Falls Church residents are bombarded with recommendations and advertisements in our hometown newspaper to patronize the local Thai restaurant, Bangkok Blues. One might think that was the only Thai restaurant in town. Rivaling the renowned Blues is an eatery called Pilin, located near the crossroads of Route 7 and Lee Highway.

Cheaper than its competition, Pilin, a fine dining venue, offers a large menu of traditional and innovative coconutty curries and the greasy, peanutty noodles for which Thai cuisine is famous. Totally intense is the red curry duck, an olla podrida of coconut milk, hot pepper, roasted duck, tomatoes, pineapples and grapes, served with white rice. The flavors are in their own universe.

Oh yeah, what's a restaurant review without mention of the ambiance? Actually it was pleasant, with modern arty stuff hanging on pastel-colored walls. And, since I would hate to turn an objective assessment into an unpaid advertisement, I do have one complaint for the chef who prepared my meal. He must have been too preoccupied to take the fat off the pieces of duck, so, on the edge of my plate, I had a small pile of bird blubber accumulated throughout the meal.