Thai Ginger Bistro: Comfort and consistency

Among the many good qualities a restaurant can have is reliability - being consistent with the quality of its dishes. Customers then can develop a sense of comfort, knowing that the food will always be good. It may take many visits over many years, but it's a priceless quality for a restaurant to have.

Thai Ginger Bistro in Petaluma, open for nine years now, is like that. It's located in Helen Putnam Plaza, the small set-back on Petaluma Boulevard North named for the woman who was a mother, school teacher, principal, mayor of the town, Sonoma County supervisor, and indefatigable supporter of excellence. It's fitting that Thai Ginger Bistro is in the plaza named for her.

Some aspects of the food have changed. Presentations several years ago were more elaborate, in the style that Thai cuisine is known for - radishes cut into beautiful rose figures, that sort of thing. But if the presentations are less artful, the quality of the food remains as high as ever.

The interior is pretty, with tile floor and black scrim stretched across the ceiling. Paintings by Sandra Speidel hang on the walls, priced for sale. Nine tables with lovely Thai weavings covered by glass tabletops are fitted into the small room, but there are more tables outside that allow customers to people-watch as they enjoy the fresh air.

Service is friendly, if obtrusive. Why did she want to know where I lived? But it was all delivered with a broad smile. The wine list is short, with four white and four red bottles modestly priced between $26 and $33, all also available by the glass for $7 or $8. Three bottled beers are available.

Several items on the Thai Ginger Bistro menu are culinary clich?, but they're so good and fun to eat that you wouldn't want to eat Thai without them. Chicken Satay ($7.95 ***) is one of them. A generous six bamboo spears hold flat strips of chicken breast marinated in coconut milk, then grilled and served with their own special peanut sauce and a crisp, marinated cucumber and onion salad. Satay is one of those cultural foods that seemed to have been invented primarily to please. And ditto for the Southeast Asian Summer Rolls ($7.95 ***), steamed tofu, romaine lettuce, rice noodles, cilantro, mint and carrots rolled in three six-inch long tubes of rice paper noodles and cut in half to give you six pieces. They also come with a special peanut sauce and have the taste of a fresh summer morning.

Good Thai restaurants make their own curry pastes from fresh condiments. Thai Ginger Bistro makes its own red curry paste for its Pumpkin Curry ($15.95 ***). The blended flavors disappear into one another and can include ground red chilies, shrimp paste, coriander, cumin, garlic, shallots, lemon grass, galangal, kaffir lime, cilantro root and black pepper. The overall impression is of a single, spicy flavor that enwraps pumpkin, peas, carrots, bell peppers, basil and thin rectangles of pork. (You can also choose from among chicken, beef, prawns or tofu). A cone of white rice and a salad of apples, carrots and raisins comes with the curry. This is a seriously yummy bowl of food.

For soup, don't miss the Pacific Coast Soup ($8.95 ***). The pho-like broth has a little yellow curry dissolved in it and is slightly spicy - although the menu encourages you to bump up the heat level. It holds rice vermicelli, a slice of lime, cabbage, tomatoes, green and red bell peppers, green onions, carrots, cilantro and thin slices of chicken breast. Again, you can choose beef, pork, prawns or tofu instead of chicken, if you wish.

I ordered the Barbecue Lover with Prawns ($15.95 ***) but to my surprise was served Barbecue Lover with Pork, which turned out to be just fine because the pork was three generous and tender pork cutlets marinated in a tangy sauce, then grilled. It came with two dipping sauces that weren't really needed since the pork was so good by itself. A cone of white rice, five asparagus spears and three broccoli florets - all perfectly cooked al dente - accompanied the pork.

The kitchen made a nice try for an interesting combination of flavors with its Duck Pineapple Curry ($17.95 **?), even if it did fall a little short of greatness. Roasted duck was served in a bowl with red curry paste dissolved in coconut milk and paired with pineapple, basil, tomatoes and bell peppers. The problem was that the curry masked what should have been the star flavor combination - roast duck and pineapple. Still, it was a delicious bowl of food.

Dessert didn't fare nearly as well. The Sticky Rice with Mango ($6.95 *?) suffered because while the rice was plenty sticky, the mango was unripe and hard, not sweet and juicy.

To sum up: Thai Ginger Bistro isn't trying as hard these days in the pretty presentation department, but the food remains among the best Thai food in Sonoma County - and that's what counts.

(Jeff Cox writes a weekly restaurant review column for the Press Democrat's Sonoma Living section. You can reach him at jeffcox@sonic.net.)