I'm therefore happy to report that Santa Rosa has just such a place west of town in the Big Oak Plaza at the intersection of Third Street and Fulton Road. Although the name may be an amalgam of Thai and Italian words, the food is strictly and classically down-home Thai. Now, I've haven't been to Thailand, so I wouldn't presume to say whether the food at Bangkok Villa is precisely authentic. But I was given a course in authentic Thai cooking by Wai Ching Lee, a Singaporean and member of the San Francisco Professional Food Society - and these dishes at Bangkok Villa are very close to that mark. The room has been redone Thai-style.
Fresh flowers grace the glass tabletops.
Pretty Thai pots and statuary of royal- looking deer and praying men decorate the partitions and windowsill that looks out on busy Fulton Road. The rear exit is hung with beaded curtains. The interior walls are fixed with big mirrors, which gives the oddly-shaped room a spacious appearance. Ceiling fans keep the air cool and fresh, and there are live dracenas and poinsettias in pots along with plastic flowers. Schmaltzy, quiet, unobtrusive piano music tinkles across the room.