The summer sequel isn’t restricted to the world of film. I’m calling this the summer of the sequel restaurant. Some, like Duck Butt/DB Grill and Scratch Kitchen and Bakery/Meatery I’ve already written about; more are on my list of places to check out.

Just as with movie sequels, you want all the star power of the original, with additional surprises, but there’s always the fear that some of the brand’s mojo is diminished over time.

That’s not the case with the newly open Siam Garden Cafe Thai Food on Waialae Avenue, sister restaurant to Siam Garden Cafe on Nimitz Highway. Siam Garden part deux faithfully replicates the formula of the original with a few added costars. If you’re familiar with the Nimitz location, simply start with the dishes you love. That’s what I do.

The new restaurant is in the house structure that was home to Ko restaurant. There’s room for about 10 cars behind the restaurant, which is across the street from Times Supermarket. Look for a couple of flags outside the restaurant as markers for the blink-and-you-miss-it driveway.

Where many second restaurant endeavors tend to be larger and showier than the originals, Siam Garden has gone smaller and more intimate, with the casual elegance of Ko left intact. What I don’t miss from the Nimitz restaurant is the karaoke. I saw a machine and TV screen being installed at Waialae, but the new home is much too small for caterwauling. If it is coming, I hope it’s restricted to late nights when I can be out of earshot.

Otherwise, the restaurant has been able to maintain the integrity of its dishes because the owners made a partner of a cook who started at Nimitz. Hence the faithful conjuring of such appetizers as stuffed chicken wings ($10.99), spring and summer rolls ($7.99 per order), and fried fish or shrimp patties ($11.99 per order). One appetizer I hadn’t tried before was the pork “jerky” ($10.99), marinated deep-fried pork strips. Lean pork is pretty dry to begin with, so it does turn out as dry and chewy as jerky, but it is irresistible when doused in the accompanying condiments of dried chili flakes, chili sauce, fish sauce and chili pepper vinegar.

The menu is 12 pages, but I tend to stick with dishes I already know and love, with the occasional foray into the unknown. I rarely crave a salad, but that’s where I start because Thai salads aren’t restricted to a few greens. These play on the tongue like fireworks, with an explosion of bold flavors equal parts savory, sour, sweet and herbal. My go-tos are the larb ($9.99), of minced beef, chicken or pork tossed with lime juice, mint, chilies, cilantro and onions; and smoky roasted eggplant ($9.99), tossed with minced pork, lime juice, the aforementioned herbs and shrimp.

Soups at restaurants tend to be a filler that diners shy from to save room for a main course, but here, soups can be the main course, and I’m not just talking about pho ($9.99 to $12.99). This is one of the few restaurants to offer Floating Market Noodles ($10.99), a great comfort dish traditionally served by women from boats on Bangkok’s inhabited canals. Rice vermicelli noodles come in an aromatic cinnamon-and-spice pork broth, with pork blood stirred in. The squeamish probably won’t even notice the blood because it’s not in the more obvious cube form. All you’ll see are brown bits floating around, the way an egg stirred into soup forms threads of white and yellow.

My other favorite noodle-based dish is spicy pad kee mao. The wide chow fun noodles, said to be a hangover remedy, are stir-fried with basil, chilies and garlic. It’s $9.99 with chicken, beef or pork, or $12.99 with shrimp or a seafood mix. If you’re sensitive to spice, pad see iew is a tamer version.

Exclusive to this restaurant is a duck noodle soup ($12.99), with steamed duck in a fragrant chicken broth with rice noodles or Hong Kong-style egg noodles.

Other dishes new to this Siam Garden are a straightforward stir-fry of snow pea pods ($9.99/$12.99), and Yaowarat soup ($12.99), a Chinese-style soup named after Bangkok’s Chinatown. It’s reminiscent of bird’s nest soup, with the gelatinous texture coming from fish maw, or rubbery fish bladders. It’s not for those picky about texture. Thinking about the cultural normalcy of what people eat around the globe, I found it funny that the soluble saliva of birds is more appealing to me than fish maw that hasn’t been run through a food processor to break it up.

Some will come just for the curries ($9.99 with chicken, beef or pork; $12.99 with shrimp or seafood). All those beloved in the West are represented here in what looks like popular order, starting with Southern Thailand panang-style, with the flavor of peanuts perfuming the coconut milk and onion curry.

This is followed by red, yellow and green curries. I tend to favor the green for its eggplant and basil content, but I really enjoy them all. Ample coconut milk and richness go a long way in pleasing the Western palate.

Meat and veggie wok specialties ($9.99, $12.99) round out the menu. I find these stir-fries less interesting than the uniquely Thai dishes, so it’s a part of the menu I haven’t explored much.

And for a showstopper bound to impress guests, try the deep fried whole fish (market price), most recently wide mouth bass, liberally sprinkled with chopped chili peppers, shredded carrots, garlic chips and cilantro after coming out of the deep fryer.

Finish with classic Thai desserts of bua loy ($3.99), sweetened sticky rice in coconut milk, warm tapioca with banana or taro ($3.99 each), or mango with sticky rice ($6.99).

Nadine Kam’s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser. Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.