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The Regent, Modern Thai With No MSG on 18th and T Street in South Adams Morgan


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Living in the neighborhood, I've intended to go to Regent Thai (on 18th, just above T, NW) for quite a while, but last night was the first time I actually made it in. Glad I did, too--I think this place will become part of my rotation!

The interior suffers from the same problem as Rice--to many hard surfaces makes sound bounce like crazy. There were only eight people in the back room, and that was about the upper comfort limit of sound for me. But the ambience was still quite warm, and there are a lot of lovely wooden decorative pieces to give the place a nice aura.

We started with the dumplings, the flavor and texture of which were terrific. There was a nice smokiness to the sauce that gave them a little something extra, and unexpected. The wonton-wrapped, deep-fried shrimp were also much better than other versions I've had. The shrimp cooked just right, and the wrapper was nice and flaky, not at all too tough or thick.

For dinner, I had the pad eggplant with chicken. The chicken was tender, the eggplant was firm, and the flavors were right on--except for the salt, which was a bit overpowering. My dining companion had the Phi Phi Island, which is crab, shrimp, and scallops served with a red chili sauce--and this was the dish of the night. Visually it was gorgeous, with the white shellfish laid on top of a chunky, oxblood-colored sauce. The meat was all perfectly cooked and flavorful, while the sauce had a nice spicy kick, a smoky tang, and several other layers of flavors permeating. We also shared the green papaya salad, which was a fine rendition, unremarkable except that it was moderately spicy, but not marked as so on the menu. (Actually, both of the entrees were marked as the lowest level of spicy too, which we thought wasn't quite accurate; they certainly had some fire to them.)

Service was a little flaky and off, but not for lack of friendliness.

Two drinks, two apps, one salad, two entrees: 80 bucks, including tip.

And they deliver!!

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Walking into Regent Thai, I had one of those I've been here before moments...I believe it use to be that piano bar/lounge place, but now all decked out in Thai artifacts. It was completely dead at 12:30 on a Friday for lunch, like we were the only two people there...which is a shame, because while I'm no expert on Thai food, this was some of the best that I've had in the boundaries of the District.

Most of the Thai standards are here, and we went with them, the spring rolls were perfectly crisp, the penang chicken curry was ok (the chicken was dry and the sauce on the sweet side) however the star of lunch was the seafood drunken noodles...rated on the menu as 3 chilis it was not dumbed down for the western palate, littered with those little thai chilis that linger with you for hours. Nice!

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I ordered takeout from here a few weeks ago. I was less than impressed. The red duck curry was delicious, so I can't complain about that. And they were NOT skimpy with the duck. Plenty for two meals.

But what I can't forget is the worst and priciest pad see ew I've ever had. First off, they used regular (overcooked) broccoli instead of chinese broccoli, which really turns me off. The sauce wasn't that good, and there was little of it. The noodles were clumped together, too. I of course ate it because even bad Thai food is still somewhat tasty. But for being the closest Thai place to my house, I was very disappointed and this memory will stick with me for a while.

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Well, if it wasn't good, why complain that there was little of it? The less the better, I should think.

Logically, yes.

I guess I was trying to say there were two things wrong in the sauce department. The noodles were almost white, so even if the sauce had been good, there still would have been a problem.

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Regent Thai is one of those places that for me, is always available and reliable. I like that the server will bring the dish of spices so you can customize the spice level, and the curries have a decent amount of heat. The atmosphere is quite soothing. It's one of our "go to" places when we just can't decide where to go and we've rejected all the other options.

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I had a good meal at Regent Thai tonight, much better than I had expected. It's warm and inviting in there, if a bit loud. Everything I saw on other tables looked good, and my date was very happy with his fare, which I did not sample.

I enjoyed the Pad Eggplant with seafood, which had nicely textured eggplant (I hate overcooked, mushy eggplant), two giant and flavorful mussels, several beautiful shrimp, three decently presented scallops, and a ton of great broth, with some nice kick to it. At $15.95, it seemed like a good deal, especially since it was free to me. (Hey...he always gets the view.) And best of all, of course, was being able to give Lauriol Plaza the side-eye and keep on walking.

The service was wicked slow, however, which made us rush through eating as we had to make it to the Improv. I'm sure it doesn't need to be mentioned here, but...Forest Hills Elementary School in Anderson, Indiana serves better carrot cake than the "24 Karat" nonsense at the Improv. Fortunately, it wasn't the biggest laugh of the evening.

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I continue to enjoy Regent as my go-to, neighbhorhood Thai joint. It's fairly priced and pretty high quality. This is no Little Serow and not highly innovative- but it it is good, solid Thai in a pretty pleasant atmosphere with better than it needs to be service. Just wanted to put in a plug for a neighborhood favorite, and a place that you can usually get a seat even on a Friday or Saturday in "Upont Morgan" without major fanfare.

Off-topic, but has anyone tried the tiny Japanese place across the street- Plum Blossom? It's never crowded yet seems promising... but I've never actually made it in for a meal.

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I continue to enjoy Regent as my go-to, neighbhorhood Thai joint. It's fairly priced and pretty high quality. This is no Little Serow and not highly innovative- but it it is good, solid Thai in a pretty pleasant atmosphere with better than it needs to be service. Just wanted to put in a plug for a neighborhood favorite, and a place that you can usually get a seat even on a Friday or Saturday in "Upont Morgan" without major fanfare.

And, they deliver. And, they are really, really nice. And, they always bring cans of free sodas with delivery.

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First visit for me to Regent Thai last night; it is the go-to of family members who live in the area.  At 7pm there were only a few other tables in the restaurant so our group of six felt like we had the place to ourselves.  Service was very friendly, pacing between appetizers and entrees was spot on, glasses were filled and dirty dishes removed promptly.

I've been a big fan of another Thai restaurant in the area so had been resisting Regent for a while.  Shame on me  :ph34r:!

If Panang is your dish, then head to the corner of S and Connecticut, otherwise, I think the menu at Regent has more to offer.  The menu isn't that large, but offers a nice variety of dishes,  The first thing I noticed was just how beautiful every single dish was.  We ordered a good mix of curry, noodles, rice and two of our party ordered the soft shell special.  Everything tasted fresh, the veggies were all bright and still had some snap to them.  I'm looking forward to having my leftovers for lunch today.  I think prices are fair for the quality of the product and the location.  Most dishes were in the $14-$18 category.

I had the Thai fried rice, one of their signature dishes.  It was an enormous plate of food, and so pretty!  post-3566-0-93004000-1375796513_thumb.jp

All in all, can't wait for another excuse to visit Regent Thai.

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