Pad Thai

Ban Thai, at 340 N. Charles Street, is a Baltimore stalwart. I've never left the restaurant dissatisfied with anything, and always felt as if I've had a treat that's taken me out of my rut, which is ironic because I've been in a Ban Thai rut for years. In at least two dozen visits, only once have I ordered anything but their pad Thai. 12:01 p.m. We enter Ban Thai and are greeted by gilded frames and lavish color that surround a subtly utilitarian dining room finished at the far end with a brief, glittering bar at which I don't believe I've ever seen a customer seated.

The folks at XS have been stirring. The multistory cafe, sushi bar and lounge has very recently revealed a freshened-up menu, along with a few weekly specials and a handsome new marketing package. That's good to see; I like to see a restaurant trying. XS just passed its seventh anniversary, and although it appears to be doing well — it's always crowded when I walk by — I don't think anyone outside its core base of customers thinks of it much. XS is located on the same strip of Charles Street in Midtown Belvedere as the other members of Jay's Restaurant Group.

In its short time here in Maryland, Wegmans has established itself as far more than a supermarket. It is the object of hero worship. The focal point of a cult. Weg-mania has swept the region. Since the 69th Wegmans store - and the first in Maryland - opened Oct. 2, tens of thousands of visitors have flocked to the Hunt Valley shrine, I mean store, to buy fresh-made breads, marvel at its cheese selection and gape at the sheer variety of olives. Four weeks later, finding a parking space was still a challenge.

1. The main food groups are seafood, candy and beer. Though Rehoboth Beach is justifiably well known for its seafood restaurants, homemade fudge and taffy, and the excellent ales at the Dogfish Head Brewing and Eats, the culinary scene offers much more. In recent years, several restaurants with a farm-to-table focus have opened, and more are on the way. Ethnic food is also gaining popularity. For example, the Cultured Pearl Restaurant and Sushi Bar (www.culturedpearl.us/) serves Asian food, Dos Locos (doslocos.com)

Before walking into BangBang Mongolian Grill, take a deep breath. It might be your last chance to relax until dinner is over. The new addition to the Can Company in Canton, which opened in February, promotes its healthy, do-it-yourself meals with exclamations like "An Explosion of Flavors Await!" and, splashed across a bright red wall, "BRING IT!" Fans of Tony Horton's P90X videos will chuckle - the energetic fitness guru uses "Bring it!" as his catch phrase. That's appropriate because BangBang's shares the same manic energy that Horton exudes in front of the camera.

Scotland's Loch Ness Monster, Bermuda's Triangle and the hirsute Sasquatch of the Pacific Northwest have nothing on Baltimore's new, unexplained phenomenon. You see, sushi bars are suddenly taking over empty spaces all over the city. Sushi restaurants are opening at a rapid clip, while existing restaurants are tacking on sushi bars willy-nilly.As the rest of the country cools in its affection for raw fish, dried seaweed and sticky rice, our city is gearing up. Soon you will probably be able to order an Arch Deluxe with a side of California roll at Baltimore's McDonald's restaurants.

Maybe it was the ice-cold filling in the spring roll that made us apprehensive about Thai-Gour Cafe. Maybe it began when the waitress failed to ask us whether we wanted an entree with rice or with noodles, an option listed on the menu. Or maybe it was the fact that when we did state a preference, she said rice was the only option, which meant that the menu was wrong. Whatever the reasons were, we spent the first few minutes in the Glen Burnie restaurant that City Paper recently hailed as the best Thai place around wondering what we were missing.

In Thailand, boats ply canals to bring sticky rice and pad Thai to the hungry masses. In Baltimore, the masses must take themselves down concrete rivers such as Ritchie Highway to find good Thai food. Squeezed in one of the approximately 42,000 strip malls that line Ritchie Highway between Baltimore and Annapolis, Bangkok Oriental in Pasadena has earned a deserved reputation as one of the area's best Thai restaurants. The small carryout's waiting area features a wicker chair and a couch, many elephants of various sizes, and models of those floating markets still operating in Thailand.

Opened in August, House of Asia offers Vietnamese and Thai cuisine. "Why did we choose the two cuisines? These two use a lot of similar spices, but the taste is completely different," says Paul Pham. "These two tastes really complement each other." Appetizers include Satay Chicken (barbecued chicken on skewers, served with house peanut sauce), which Pham says is popular with children. "It's a kid-friendly dish - a lot of our customers will order Chicken Satay just for their children," he says.

Spicy foods make you warm when it's cold outside, cool when it's hot. Hot spices awaken the appetite while stimulating the release of endorphins that make you feel relaxed and satisfied. So no wonder Thai cooking, which uses hot spices to perfection, is one of America's most popular ethnic cuisines.In classical Thai cooking a typical daily meal is not divided into courses. Soup, such as the celebrated shrimp with lemon-grass broth, is a beverage eaten throughout the meal. And all dishes are served at once -- perhaps a raw vegetable salad, stir-fried vegetables, spicy curried meat, grilled seafood and steamed rice, or khow.