Four Courses, Of Course, Of Course

When someone says, “Thai me up,” we listen.

Especially when the Thai-ing is in the gifted hands of Braden and Yasmin Wages over at Malai Kitchen.

That’s the name of their recently launched tasting menu. We had the privilege of previewing the August menu and if you love Thai and Vietnamese food, you’re going to go nuts for the gorgeous plates that parade across your table.It all starts with an amuse-bouche of stuffed Rambutan, a hairy little tropical fruit stuffed with pulled pork, peanuts, cilantro and cumin (pictured above). Having just one morsel of this unusual treat was torture because we’d prefer an entire plate.

But then we wouldn’t have room for the four full-size courses.

Next up is the red curry littleneck clams topped with fresh baked roti, which is somewhere between a croissant and puff pastry in consistency. This one dish (pictured at top) is worth the price alone. We’ve been dreaming about dipping that buttery, crispy bread into the spicy, creamy sauce for days now. Clams be damned, all we want is that carb-and-curry combo.The next two courses consist of dry-roasted sockeye salmon curry lettuce wraps followed by Vietnamese barbecue lamb chops (pictured above) with charred okra and tomatoes.

It all ends with a savory dessert of poached Korean brown pear topped with fresh chilies and pork silk (the fancy alternative to pork polyester).

What makes this tasting menu so special is a combination of creativity and generosity. The portions are large and the variety is extensive in textures, spice and proteins.

There’s a limited number of reservations per day for this menu and everyone at the table must participate, so know the rules for “Thai Me Up.”

All you need now is a safe word for when you’ve had enough.