herry Hill

ARE you in the mood for Thai food, with that salty, sour, sweet and hot balance achieved through many dishes that you and your friends share, family style, and then, to finish, a not-too-sweet dessert that marries sticky rice, coconut and perfectly ripe mango?

Do not expect it at Siri's Thai French Cuisine.

At least not quite yet. Though Sam Sittikul has plans to increase the number of authentic Thai items on the menu, he and his wife, Vallpa Sittikul, who bought the restaurant about a year ago, are reluctant to meddle with success. They have yet to change a single menu item at a place that packs them in, night after night, month after month.

It's not that there is no Thai presence - there are a couple soups, and there is a pad Thai, there is one sublime curry, and Mr. Sittikul does use lime juice and chili sauce - but Siri's is more French than Thai, with sauces, demiglaze or wine reductions rather than that old familiar feeling of instantaneous heat followed by layered, lingering flavors.

On the other hand, if you are in the mood for fresh, upscale ingredients, prepared in classic culinary methods but with an Asian flair, you will likely leave Siri's with a smile and plans to return.

Siri's dining room is tucked into a strip mall, just a few lengths from the old racetrack in Cherry Hill and through a scrupulously scrubbed pastry shop that holds beautiful desserts that later appear on the tray at your table. Inside, ceilings are a bit low, tablecloths are long and luxurious, lighting is flattering and service is very, very fast. Good thing, too; on both visits, the place was bustling, with conversation at a high hum against the symphony of silverware and china.

Mr. Sittikul says he came to the United States as a student about 25 years ago. A restaurant job soon followed. That one led to another, and another and, eventually, after he had achieved an understanding of both classical French and his native Thai cuisine, he and his wife decided to find their own place. Mr. Sittikul cooks at the 99-seat restaurant, and he says that Sirirat Tantiraksachai, a sister of Surinant Yothchavit, the former owner, creates the precisely calibrated desserts.

The menu is short, with one page dedicated to appetizers and another to main dishes. But the third page, which I received on one visit and not on another, is my favorite. It's not on thick tan paper, like the other two, and the typefaces don't match, but it's the most radical of the bunch: it's the list of specials, albeit without prices. At Siri's, diners can actually relax and enjoy the experience, since extemporaneous memorization of myriad meal components is not required. That is practically reason enough to return.

There are two Thai-style soups on the menu - a version of tom yam gai, with somewhat dry chicken chunks and mushrooms in an agreeably spicy lemongrass broth flavored with home-grown kaffir lime leaves, as well as a pleasant coconut-based broth with mushrooms, galangal and cilantro that Mr. Sittikul says would appear on a Thai menu as tom ka hed. The third listing, a kind of shrimp dumpling soup with more shrimp plus snow peas, was pretty to see and, as a bonus, was light and comforting, though the shrimp were slightly overcooked.

Once you get over the disappointment that the salads aren't Thai but more New American with an Asian accent, the greens department goes from predictable (Caesar or mesclun) to intriguing (tender grilled calamari over romaine with sweet house-made chili sauce; grilled diver scallops and tropical fruits over greens with an aioli in which lime is substituted for lemon; smoked duck over field greens). Of the lot, the duck salad stands out, mainly for the bits of meat so intensely flavorful as to be transporting. Appetizers, despite all but the juicy chicken satay, are not Thai, but most do their job. Table favorites were the dumplings stuffed with portabella mushrooms and leek served alongside a caramelized shiitake mushroom flavored with soy sauce and a sesame oil; and the crisp prawn rolls with house-made plum sauce, a special one evening.

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