Restaurant merges Eastern, Western flavors

Anchalee Tantaksinanukij started cooking when she was 7 years old, helping make different foods with her family to sell in a market in Thailand. About six years ago, she took a job making her family's style of cuisine at Thamnak Thai in Cedar Park, and within a few years, she bought the restaurant.

Tantaksinanukij said the food in her home country differs from what she serves at Thamnak Thai. She adapts the flavors for her local customers, who can order dishes on a one-star to 10-star scale of spiciness.

"Original Thai food is spicy, and Americans cannot eat it, but I make a balance [between] Thai and American," she said. "But if someone wants a lot of spice, I can make it Thai spicy for them."

Many traditional Thai dishes come in lunch and dinner portions and can be made with the customer's choice of protein, including chicken, beef, pork, shrimp or tofu. Tantaksinanukij said she takes customers' dietary restrictions seriously and can customize any dish.

"If somebody cannot eat something [because of an] allergy, I tell the customer to tell the waitress, and we can make it special for them," she said. "If somebody is a vegetarian, we separate everything."

Tantaksinanukij said the best-selling dishes are noodle plates such as pad thai, pad kee mao and lemongrass noodle. The restaurant's selection of six curries, which consist of special spices simmered in coconut milk, have become patron favorites as well, she said.

"When customers eat it one time, they taste it, and they want to try every curry and eat it every time they come in," she said. "So I can't say, 'That one is the customer favorite.'"

Thamnak Thai, 200 Buttercup Creek Blvd, Ste. 128, Cedar Park, 512-331-3810, www.thamnakthai.com, Hours: Mon.–Thu. 11 a.m.–3 p.m. and 5–9:30 p.m.,Fri. 11 a.m.–3 p.m. and 5–10 p.m., Sat. 11 a.m.–10 p.m., Sun. 4–9 p.m.