Imm Thai, Thai with a Sleek Atmosphere on Columbia Pike in Annandale and H Street NE

[weezy]

Finally, a Thai restaurant in Annandale! Ordered delivery from here last night -- I get the impression they are not focused on the delivery aspect of the biz, and prefer their patrons to dine-in or take-out, but they were still gracious and accommodating. http://www.immthai.com/ (note -- techno-jazz-pop music on home page)

Got the Phitsanulok big bowl noodle soup, a hot-and-sour soup with many flavors. I'm suffering that blasted cold/cough that's going around and thought the hot-and-sour soup would be just the thing, as that's what I get from the Chinese take-outs when I've got a case of crud. The big bowl soups are easily enough for two typical servings. The roasted pork, rice noodles, herbs and veg came packed separately from the soup liquids that had the ground meat, crushed peanuts and fish balls in it. I took a big spoonful of the broth to sample when it got there and quickly discovered the chilies used in the Thai soup are either a very different type of chili or much more forward than in Chinese hot-and-sour, and it sent me into a huge coughing fit. Not the comforting quality I was looking for. When mixed together with the noodle components, it was still spicy but not intolerable, but the sourness was not very noticeable. The roasted pork seemed a bit overdone to me. I've not had fish balls before and I didn't particularly care for them -- a 1" round, dense, chewy, fishy-flavored white ball that I'm guessing was made with rice flour. Similar to the rice cakes that you can get in the Korean groceries but with a more spongey texture. Also got the crispy chicken with sweet chili sauce that was sort of a Thai chicken nugget strips with a sweet undertone and served with steamed broccoli. A pretty, non-offensive dish. Also tried the duck roll, which was duck and veg rolled in a crepe with a sweet dark soy-based sauce that was so-so. I think it probably suffered some in traveling from the restaurant to my house. Just under $30 for all three dishes with delivery.

I'll try some more things on the menu, and it is so nice to have Thai close by, but I found this was a middling meal for a first try.

[catharine]

The little guy (almost two year old) and I checked this place out last night. I haven't decided yet if I love it or not but it was definitely good enough to try again. I ordered two items off the "Street Food" part of the menu. The Crab and Noodle dish was exactly that. The crab was shredded very finely, which made me think it was the cheaper stuff versus lump crab. It didn't have much flavor but it was nice with the noodles. The noodles (thin, spaghetti-like)were good and seemed fresh. The roast pork was flavorful. I opted for the dry version and would like to try the soup version next time to see if it has a bit more flavor. I would order it again, though. It was a good dish.

The Roasted Duck Over Rice was also good, but not high on the flavor scale. They serve both sauces on the side and neither of them blew me away. I liked the pickled ginger part of the dish. Again, a very good, fresh dish but not outstanding.

I'm looking forward to trying other items on the menu but I am not rushing back. The service was good (and very good with my son) and I loved the modern design of the place. Not what you expect from the outside.

[Josh]

Apparently Imm will be opening a branch on H St. NE in DC:a

"'Thai Cuisine' Coming to H Street Gets Proper Signage - Imm on H - Check Out Their Menu" on popville.com

[cheezepowder]

Soft opening June 10, 2015, via Mark Dedrick. See also District Cuisine, Frozen Tropics.

[Josh]

Perusing the menu online, I was excited by a number of dishes on the "Thai street food" menu (taro hash brown, crispy rice salad, crispy preserved egg).  Sadly, none of the more interesting dishes are being served at the H St. NE location, which is limited to a generic menu of aggressively mediocre Americanized Thai food.  The Penang curry sauce had just touch of life to it, with a nice spice, but the dried out chicken killed any latent greatness.  The pad Thai was gluey brick of sweet and sad topped with styrofoam shrimp.  We also had chicken larb, papaya salad, and eggplant with tofu.  Of these, the eggplant was the only one we would consider ordering again.

Unless and until I hear that they up their game, we won't have that chance.  Even among the limited competition for Thai take out on Capitol Hill, Imm struggles.

Brutal first review, but I had high hopes that were dashed and I need to lash out.