Pictured: Isan's green papaya salad. Photo by Heidi Stone.

In the thick heat of a late summer Florida day, diving head first into heaping bowl of Hades-hot spice might not be your first inclination—but give Isan Thai’s green papaya salad a chance. The all-raw dish begins with a mountain of unripened papaya shavings flooded with a combination of fish sauce, tangy lime juice, palm sugar, chili peppers and salt—a quintet that hits all the notes your tastebuds crave. Isan’s take on the Thai classic goes heavy on the spice, but balances out heat with cool bursts of ribboned cucumber, a smattering of ripe tomato chunks and crunchy carrot confetti. Come for the papaya salad and stay for the sumptuous décor: ask to be seated in the back room, where you’ll be greeted by gilded statues of mythical seawomen, wooden tables with intricate, hand-carved designs and a sprinkling of Christmas lights overhead.

Pictured: Isan's green papaya salad. Photo by Heidi Stone.

Isan Thai, 5758 South Tamiami Trl., Sarasota, 941-923-1232.