Have Palate, Will Travel

The restaurant's interior is upscale, featuring creamy yellow walls, matchstick bamboo wainscoting, frosted-glass hanging light fixtures and even Norah Jones filtering through on the sound system. The atmosphere is more appealing when the place gets crowded; the space becomes warmer when it's more densely inhabited.

But while the kitchen reliably turns out tasty fare, the adventure factor is missing. For example, it would be nice to see more dishes from Isan, in Thailand's rural northeast, where Laotian-influenced foods rule. (The ill-fated larb was one lonely representative from this region.) Even more familiar dishes, such as som tum (green papaya salad), fail to appear on Blue Elephant's menu. It's not necessary to serve up larvae or ant eggs in St. Louis, but how about broadening the Asian horizons a little? In other words, keep us interested.