Royal Spice Thai Bistro By Jim White Something spicy this way comes to my favorite little “city within a city”, Addison Circle. Royal Spice Thai Bistro is a breezy, efficient, contemporary little gem nestled in this suburban oasis of shops, apartments and restaurants. The ambiance is inviting. The service is friendly. The food is very nicely done. Some Thai menus can be overwhelming in their complexity and diversity. I’ve been known to wrestle with choices for half an hour before figuratively flipping a coin. This menu gets straight to the point, and I appreciate the simplicity. I kept eyeing the crisp fried calamari with tomato chili sauce ($6), but opted instead for tasty Thai chicken satay with chunky peanut sauce ($6). Who wouldn’t be intrigued with an item called “Thai Me Up-Roll Me Out-crab spring roll ($6)? I wound up ordering crispy spring rolls with chicken and found them delightful ($5). Soup and salads gave me pause for reflection. Would it be grilled beef salad with lemon grass, chili lime, tomato, onion and mint leaves over fresh greens ($7), or chicken coconut soup ($4) with oyster mushroom, galangal (Thai ginger) and cherry tomato? Since a complimentary house salad accompanies each entrée we decided to figure it out next time. As I scanned the dozen or so main courses two items jumped off the page, but I had some lingering desire to try others. All right, maybe it’s not as easy to choose as I thought. Southeast Asian Curry ($8) is very satisfying. A tender chicken breast is accompanied with onion, potato and scintillating yellow curry. We also enjoyed Pad Thai ($10). The wok tossed rice pasta with tamarind sauce and fried leeks is served with shrimp. They were kind enough to substitute chicken. Still I had second thoughts about ginger-brandy marinated Mongolian beef ($8), wok seared Siamese noodle with broccoli and “Stir Crazy”-wok tossed chicken breast in brandy-Worcester sauce and Asian bean sauce ($8). Where’s that “coin” when you need it? Royal Spice Thai Bistro 5004 Addison Circle (972) 788-2223 Send me an Email: jwdineline@aol.com