City: Kansas City, MO

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (913) 649-5420

Address: 9359 W. 87th St.

Description: There may be no other cuisine as marvelously diverse and intricate as Thai, and Ann Liberda does it to a T. She and her son, Ted, have introduced Kansas Citians to unusual sauces that include everything from slightly sweet coconut milk and refreshing basil and lemongrass to a head-exploding concoction flecked with slivers of bright red peppers we’ve nicknamed “hurt me.” Although it’s fun to experiment with new dishes (huge servings make it easy to share), you can’t go wrong with the popular seafood pad Thai, a delightful marriage of sweet, salty, and spicy flavors made with shrimp, mussels, squid, and crabmeat in a fermented fish sauce called nam pla. We’ve decided that most of the menu sounds like a teenager who just came home with a pierced tongue. Just point and smile, and let your friendly server do the rest.