I hate to start a favorable food review with a lot of non-food-related explanation, but in the case at hand, I have no choice. So pay attention.
For the last 10 years or so, Orrapin Chancharu has successfully operated a family-style Thai restaurant just off Queen Anne Avenue North on West Boston Street. This restaurant is, straightforwardly enough, called Orrapin Thai Cuisine.
A while back, Chancharu decided to open another, smaller establishment nearby. She called it the Noodle Experience. Although the place had its fans, not enough people wanted a noodle experience to keep it going, so Chancharu closed it, thoroughly remodeled it, reconceived the menu, and reopened. And just to make sure everybody was thoroughly confused, she decided to call the new place Orrapin.
Despite the name, Orrapin Mark II is very different from Mark I: not just smaller but a lot more intimate, cozier, darker, and with a much more “contemporary” dining approach. At Orrapin II, the menu is much more grazer-oriented, with an array of smallish but satisfying dishes at remarkably understated prices, designed as much to complement an imaginative mixed-drink menu as to sate a hungry diner on their own.
We started our exploration of the offerings with an order of spring rolls ($4.95) and “Thai snapper” ($8.95, the highest price on the menu, and the only item not discounted for happy hour). The rolls, aptly described as “stuffed,” were huge, their crunchy-fresh bland contents soaking up the savory sweet-and-sour sauce they were served with. The fish dish, succulent nuggets of whitefish bathed in a spicy but emollient soupy sauce featuring basil, red pepper, curry, and coconut milk, was equally filling and satisfying.
The accompanying cocktails (all $6.50) were just as ample and agreeable. “Between the Sheets,” if you can bring yourself to utter its name to your server, is a potent blend of brandy and rum laced with a little Cointreau and lemon juice. The big hit of our first round was the lemongrass mojito, which managed to be just as perky and refreshing as the traditional Cuban drink without the hint of cloying sweetness; lemongrass should become a routine ingredient for this cocktail.
Not at all agreeable to our taste was the “Refresh Mint,” an assemblage of mint, lime, grapefruit juice, and, to add that stale make-up accent, more than a dollop of Absolut vanilla vodka. But we didn’t mind setting it aside to concentrate on an order of fat deep-fried prawns with a cool cucumber dipping sauce ($8.95) and, a real meal in itself, the lime-juice accented beef salad ($7.95), in which the juicy grilled beef strips positively jostled aside the lettuce, cucumber, and tomato to dominate the dish.
The drinks list includes the usual range of Thai and European premium beers (all $3.50), plus an ample selection of European and American wines. With few exceptions (a Lurton viognier for $16), the by-the-bottle list is on the pricey side, but six attractive by-the-glass choices at $6 a pop soften the blow.
Orrapin (the Second) has an agreeably clubby atmosphere, with stools crowded together at the cheerfully noisy bar and comfortable banquettes for more private conversation. I suspect it will soon be a popular Queen Anne watering hole and snacketeria, with one big advantage over its rival Sapphire down the street: no smoking.
Orrapin, 2208 Queen Anne Ave. N., 206-352-6594, QUEEN ANNE. 5–11 p.m. Sun.–Thurs.; 5 p.m.–midnight Fri.–Sat.
