The best Thai food is a symphony where four flavors play in harmony, spicy from red and green chile peppers, fresh and dried, sweet from palm sugar and coconut milk, sour from liberal use of lime juice and tamarind, and salty from fish sauce and fermented shrimp paste. Chef Nattaporn Pinpech, who owns Secrets of Tiger in Emeryville with her husband, Yong Pinpech, masterfully conducts that symphony at Payakk, opened a year ago on the Montclair/Merriewood border, a short walk from the Merriewood Stairs.
Its two cozy, colorful rooms resemble living rooms, if its residents possessed an enviable vinyl record collection. One room features teal walls, round porthole-like windows, a gilded tiger mural in full open-mouthed growl and pillowed banquettes; the other is wood-paneled, but both overflow with trailing plants, curios and framed prints. Her husband, who owns a graphic design firm in Thailand, designed the restaurant, located in a gray stucco standalone building, and handled its interior decoration.
5761 Thornhill Drive, Oakland; www.payakk.com…