Yaya’s menu isn’t the one that seems to come standard-issue along with portraits of the Thai royal family, we’ll grant them that. (They get additional points for taking on a seriously star-crossed location in The Yard.) Thai steamed mussels, for example, are preciously presented if less expressive than the ingredient list would imply. A little more ginger would have been welcome in a serving of crunchy rice balls with red curry paste—but we’ve never had them elsewhere in town. Yet a serving of green papaya salad with dried shrimp and palm sugar utterly soared. Yum.

Names get a little quirky with the mains—take the “Hit & Run” duck, first roasted, then fried, and further fired on a hot plate with mixed vegetables. Not bad. “Unbelievable Pad Thai” stretches credibility, but does rise to sweet-but-acceptable status. We would wax more poetic over the less-hyperbolic green curry with your choice of several proteins. It doesn’t matter which—the sauce with coconut milk, Thai basil, Kaffir lime leaves, and more is that good. Even the spicy, pineapple fried rice transcends the genre.

Desserts return to the routine, but icy coconut ice cream or lightly sweetened sticky rice does hit the spot.