King of Thai Noodles & Rice

The grandiose name hardly seems to suit this modest, friendly Thai cafe on the Argyle strip, which is better thought of as an approachable entry point to one of Chicago's best ethnic-eats streets. Standards swich as pad si-ewe were mostly sweetened up for non-Thais, but we found more authenticity in the noodle soups, rich with flavors of beef or roast duck. Best of all was a rice dish called kao ka moo (translated as "simmered pork hog"), savory-sweet hunks of pork giving off wafts of the five-spice sauce they were braised in.