I have said it before, and I will say it again -- Star of Siam serves some of the best Thai food in Chicago and easily makes my Top 5 Thai restaurants in the city.

All of this despite the fact the menu does dabble a bit outside the arena of Thai (and I like that it does). For example, crab rangoon and chop suey are both thought of as Chinese dishes even though both were created in the United States. And a a few dishes are referred to as "Thai style."

No matter. There are plenty of classic Thai dishes -- at least 60 -- to choose from, and the enjoyment factor is everything it should be and more. Though I like many dishes at Star of Siam, there is one section of the menu in particular that I find rises above the others, and that has to do with the restaurant's way with curry -- no matter if it is the green curry with beef (the peas and the eggplant work so well with the beef in this dish), the red curry with chicken (very hot) or, my favorite, Mussaman curry. It is the mildest of the Thai curries but still has a pleasing back taste that gives you a spicy kick.

Star of Siam offers Mussaman curry with either beef or chicken, but I believe this dish works best with chicken. And there it all was in front of me, cuts of tender chicken mixing it up with chunks of pineapple and potato and a scattering of peanuts, all gently awash in a slightly thick, faded-yellow curry sauce. The balance of textures and flavors in this dish was great.

Some of the tastiest Thai dishes are not necessarily complex and do not necessarily require a laundry list of ingredients. Beef and broccoli, for example. The Star of Siam version is as simple as stir-fried beef, blanched broccoli, garlic, a touch of ginger, a bit of oyster sauce (which pulls all the flavors together) and probably a dash of fish sauce.

The noodle dishes are not as expansive as you might find in other Thai restaurants. There are just six on the menu, but that's enough to get the job done. Pad woon sen is a favorite. I like the idea of a lighter noodle over, say, some of the heavier noodles (like the fat rice noodles in lard nar). Pad woon sen is similar to pad thai, but the noodles are lighter. In this dish, cellophane noodles were put together with bits of chicken, carrots, bean sprouts, egg and onion, with shrimp serving as a garnish. Delicious.

Star of Siam's chop suey was not the best I've ever had, but I would order it again. You can get it with chicken or beef, but to my taste chop suey has to be made with chicken. Star of Siam's chop suey is all about the "mixed pieces" (that's the translation), of which there are water chestnuts, bean sprouts, snow peas, carrots, mushrooms and chicken.

I almost forgot about the spring rolls -- a pleasingly light appetizer -- to get things going. There were 12 bite-sized pieces, with a filling of bean sprouts, fresh cucumber, cooked tofu and scrambled eggs topped with plum sauce, red pepper and green onions tucked into the spring roll wrapper. The plum sauce was way too thick, so I mixed it with some of the hot sauce.

If you need a dessert, maybe one to cool things down, the green tea ice cream works quite well.