Ocha

Ocha, a Thai community favorite, recently moved to larger digs across the street from the Stratosphere. Ocha occupies a large, sunny space in a motel, next to a wedding chapel and swimming pool, and is entirely visible to passers-by. Seating is at green plastic tables set with straw place mats, and there is a white tile floor and open kitchen. On the table are bottles of nam pla, an amber-tinged, pitilessly salty Thai fish sauce; Sriracha chili sauce; and pickled green chilies. Food is prepared quickly, as it can be only in Asian restaurants. Just about everything on the menu is great.

The I-sarn (Northeast Thai) dishes on Ocha's menu are fabulous: papaya salad, which can be had Thai style -- slightly sweet and with dried shrimps -- or Lao style -- which is spicier, with tiny cured river crabs that you crunch in your mouth, shell and all; and a number of others, from the incendiary, slippery bamboo-shoot salad to the I-sarn hot dog, a garlicky, deep-fried sausage.

Better-known Thai dishes are great, as well: coconut-cream-chicken tom yum soup, any of the beef or squid salads, Thai curries or a number of the stir-fried dishes, which are perfect with steamed rice.

Tod mun, Thai fish-cakes flecked with basil and served with cucumber relish laced with crushed peanuts, is a good choice, as is beef tendon soup, which comes in a silver tureen with a heating element underneath, a triumph of spice and richness, with great broth loaded with vegetables and gelatinous hunks of tendon.

If you're in a splurge mode, deep-fried catfish with chili sauce is magnificent. There are excellent vegetables, too, such as Chinese watercress, a.k.a., pla boong, when available, and that old standby: Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce, expertly done here. (For the record, just below "Ocha" on the sign outside, the subheading reads "Thai-Chinese cuisine.")

How about some dessert? Thai desserts are generally riffs in the keys of mango, tapioca, egg yolks, mung bean, sugar and rice; and while completely unfamiliar, many are delicious and especially good with tea.