Despite looking touristy and having a country theme, Aree Thai could make a fine neighborhood restaurant if it were a tad cheaper. The items on the fully-illustrated picture menu are all Thai classics despite nods to the occasional tourists from across the street, like the leg of pork and assorted spaghetti dishes . More importantly, this place has a solid glaab glaem menu, such as chicken knuckles, “bird” stir fried in garlic and pepper, duck tongues and yam neua. The yam offers full-on heat and tender, medium-rare meat—the chef clearly has no regard for the palates of his foreign clientele. Before you down your fifth bottle of chilled Singha and move indoors to the karaoke corner, make sure to take in the “country café” vibe: you’ll be sitting on rough-hewn solid wood furniture, with a shrine of figurines on one side and plenty of mosquito-coils burning at your feet. There are a few younger fellows on staff, but on our last visit we landed an uncle who’d obviously seen a lot of karaoke parties himself. Grizzled or not, service is always pleasant, although dishes come out one at a time and not particularly quickly. Mains are mostly just as satisfying as the appetizers, and come in generous portions. Try the gaeng paa (a peppery vegetable broth) with gai baan (free range chicken) for firm, tasty meat and a soup you’ll drink to the last spoonful. Or take them up on their bold seafood restaurant claims—just don’t expect to see any live fish. Deep-fried to a crispy brown sheen, the plaa samlee manages to preserve a fluffy white flesh within and the sauce is just right. The Thai desserts are frozen and store-bought; you might as well pass. Overall, a surprisingly solid restaurant with a folksy vibe in a neighborhood with a complete dearth of decent dining options—now if they could knock B30 baht off all their prices. Corkage B100.