Yellow Thai Curry

One of the nicest places within easy walking distance of my work in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco is Lalita Thai, a cut above most of the other neighborhood restaurants. They have a hand painted mural, a koi pond inside with sizable graceful koi in it, actual atmosphere (although they have recently added a mercifully silent flat screen television to their dining room), and really quite delicious food.

My favorite of their dishes is yellow Thai curry. It's not on their new menu but they often will make it for you if you ask. Since I eat there fairly frequently, they are kind enough to humor my taste for this savory curry and a big glass of diet cola with lots of ice.

I can hear you now - "Sheesh, she's trying to sell us on another one of her weird combinations!"

Trust me! The sweet, cold, fizzy cola and the warm, savory curry complement each other. They serve the curry with jasmine rice, too, my favorite, and that adds another note to the play of flavors.

It's nicely presented, too, in a white square bowl on an asymmetrical white plate with the rice adding a third white note. Lalita is a little more expensive than my other usual haunts, but every now and then it's nice to remind myself that even life in the gritty Tenderloin does have its elegances.