Some main dishes, in a presentation similar to that of other Thai restaurants, begin with vegetables, nuts, flavorings and sauces and make the diner figure out which would work best with them: chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, squid or mixed seafood.
But the best meal we eat here is Malay nasi kandar, a self-service feast of at least 40 dishes, where a plate heaped with delicious okra and bitter gourd, spicy beef rendang, squid and fish curry costs less than two pounds.
But Sweet 'n' Tart's more typical dishes are terrific as well, like congee with beef, pork and squid.
RECOMMENDED DISHES Yakitori, beef negimayaki, spicy squid, sauteed mushrooms, burikama, gyoza, shumai, sushi, sashimi, shrimp tempura, beef teriyaki, house special salmon.
BEST DISHES -- Ku jol pan; potato pancakes; seafood pancake; bulgogi with soft rice cakes; pork or beef bulgogi; broiled squid; kimchi stew.
In her kitchen, Wendy and assorted relatives were preparing soy-sauce chicken, sweet-and-sour pork, fried squid, beef ribs, pork-belly buns, lobster wontons, and vegetable spring rolls.
RECOMMENDED DISHES Marinated seared tuna; chicken and coconut and galanga soup; grilled prime beef salad; grilled squid salad; pad Thai; grilled seafood platter; royal massaman curry; fried whole fish; sautéed wild boar; sticky rice with mango and coconut milk sauce.
And the kaiseki feast, as delivered by the excitable room attendant Yamamoto, is an eight-course train of recognizable dishes (flatfish sashimi, grilled beef, shrimp and squid tempura) that is mostly solid if not as celestial as Hiiragiya's.
Most of these involve some combination of beef, pork, quail eggs, squid, garlic and scallions, with bean sprouts and fresh basil on the side.
