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Becky Stein/special (ENLARGE)
The warm coconut milk souop is speckled with red chile and dotted with tofu and scallions.
Becky Stein/special (ENLARGE)
Pla goong, with fat shrimp tossed lightly with lemon grass, onion, lime, refreshing cilantro and mint and, of course, chile pepper is a standout.
Becky Stein/special (ENLARGE)
The menu denotes the heat of a dish, like this beef salad, with a corresponding number of chile peppers.
Becky Stein/special (ENLARGE)
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RELATED LINKS: • Find more Thai restaurants • Try easy Thai recipies • Read Meridith Ford's recent reviews

There is something extremely enticing about Thai cuisine to the Western palate. In the last three to four decades, Thai food has become as ubiquitous to us today as spaghetti and meatballs became in the 1960s.

Perhaps no other Southeast Asian cuisine is as elegantly complicated, yet beautifully free of ostentation. Flavors of sweet (coconut milk, lemon grass, basil and papaya), salty (fish sauce) and sour (lime juice and tamarind) mingle with the heat of chilies in almost every dish.

So it would be no great leap to name a Thai restaurant Tamarind. Or Thai Basil. Or even Lime Juice. It would, however, be a bit of stretch to name it Udon, since that is the name of a Japanese wheat noodle.

But tucked underneath the swirling curves of that lettering (the remnants of a former tenant) is a gem of a Thai spot in Alpharetta. Lost in an almost deserted strip mall where only a giant antique store seems to draw any attention, Lime Juice offers a repast of delicately presented Thai flavors.

The menu offers little new to anyone familiar with this lovely cuisine — printed prettily with full-color photographs and Anglicized translations of even the most familiar of Thai dishes (thom kha becomes coconut milk soup, for instance) makes the initial experience feel like a franchise. Bright lime-colored walls and neatly arranged tables bookend to make things feel even more like a chain.

But the kitchen makes it clear that Lime Juice is an experience all its own; a wonderful alternative to the bland so-and-so's that dot the landscape of nearby Windward Parkway.

And that thom kha is a good way to awaken your senses to Lime Juice's studied use of sweet and heat. Rich and brooding, the warm milk is speckled with red chile and dotted with tofu and scallions. Even on a warm day, it's refreshing.

I'm a sucker for Thai salads, and migrate toward them on any Thai menu. Larb, made with ground or chopped meat, is made at Lime Juice with particular flair; the kitchen takes the usual chicken minced with onion and stirred with roasted rice powder, chilies, lime juice and fresh cilantro to a higher plain. Pla goong, with fat shrimp tossed lightly with lemon grass, onion, lime, refreshing cilantro and mint and, of course, chile pepper is a standout as well. And the papaya salad is packed with heat: green papaya and shoots of crunchy green beans mix with fresh tomato and cashews in a light vinegar packed with spice.

Spring rolls and chicken satay are worth skipping; save room for the red snapper, deep fried to an alluring crunchiness that soaks up the spice of a tangy tamarind sauce studded with peppers until the outside layer of the fish is nearly caramelized.

Though the menu denotes the heat of a dish with a corresponding number of chile peppers, the heat of the dishes at Lime Juice has been toned down considerably for Western palates. Rice noodles stir fried with a generous amount of sliced onion, cabbage, carrots and jalapenos tastes more of Chinese five spice and basil than of hot chiles, though it rates a "2" on the hot pepper scale. Red curry is pleasingly rich with coconut and eggplant, studded with handsomely sized plump shrimp, but it is hardly as hot as the menu claims it to be.

These kinds of small incongruities are hardly a reason to miss out on a good meal. And Lime Juice offers that up by the plateful.

Lime Juice

Food: Thai

Service: Prompt and courteous

Address, telephone: 684-B North Main St., Alpharetta, 678-242-2991

Price range: $ - $$

Credit cards: Visa, Mastercard, American Express

Hours of operation: Open for lunch Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and dinner 5 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday noon to 9:30 p.m.

Best dishes: Chicken larb, pal goong, drunken noodles, thom kha, red snapper with three flavor sauce

Vegetarian selections: Pineapple fried rice, cucumber salad, papaya salad

Children: Yes

Parking: Lot

Reservations: Not needed

Wheelchair access: Yes

Smoking: No

Noise level: Low

Patio: No

Takeout: Yes

Web site: www.limejuicethaibistro.com

KEY TO RATINGS
Outstanding: Sets the standard for fine dining in the region.
Excellent: One of the best in the Atlanta area.
Very good: Merits a drive if you're looking for this kind of dining.
Good: A worthy addition to its neighborhood, but food may be hit or miss.
Fair: The food is more miss than hit.
Restaurants that do not meet these criteria may be rated Poor.

Pricing code: $$$$$ means more than $75; $$$$ means $75 and less; $$$ means $50 and less; $$ means $25 and less; $ means $15 and less. (The price code represents a meal for one that includes appetizer, entree and dessert without including tax, tip and cocktails.)