. Pho and Thai will be another option on the growing landscape.