Thai Flavor, Downtown Silver Spring - Closed

[JPW]

The ever changing range of tiny storefronts on the west side of Colesville Rd between Georgia and Fenton now contains something worth visiting (besides RTC of course). Just to the north of the promised Fillmore (est. opening 2099) is Thai Flavor. All of about 10 feet wide with a blue awning and a decidedly one man kitchen in the back. With three (?) 2-top bar height tables and 4 seats at the order/pick-up bar; it's decidedly more of a carry out than a sit down meal. That said, I've sat at the bar for lunch a couple of times now and will say that it's easily the best Thai food in SS.

Based on what I've had thus far, I'd even put it up against Nava Thai, or any other Thai on this side of the Potomac for that matter.

Today's ka prow had a perfectly balanced sauce with a perfect body to it. The perfect amount of heat that gave my tongue a tingle without killing all other flavors. This was some seriously good stuff.

Last week's catfish in spicy brown sauce was likewise nicely balanced and thoroughly enjoyed.

Check it out. If it's lunch time there's a very good chance that you'll see me there eating my way through the rest of the menu.

PS - now I remember. I believe that it's the storefront where the Cuban place that Sietsema so inexplicably loved was located.

Edit to add --> -El Guajiro was the name of the Cuban place. Found it in this ancient eG thread

[DonRocks]

it's decidedly more of a carry out than a sit down meal.

They offer curbside take-out (click), and also free coffee for fire, police, and military personnel.

And no MSG!

Rocks.

[xcanuck]

Thx for the recommendation, JPW. To be honest, I would have never tried this place without your comments. We got take out lunch there today and I think it has the potential to take a lot of our business away from Nava Thai.

Both Lisa and I started with the Tom Yum soup, then shared orders of the Seafood Fried Rice and Thai Chili Tilapia. They're not kidding when they say everything is cooked to order. The Chili Tilapia was perfect! Crispy fried tilapia fillets served with a chili sauce and plenty of vegetables. Even after the 10 minute drive home in an enclosed take out container, the fish was still wonderfully crisp. The veggies (beans, carrots, and cabbage) all still had a good crunch to them. The heat level wasn't blistering hot (maybe one chili on the Nava Thai scale) and I'm sure you could ask for it a little spicier if you like, but the flavours were great. Similarly, the Seafood Fried Rice didn't suffer from the clumpy or dry texture of a lot of take out rice. Lots of nice hunks of seafood in it, including shrimps and mussels in the shell. The Tom Yum soup had a nice brightness to it, and lots of tender white chicken meat pieces.

While Thai Flavor doesn't have some of the more esoteric dishes that Nava Thai (I miss stuff like larp gai and tripe), they seem to nail what they ARE offering. Granted, it's our first visit but we'll keep trying out their menu. Hopefully it's consistently as good as today.

[Lydia R]

All of about 10 feet wide with a blue awning and a decidedly one man kitchen in the back. With three (?) 2-top bar height tables and 4 seats at the order/pick-up bar; it's decidedly more of a carry out than a sit down meal. That said, I've sat at the bar for lunch a couple of times now and will say that it's easily the best Thai food in SS.

After reading this, I drove by last weekend too early and they were closed. On their front window are print-outs of blog posts from South of Colesville Eats. The posts included this photo of the owners, Wendy and Wayne. If you look closely, Wayne's wearing a Nark Kara logo polo.

I had a late lunch today at their granite bar. There's a large TV, but the real show is watching the kitchen with your perpheral vision - good wok action. MMMM, Pad Thai in my belly. Good heat, mainly from chili flake, and very personable service.

I had a long chat with Wayne and turns out they were co-owners of Bethesda's Nark Kara and Wendy was FOH before the falling out between partners. They've hired one of their old Nark Kara chefs. Also, another former FOH Nark Kara staffer will fill in for Wendy after she has her baby (end of May). Wendy had previously worked at Tara Asia in Rockville.

NOTE: They'll provide either curb or back-alley service for carryout.

[joncephine]

We've eaten in once, takeout twice, and delivery once. Wayne came to give our delivery, but I think they're still working the kinks out. I love the pineapple chicken dish, and the ginger ice tea is fabulous. I've also gotten the cashew chicken, which wasn't bad, and E swears by the drunken noodles. I think I also got a curry, but I can't remember - we've had the spring and summer rolls, which were not bad.

This place has definitely become our go-to-thai place, and definitely a nice addition.

[sdamelio]

I am so excited that this place exists. Thank you for writing about it on DR because I never would have tried it - those restaurants on Colesville across from AFI scare me (besides Ray's)...

Anyway, super yummy! Now I don't have to go all the way to Ruan Thai when I want great Thai food. AND they deliver!!!

I had the summer rolls- filled with shrimp, veggies and comes with a unique spicy tamarind sauce followed by the Chicken Ka Prow - tender white meat with crisp red + green peppers in a perfectly balance, just spicy enough sauce with plenty of steamed rice. And the ginger iced tea was great too - it tasted like fresh squeezed ginger lemonade.

The owners are very nice and Wayne chatted with me about Silver Spring while I waited for my food. Not only is this the best Thai food by far in downtown Silver Spring, but very well priced too.

This place deserves to be supported! I can't wait to go back and try more dishes

www.silverspringthaiflavor.com

301-495-1234

[Bob Loblaw]

I walked by this place yesterday and noticed that they changed their name to "Kao Thai." Didn't get a chance to eat there, but in reading some comments on Yelp, it sounds like they renovated the space, added more seats, and revised the menu a bit.