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With northeastern Thai cuisine that favors chile heat and tart lime over rich coconut milk, Poodam’s offers an alternative to the standard Thai food joints that populate the city. And with ambient reggae music, hand-carved wood sculptures on the wall, and tablecloths topped with black mats variegated with metallic fibers, the atmosphere is equally vibrant. While crowd-pleasing curries and pad Thai are available, it’s worth paying attention to the one-page Esan menu, even if the prices run a few dollars higher. The vivid flavors of Esan cuisine are showcased in ground meat larbs, salads composed of minced meat or fish and mixed with lime juice, fish sauce, chiles, and mint or basil. The minced duck larb, for example, is sprinkled with pulverized roasted rice for texture and freshened by shredded cabbage, long beans, sprigs of basil, and deep-fried lime leaves. Standard Thai salads run to Thai pork sausage sliced into thin quarter rounds, mixed with onion, tomato, and copious strips of red and green Thai (“bird”) chiles. Scoops of green tea and mango ice cream aren’t exactly traditional finishes, but for a restaurant that deftly balances old and modern they aren’t entirely out of place. — Krista Garcia

Pork sausage salad, $10.95; larb ped, $12.95; whole fish with basil sauce, $18.95

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