Ice cream made from durian, the famously stinky Asian fruit, could once be found at Asia Kitchen—or rather at the store the owners ran next door. Such has been the success of the restaurant that said store, along with the ice cream, is no more; they have expanded into it, paper umbrellas and all. Fortunately, spatial expansion hasn’t meant quality contraction.

We began recently with the fried beef jerky, a dish that says Texas in form, if not in taste. The somehow-still-moist and chewy strips are served with a murky but punchy dipping sauce; it’s odd and a little salty, but we like it. More complex is the gaeng keow wan, a green curry with coconut milk, Thai basil, snow peas, eggplant, and krinkle-kut karrots. (Our term, not theirs.) The pork option was ordered “medium” heat, and the contrast of chiles and basil was lovely, with the eggplant adding a smoky touch and the coconut a soothing creaminess.

Coconut milk is also the base of the tom kai, billed as a hot and sour soup with Thai spices—basically Thai basil again. Also prominent are pudgy straw mushrooms, and, if you choose them, several plump shrimp. We could do without the alien-seeming broccoli, but the rest of the dish is sublime, medium heat again appropriate. A classic green papaya salad was ordered “Thai hot” for grins, and they took us seriously. Still, we soldiered through it wishing only for a little lemon, more dried shrimp—and some durian ice cream to salve the burn.