You can't miss Heart Beat Thai. With a Rocket ice lolly-purple neon sign that pumps out the name on Lower Albert Road, it's both an eye-catcher and an eyesore. This souped-up reincarnation of Supatra's gets pulses racing inside as well. A riot of colours, textures, shapes and sizes, the decor makes the place look like a movie in which too many directors have had a hand.
The food, however, is another matter. Every dish ordered on a recent Friday night was uniformly scrumptious. The only disappointment was the stodgy steamed rice, scooped from a bain-marie under decorative windows crammed with spices.
We started with tod mun goong (prawn cakes, $78) and the classic som tum ma la kor (green papaya salad, $68). Tart and incendiary, the salad contained the julienned fruit mixed with minced garlic, red chillies, tomatoes and peanuts. To douse the flames, just as in Thailand, raw string beans and cabbage were included.
The prawn cakes offered a completely different sensation. Instead of blistering the taste buds, they provided a sweet, comforting coating via the agreeably sticky plum sauce. Although deep fried, the four golden cakes were light and pleasantly grease-free.
The main courses arrived soon after the starters had been devoured, and the dishes were brought together - a concept some restaurants in Hong Kong find hard to grasp. The crockery in which they were served, however, was hard to fathom. Perched high above the table on tripods, the dishes looked incomplete without a flame underneath. Not to mention precarious. Still, because of tear drop-shaped bases, the dishes seemed bottomless, which meant the small-looking serving of gang phed ped yang (duck in red curry, $138) was a generous portion. Just as we thought we'd fished out the last piece of meat, another surfaced, succulent and lean.
The gang garee phak (yellow vegetable curry, $118) also proved more filling than on first appearance. Following the suggestion for diners to speak up if they want a meal spicier, we asked for a few more chillies in what otherwise would have been a mild dish. The resultant mixture of potatoes, mushrooms and cabbage hit the spot.