Bangkok Cafe has food fit for a princess

The crispy chicken Bangkok basil features chicken that is deep-fried, then stir fried with vegetables in a hot chili basil sauce. (Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff)

Danny Titisuttikul learned to cook back home in Thailand from his mother who, he says, used only the best, freshest ingredients. When he was 12, they boarded a bus together in their coastal town east of Bangkok. He claimed the window seat but for some reason, she insisted that they switch places. Soon after, the bus collided with a car. His mother was killed. The boy took over the family cooking chores, and attended culinary school in Bangkok. He also earned a degree in business, worked at a bank, and began saving money to come to America. In 1984, he moved to Boston, working in several Thai restaurants before opening his own - the Bangkok Cafe in Foxborough - in 1992.

He now has a second Bangkok Cafe, in Roslindale, facing Adams Park. It's a cozy, quiet place with 36 seats. The restaurant is spotless and has the requisite aquarium and Buddha statues. Thai music plays softly in the background. With an attentive waitress and a pro in the kitchen, it's a pleasant place to have a terrific meal. Ask Princess Ploypailin of Thailand, who as an MIT student visited the restaurant four times. (Titisuttikul is happy to provide photos).

Start with the cafe sampler for two ($9.95), which will give you a taste of crispy Thai rolls; Paradise beef in a sweet marinade; and butterflied shrimp fried in wonton skins. The platter comes with a fiery sweet sauce.

Chive pancakes ($5.95) are very different from the usual. Instead of the flat, crispy orb cut into triangles, these are two individual cakes, puffy and overstuffed with fresh chives. Though we loved the chives, the pancakes were doughy and needed more crunch.

The menu rates the dishes from one star - "spicy" - to four - "suicidal!" We didn't notice any four-star offerings, but Titisuttikul says he'll fix any item for those who truly want the heat. Thankfully, we stuck with the two-star "hot and spicy," including crispy chicken Bangkok basil ($11.95), which made us reach for our water glasses. The chicken is deep-fried and then stir-fried with vegetables in a hot chili basil sauce. There's tons of Thai basil in the dish, which is stronger and more aromatic than its American cousin. It's a deliciously different dish.

Titisuttikul uses no MSG and cooks only with canola oil. Several dishes have met the "Boston Best Bites" standards under a program that encourages restaurants to add heart-healthy options; on the menu, they're marked with a heart symbol. One that is not - but we had to have it anyway - is crispy pad Thai (chicken, shrimp, vegetable or tofu from $6.95 to $9.95). Fried thin yellow egg noodles are tossed with egg, scallions, bean sprouts, and ground peanuts in a sweet, delicate sauce.

We couldn't leave a Thai restaurant without trying a curry dish. Duck choo chee ($14.95) combines chunks of tender, boneless roast duck with baby corn, carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, and peppers. Sweet pineapple chunks and coconut milk help cut the heat of the red curry. As one customer summed it up in the guest book: "This curry rocks!"

Under "Creative Cuisine," you can design your own meal from chicken, beef, seafood, duck, or tofu; one of seven sauces; and various rices or noodles. We picked scallops with ginger scallion sauce ($12.95) and were rewarded with plump morsels of seafood and a load of fresh ginger cut into matchsticks for crunch and flavor. Each dish comes with a side of stir-fried vegetables.

Except for the ice cream, desserts are homemade. We loved the silkiness of the Thai coconut custard ($3), served slightly warm, and also the chunks of deep-fried bananas in tortillas ($3.95) drizzled with honey.

Titisuttikul is 50 but looks at least 10 years younger; when he was 40, he was carded in a bar. Maybe it's because, between his two restaurants, he's constantly eating his own health-conscious food. His culinary Fountain of Youth is a good enough reason to return.