From The New Orleans Menu Daily By Tom Fitzmorris Originally published March 12, 2007 La Thai Cuisine 3$ Old Metairie: 933 Metairie Rd. 828-3080. Lunch Mon.-Fri. Dinner Mon.-Sat. AE, DC, DS, MC, V. Thai. La Thai Cuisine is one of the increasing number of ethnic restaurants that doesn't feel constrained by its name. The menu here is mostly Thai. But not entirely. Over the years, Punee Semiesuke ("Mama," as regulars call her) and her kids Merlin and Diana have purveyed a menu that incorporates a few other flavors--notably those of Louisiana. For example, they once had a dish called Thai Coon. As in "coonass." Crawfish, bell peppers, eggplant, and garlic--as well as Thai hot sauce and jasmine rice. It's Thai, it's Cajun. And it's good. The restaurant is an imaginatively-renovated old gas station, spare but elegant and comfortable. It does a good business, even on weeknights. The crowd is young and hip, and they prefer the dishes that make big flavor statements. The best starting point--as it is in most Thai restaurants--is soup. The lighter and better of the two is the  Thai shrimp soup, but the creamier (with coconut milk, not cream) chicken or scallop soup is also good. The great appetizer here is one of those Thai-Cajun fusions. They encrust the oysters with ground pecans, fry them, then send them out atop a sort of choucroute made of artichokes, zipped up with wasabi. Share this. It's too big to consume comfortably with an entree to follow. Another fine cross-cultural starter is the crispy coconut shrimp. This reminds me a lot of the coconut beer-batter shrimp at the Red Fish Grill, except that the sweet-hot sauce carries a bit more firepower. They also do something like this with fried calamari. My first investigation into any Thai restaurant's entree list is of the curries. These bear little resemblance in flavor to Indian curries, and are much lighter in texture. They come in several varieties and colors here. I like la Thai's Panang curry, a golden-orange, creamy (again with the coconut milk) sauce with chicken, pork, or shrimp, and herb leaves. They have made this into a more authentic presentation, with enough sauce that it's almost a soup. The other Thai standout is paht (pad) Thai, the pan-fried rice noodles with chicken, shrimp, carrots, peanuts, and a bunch of other stuff. This is a dish that's so appealing that it's hard to find a bad one. The one here is exceptionally good. My only reservation is that I think there are better things here. However, since we're on noodle dishes I think I'd better warn you of a not-so-good dish. Mee grob was the first Thai dish to catch on in the United States. It's sort of a Thai chow mein, with crispy noodles under the saucy concoction of vegetables and chicken and shrimp. I've never had a good chow mein, and I'd say this was the least interesting Thai dish I know, even in this otherwise fine restaurant. So. Sesame-crusted soft shell crabs, sent out with shrimp, asparagus, and a green curry sauce. Duck, roasted with honey and served with hoisin sauce, crispy and good. When Mama is cooking (and those are the best days here), ask if she'll do her roti chicken. It sounds and looks like nothing much, marinated in lemongrass and sort of pan-fried in finger-size pieces. But the flavor is exceptionally good, with all sorts of herbal and peppery flavors emerging from very tender meat. To go along with all this, they have a rather good wine list, with many choices by the glass. The service staff is intelligent and effective, and perhaps cooler than you or me. Those who believe that all Asian food must be very inexpensive should enter here knowing that these are Creole bistro prices. Entrees are in the mid-teens. More fusion, I guess, but the quality of the groceries and the preparations render the deal more than acceptable. Click here to return to today's edition. Click here for an index of all restaurant reviews. © 2007 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com.