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Boyd Thai fits neatly into the city’s post–Planet Thailand crowd of affordable, fresh, and stylish Thai spots. Like Joya, Peep, and Song, the restaurant’s modest spicing and colorful presentations are tailored to a Western palate. The menu is strong on seafood, showcasing bass, soft-shell crab, and lobster tail, with a standout catfish served with Thai eggplant in creamy coconut milk. Crowd–pleasing Pad Thai’s spicy noodles have a nice heft, although the kitchen pulls its punches with the heat. The tom kha is also short on spice, with the galangal and Kaffir lime leaf flavors buried in the broth. More authentic are items from the “starter” menu, like the almost painfully sharp green papaya salad and rubbery fish cakes, both exactly as they should be. The restaurant occupies a small, square room, offset by twin murals depicting, variously, a water buffalo morphing into floral motifs and a wall-length slurry of colorful masses. Bamboo screens, artfully placed between long tables, provide some privacy. — Ethan Wolff

Specials on house beer and wine make for cheap dates. Early bird (daily from 4 p.m.–7 p.m.) and lunch (daily from 11 a.m.–4 p.m.) specials are also good deals.

Tom yum, $4; papaya salad, $4.95; pad Thai, $7.95; catfish, $14.95