Here is a delight for the eyes, even before the fresh spring rolls arrive: the interior of Bangkok Bistro. Against expectations, the designer seems to have derived inspiration not from the usual Pier One catalogue of bamboo lamps and brass gongs, but from some sophisticated combination of feng shui, Frank Stella and Macintosh computers. Impossibly, the ideas seem to have suffered no difficulty in translation from drafting board to hammer and nails.

Sweeping architectural lines -- as if dashed by the designer's marker -- colorfully delineate the smoking from the non, the eating from the drinking. In the front area, the ceiling vaults up into light; deeper inside, over the bar, it descends in screen-saver-like blue cubes. A parade of screens -- translucent, shimmering -- serve both to partition off the back of the place, which is quieter and darker, and to invite curiosity, perhaps to explore. Those screens perhaps abstractly suggest an Asian style; meanwhile, advertisement of a specific Thai ethnicity is minimalized to a few hand-carved idols, choicely presented in nooks.

The food is prepared by a like hand. It, too, delights in primary colors and a plasticity of form (and sometimes an unfortunate plasticity of taste): a sprig of cilantro is engineered to float swanlike in a bowl of tom yum goong ($2.95), additionally garnished by a skewered pair of pink shrimp. The green papaya of the papaya deluxe salad ($5.95), artfully contained by the ruffles of a lettuce leaf, is complemented by a noodley explosion of julienned carrot and cabbage, giving this appetizer an illusion of generous abundance.

Those fresh spring rolls ($5.95) also promise much in their presentation, but do not live up to expectations: The rice paper is dry, the crab meat is mushy-wet, and the bits of pork taste suspiciously like bits of Kosher hotdog. Among entrees, favorites such as pad thai, stir-fried ginger chicken ($9.95) and various curries also rely on decorative fireworks, almost overcoming a tendency of the food to fizzle, not sizzle, on the tongue. True aficionados may prefer to sacrifice the exquisite style of this restaurant, with its cool-beans designer atmosphere, for something homely and hot. But for those with palates unaccustomed or ambivalent to the unusual spices of traditional Thai fare, and for those who value a fantastic setting, Bangkok Bistro will satisfy all the more.

-- Rob Kunkle