Anong Sukprom, the owner and chef of Long Beach Thai Cuisine, offers up a plate called Happy Marriage with scallops and prawns in a spicy basil, garlic and sweet chili sauce. Photo by Alex Pajunas.

Located on the north end of Long Beach, housed against a video store, Long Beach Thai Cuisine doesn’t look like much from the outside. To be honest, its interior isn’t really my cup of tea either, but the food easily transcends the bright, tacky, living room atmosphere. In fact, I prefer to get their food to go and eat it at home, as the music they play – country, ’80s pop – kind of clashes with the authentic food and exotic fish tank.

But what magic they perform in their small back kitchen. The flavors and textures of the ingredients are well suited and the freshness is evident. The majority of the dishes are well developed and properly executed.

People who are still apprehensive of eating Thai food because of its perceived spiciness need not worry. You can request your dish as spicy or non as you like using the five-star spice system. I ran the gamut from one to five but never met my match; of course, I’ve developed quite a threshold over the years. If there was a negative aspect of Thai cuisine, I’d say it was the sweetness more than anything. A longtime fan of Thai food, I know which dishes are too sweet for my taste and try to avoid them.

And so many dishes are there to choose from at LBTC – more than 100, in fact. And the chef, born and raised in Thailand, uses seven different kinds of curry. Curry gets a bad rap sometimes, as our common golden-yellow “curry powder” can be so one-dimensional and lifeless. The red, green and dark brown curry pastes of India and South Asia provide a multifaceted, complex, layered spectrum of subtle and nuanced to bold and spicy flavors for you to contemplate and enjoy in the myriad exotic dishes of Thailand.

A few of those dishes that I eagerly recommend:

Choo-Chee Curry ($15), large chunks of fresh halibut in a sauce of red curry, coconut milk, whole basil leaves and red and green bell pepper julienne. Every dish comes with a side of steamed jasmine rice, and I like to mix it in with this dish.

Paradise Mussels ($15), a dozen or so Pacific mussels sauteed with thick noodles, red bell pepper, onions, mushrooms, bamboo shoots and basil in a light chili sauce. I add a little fish sauce to this one when I dine in.

Happy Marriage ($12), scallops, prawns, cabbage, broccoli, peppers and carrots in a sweet and spicy garlic sauce. All of the vegetables are bright, beautifully cut and most importantly, perfectly cooked.

LBTC House Noodles ($10), a stir-fry of thinly-sliced beef, chicken and pork, with prawns, broccoli, carrots, onion, basil and tomatoes, with super-wide noodles (think large ravioli sans filling) in a sweet chili sauce. This dish is oily and delicious; appropriately fatty, but not overly so.

The fresh rolls at Long Beach Thai Cuisine include lettuce, chicken and prawns wrapped in a rice paper skin and served with spicy peanut sauce. Photo by Alex Pajunas.Yum Nua (Beef Salad, $8), marinated, thinly sliced beef with raw onion, iceberg lettuce, tomato wedges and cucumber chunks in lime juice. This dish is wonderful. The spiciness of the raw onion is perfectly complemented by the cooling cucumber. The beef is tender and the lime juice really ties the dish together.

Pad Thai ($8-$10, depending on your meat or seafood selection). This is one of those dishes I find too sweet, but I love the rice noodles, so I always order it anyway and fight the sweetness with soy sauce and hot chili paste. The stir-fried noodles contain whatever meat you choose (I like the prawns or pork), egg, tofu, bean sprouts and chopped peanuts. The rice is kind of unnecessary with this dish, so save it for later. A wonderful array of textures awaits in Pad Thai, making it a popular item.

Basil Asparagus ($10-$12), asparagus sauteed with basil, scallion, tomato and garlic, with chili paste and whatever accompaniment you want. I liked it with tofu.

Mango Snapper Salad ($12, special), not on the regular menu; ask about the availability of this one. A whole mango’s worth of slices, green onion, sweet onion, cilantro and tomato in a sweet vinegar sauce with fried strips of red snapper. I loved the concept of this dish, but unfortunately my snapper was overfried and tough.

The only other dish I tried that I wasn’t satisfied with was the Tom Yum Gai ($7), a hot and sour soup with chicken, mushrooms, lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves. I found it to be neither hot nor sour, and overall a bit bland. The chunks of chicken were also a bit large for a soup. I have a nice collection of Asian condiments at home and was able to fix it, but of course, I shouldn’t have to. Other than that, the food of Long Beach Thai Cuisine is superb. Although service is friendly and informative, I don’t care for the atmosphere, and recommend take out.

– The Mouth