Toy's Cafe

This storefront Thai restaurant recently doubled its seating by adding a second dining room, so a table is easier to come by even during rush hours. The traditional dishes range from seafood to vegetarian, subtle to super-spicy and standard to exotic. All start with a salad with peanut sauce and include a dollop of sticky, thick-grained brown rice. Bean cakes--basically triangles of crispy fried tofu--make a good appetizer, and Tom-Yum soup, which feeds a tableful, is good for the more adventurous diners. Besides typical ingredients such as ginger and black beans, main dishes also incorporate various root vegetables, Japanese eggplant and coconut milk.