Too often pan-Asian restaurants pay more attention to the “pan” than to the wok, more concerned with offering column after column of dishes than in fine-tuning a select few. Not ARUNOTHAI, which typically presents a half dozen or so items in various categories from various Asian cuisines. The Pawtuxet Village restaurant is eager to please Western tastes — tiramisu is a dessert along with sweet sticky rice and green tea ice cream — but mainly it wants to get dishes right, so it’s not afraid to get things spicy hot. The menu has a definite Thai accent, but Chef Bonkerk Namakam can provide a Korean kimchi with depth of flavor as well as garlic hotness, a crispy Japanese shumai variation that improves on the steamed original, and a red curry salmon fit for a Bangkok banquet.

Arunothai | 2168 Broad Street, Cranston | 401.383.9545 | arunothaicuisine.com