• • 00 II OS • 111 0411 • 411 Arts & Entertainment The Best Of Everything Taste The Tingle Super spicy or mild, Rexy's Bangkok Cuisine in Royal Oak tempts the taste buds. I PERI LS Fri. & Sat, Oct. 18 & 19 ITALLA "TN 7/26 2002 110 Celebrity Showroom w 7096 East Fourteen Mite Road a l (Between Mound &Van Dyke) (586) 268-3200 ••••••••••• soup ... In Thailand, soups he growing popu- are generally served larity of Thai food throughout the meal ... the in the United diners frequently taking a States could stem spoon or two of soup to from a health-conscious refresh their palates. awareness by Americans Try the crispy roll appe- watching much more their tizer at Rexy's ... It is a intake of cholesterol and fat. delightful beginning ... with Thai food is light ... and DANNY ground chicken, transparent most of the herbs and spices RASKIN noodles, bean sprouts and used as common ingredients Local Columnist black mushrooms ... are good for digestion. wrapped in a light, crispy But of much prominence shell ... and served with a side of ... is the taste of Thai food ... with crushed peanut sauce ... (three its distinctive character. pieces, $3.25 ... six pieces, $6.50). At the 5-month-old Rexy's A couple of big favorites of Rexy's Bangkok Cuisine in the Northwood customers are the Bangkok chicken, shopping center on Woodward and lightly breaded and sauteed with 13 Mile Road in Royal Oak ... from sweet and sour sauce ($9.95) ... and the best-seller Pad Thai (sauteed rice Thai boxing chicken, served only at noodles with egg, bean sprouts and dinner ... grilled and spiced with green onions topped with crushed peanuts) ... to soups like the hot and black pepper and garlic ($10.95). The Pla Dook Pad Ped, served just sour, with chicken, bamboo shoots, at dinner, has a large following ... water chestnuts, egg and onions ... crispy catfish slices mixed with green that is brought before every diner as peppers and eggplant in a Thai curry he or she sits down ... a satisfying sauce ($11.95). taste treat is the delight of many. If it's just vegetables you want, try He wasn't born yet when mom and the vegetable curry ... peapods, water dad, Monterey and Somonauk (Sandy) Arachnidan, opened the first chestnuts, napa, baby corn, carrots, bamboo shoots, eggplant, celery and Thai restaurant in Michigan ... back mushrooms ... in a Thai curry ... in 1971 ... called Thai Room on ($6.95 lunch, $9.95 din- Warren ... and seating just 25. ner). But today, Rexy Arachnidan is the Rexy's Bangkok operator of one of the family's four Cuisine opened restaurants by the same name ... Mother runs 15 Mile and Dequindre in February of ... dad has Main Street in downtown this year ... seating 125 ... Rochester ... and brother Danny and is a runs the Bangkok Cuisine Express carryout on 19 Mile and Garfield. The first Bangkok Cuisine was in 1983 on 16 Mile and Dequindre ... before moving to 15 and Dequindre. Rexy still does all the prep cooking ... making the sauces, etc., in prepa- rations of food at the Royal Oak restaurant. About the hot and sour soup at Rexy's Bangkok Cuisine that is brought when seated ... It is very Rexy spicy, but the server will return the Arachnidan soup to the kitchen for "doctoring" ... Or just tell the waitperson before- hand that you can't eat spicy food ... and it will be toned down for you. Why the soup? ... A Thai meal is not regarded as complete without seven-day-a-week operation ... Monday-Thursday, 11-10; Friday, 11-11; Saturday, noon-11; Sunday, noon-10. Of striking decor is the 400-gallon aquarium with its colorful, exotic fishes ... An arch from the dining room into the open kitchen sector is like those at the front of Thailand temples ... Wall patterns are lotus leaves. The former .Sears Hardware and Captain Tony's site, with its Cuban sandwiches and indoor bocci ball court, was gutted from floor to ceil- ing ... The flooring is now of stained epoxy on cement ... Cast iron parti- tions are between the tables and booth sections ... much oak wood, hanging decorator lamps with small Bangkok-themed shades, Siamese art, etc. The famed Thai Bubble Drink, which to Taiwan is what coffee or soda are to the United States, enjoys much popularity at Rexy's Bangkok Cuisine. It is cool, refreshing and sweet ... with tapioca pearls sitting on the bottom ... Large fat straws are used to suck up the tapioca balls that taste like and have the texture of gummy bears ... or something between Jell-O and chewing gum. Note the rice ... It is Thailand's wonderful pearly white kind that grows there in abundance. Quite erroneous in point of fact, is that all Thai food is hot, or extreme- ly hot ... Although some Thai dishes are quite spicy, far more dishes are completely mild, and require no adjustment whatsoever ... much of the heat of the spicy dishes comes from red or green pep- pers, commonly referred to as chilies ... The Thais call them prik and have many amusing names for the hottest of them ... There are a num- ber of them that range from quite mild ... almost innocuous ... all the