Davis Khanthavong understands that sometimes it's all about taking chances, despite what your family and friends tell you. When he decided to open a Thai restaurant in Nimitz Center, the reaction he got from his loved ones was one of concern more than excitement.

"Many of my friends told me, 'Don't go over there, you're going to lose your money,' " said Khanthavong. But he went ahead with his plans to start up Siam Garden Café in a not-so-busy strip mall in June 2004.

What he noticed was lots of traffic. Cars continuously flow by the restaurant on their way to and from the airport, and to go to nearby Costco and Home Depot.

Khanthavong sensed the spot's potential and wasn't discouraged by a slow start. With the opening of new neighbor Best Buy this summer, and little competition in the way of other Thai eateries in the immediate area, Khanthavong has seen business steadily increase.

Siam Garden's long hours mean a wide range of patrons walks through its doors. Neighborhood workers are the lunch mainstays, but at night customers are residents from as far away as the North Shore. Some have dinner while waiting out rush-hour traffic. Others stop by en route to the airport for a drink and a snack or a pre-flight meal.

The restaurant's exterior is deceptively plain, easily blending in with stores next door. But inside, it's a different world. Intricately carved, decorative wooden reliefs of floral motifs adorn the walls. An array of pictures in one nook shows various wat (Buddhist temple) scenes. Toffee- and caramel-colored wood in sturdy, high-backed booths and chairs in the dining room envelop customers with their warm tones.

Khanthavong imported the decorations and furnishings from Thailand. The result of his efforts is that Siam Garden has the feel of a distant Southeast Asian locale and offers the unexpected in an average American shopping complex. By 8 p.m., when three television screens in the dining room come alive with muted visions of Thai pop videos, I felt like I had suddenly beamed half way around the globe to watch MTV Asia.

Reasonable prices have also helped the restaurant gain popularity so that family-style dining can feel like an affordable banquet. Dinner prices are slightly higher than at lunch, but everything on the menu is below $10 except for some seasonal fried specialties of whole fish (market price). Shrimp and seafood choices cost just a dollar or two more than chicken, beef or pork options.

While dinner has expanded offerings from lunch, the menus for both meals boast a wider selection of Thai salads (yum) than other places. Very few vegetarian options are listed, however.

Food arrived fairly quickly and was by no means lackluster; however, I found Siam Garden's cuisine inconsistent during my visits. Sometimes a request for dishes to be prepared hot went unanswered from the kitchen. Other times, a detectable sweetness appeared in every dish ordered, even tom yum soup, but not enough to spoil anything.

Drunkard's noodles (pad kee mao) (lunch $7.50/$8.50; dinner $7.99/$9.99) made with broad, flat, white rice flour noodles were described on the menu as a spicier version of pad thai. A dose of heat from chili peppers in this dish is supposed to be a sobering cure for hangovers. What I got was actually pretty sober, tasting mostly of an earthy soy-based sauce rather than aromatic basil combined with a heady rush of flames. They reminded me of ordinary — but tasty — stir-fried look-fun noodles with no resemblance to pad thai whatsoever.

The dishes I would go back for are ones that resounded with the strong, fresh flavors for which Thai food is known. Pad thai (same price as pad kee mao) did turn out to be admirable, the chewy noodles nicely balanced with a well-rounded sauce.

Pieces of fried stuffed tofu (lunch $6.50/$7.50; dinner $6.99/$8.99) were crisp and salty in all the right ways. Their sweet-and-sour dipping sauce was the perfect contrast, making the made the dish mouth-watering like li hing mui.

Grilled steak-and-mint salad, also known as waterfall beef (nam tok) (lunch $7.50; dinner $7.99), was zesty with lime juice and intensified with fish sauce in addition to an unusual smokiness from ground, roasted rice. I also enjoyed Siam Garden's green curry (lunch $7.50/$8.50; dinner $7.99; $9.99), which was voluptuously rich and velvety smooth.

I advise bypassing dessert. There is really only one — tapioca with coconut milk, which you can get with banana or taro if they have it. I requested it hot with taro ($2), and on two separate occasions I received it barely tepid, soupy and thin. Small taro chunks were a bit hard and not at all creamy textured as when they are well cooked.

Khanthavong, who originally hails from Laos, owns and operates this restaurant and Siam Palace on Wai'alae Avenue in Kaimuki with his wife's family, which is from Thailand. His business acumen seems to have fallen along the lines of "Build it, and they will come." In his case, knowing where to build and what to offer is drawing customers to Siam Garden Cafe.

Reach Helen Wu at hwu@honoluluadvertiser.com.