Jump to content

Esaan Tumbar (Formerly Social Restaurant & Oyster Bar) - Northeastern Thai in Downtown McLean - Owned by Pasa Thai


Recommended Posts

It's in the strip mall with Evo Bistro. They cook the seafood until it's just barely cooked, great for people who love to straddle that raw/cooked texture. Both the mussels and shrimp were served that way. They also take reservations by phone at this point. It's a small restaurant so go early or call in advance. The prices are slightly higher than Evo, but I think the food is executed at a higher level.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its owned & operated by the Pasa Thai folks (who produce a good Thai product).  We have tried to go several times but its been closed after a recent opening.  Menu looks really interesting but the room seems, uh, less than inviting and warm from the outside.  Other reports would be appreciated, esp on the drinks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/30/2016 at 1:31 PM, wristband said:

Its owned & operated by the Pasa Thai folks (who produce a good Thai product).  We have tried to go several times but its been closed after a recent opening.  Menu looks really interesting but the room seems, uh, less than inviting and warm from the outside.  Other reports would be appreciated, esp on the drinks.

I stopped by today and poked my head in the door - Chef Barillo was there, and we met each other. The menu *does* look wonderful, and he told me it changes all the time, so it looks like Social is a real attempt at presenting a McLean dining experience. I agree with wristband that it isn't all that inviting looking from the outside, but Jeff Barillo was as nice as he could be, and this is a restaurant I'm looking forward to trying - I had forgotten that they'd been open eight months.

SocialExterior.JPGSocialMenu.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Heading to Evo Bistro for an early dinner last night, I remembered Social was in that strip so we decided to give it a try.  Not cheap (with a similar wine but with one extra glass and for the same number of courses, about 40% more than our tab at Requin the night before), but everything was good enough to make us want to return.  I started with an assortment of oysters, all very rich and briny.  Strange accompaniments, though - a kind of sweet cocktail sauce and a tom yum sauce - they were better on their own.  My wife enjoyed her crab cake - very little filler and good quality crab.  Personally, I thought it was good but could have used a little more seasoning.  The mains were both very successful.  I really enjoyed my sauteed soft shells - big crabs prepared very well and lightly but nicely seasoned.  My wife really enjoyed her rabbit dish, which I did not taste but the extra of which I will have this afternoon for lunch.  Portions are big, neither a positive or negative for me but just an observation worth noting.

Overall a very positive experience and we will definitely return.  At least on a Saturday night, it pays to have reservations because it is small.  We got a table because we were there before 7:00 but others without reservations who came in later got seated at the counter or turned away.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Dr. Delicious said:

Does anyone know if this place has closed? I noticed it was closed last night (Thursday) at 7pm, when I went to pick up takeout from Pasa Thai. I'm just curious and don't mean to start any rumors!

It's not impossible - their phone rolled over to voice mail just now, Yelp says they're closed (note the Apr 30 comment) ...

and yet, they just made an entry on their Facebook page on Wednesday, May 10.

This could be a vacation, temporary shut-down, family emergency, etc. - there isn't quite enough evidence to call them closed, but it's getting there.

It's too bad if it's true - these folks were pretty serious about taking a crummy space, and making it into a nice place.

Darn it, I specifically asked them to post here twice a month - it would have kept their name out there. *Nobody* talks about Social Oyster Bar, and that's a real shame.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/31/2016 at 1:31 PM, wristband said:

Its owned & operated by the Pasa Thai folks (who produce a good Thai product).  We have tried to go several times but its been closed after a recent opening.  Menu looks really interesting but the room seems, uh, less than inviting and warm from the outside.  Other reports would be appreciated, esp on the drinks.

On 5/12/2017 at 10:47 AM, Dr. Delicious said:

Does anyone know if this place has closed? I noticed it was closed last night (Thursday) at 7pm, when I went to pick up takeout from Pasa Thai. I'm just curious and don't mean to start any rumors!

Does anyone know if this was really owned and operated by the folks who own Pasa Thai? Were the former Rogue 24 employees merely employees? I was under the impression that they had taken over this space, but then I noticed wristband's post this morning.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There definitely was a tie with Pasa Thai - same owner and PT staff (notably the PT manager Dan) were visibly helping out several months ago.  Whether that changed since the late fall I don't know.  Funny - I walked by Friday afternoon, room was dark (not unusual as they are not open for lunch) but the place was orderly & set for dinner service.  Menu was posted in the front door.

I have not eaten there but heard nice reports from several locals whom I trust.  They enjoyed SOB, esp cocktails and fresh fish, and claimed the place was filled when they were there albeit its a small room.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was passing by Mclean on Dolley Madison Boulevard and saw this restaurant while stuck in traffic. It looked interesting because I've been to Little Serow and enjoyed the flavors, so a Thai restaurant closer to me with those similar flavors would be great. Searching online, I only found a Facebook page, and it looks like they had a soft opening on June 18.  Does anyone know more about this place or has visited? Thanks for any info!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Indeed it is owned & operated by the Pasa Thai folks.  I have not eaten here but the menu looks intriguing with its obvious emphasis on Northern Thai food - very different from "regular" DC area Thai food.  

I was pleasantly surprised to see a limited number of items on the menu.  For me, that is a positive.  Too often, Thai restaurants have five pages of items so an attempt to narrowly focus on unique flavors and different Thai dishes is welcome.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[Man, I hate to do this because it's such an utterly different concept, but Same Owners + Same Location = Same Thread. If you think about it, this is nothing more than a reconcepting of Social Restaurant & Oyster Bar; yet, it just doesn't feel right in this instance to merge the threads (this would have been the first time in website history that I didn't (if I hadn't - remember also that I could always carve it back up if I need to)) - I did it for Napoleon in Adams Morgan when it became Lapis, and I just don't see much difference here: Asian owners going from a European concept, back to the roots of their native country - as much as I *loved* the idea of Social Restaurant & Oyster Bar, Thai cuisine is in their blood, and this has more of a chance of success - I haven't been to Esaan yet, but it would be pretty great if this was true, regional Esaan cuisine.]

Does anyone know if Gift Thongpukdee and Jeff Barillo are still Chefs here? Remember, these two were at Rogue 24 which is extremely intriguing, and Thongpukdee certainly sounds like its of Thai ethnicity.

The full name of the restaurant is apparently Esaan Tumbar (and the website isn't yet operational).

I just hope that this isn't named in Spanish!

Screenshot 2017-06-27 at 4.39.09 PM.png <--- You have to admit that's pretty damned funny.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember trying northern Thai/Lao cuisine for the first.  The flavors are so vibrant, unconventional and yet harmonious.  Well, familiarity with the cuisine has dampened my enthusiasm.  I no longer go to BGIII regularly, and I don't even think about making the schlep to Thip Khao any more.  And I've only been to Doi Moi once.  

However, since Essan is only a few minutes away in my earth killing SUV, I made the trek for lunch yesterday.  As one can see, the wings are small, and a bit dry - all presumably intentional because they're quite good.  The mince pork and chicken intestine laab is also pretty good.  I personally don't think there's any chicken intestine in the dish, instead I think they're kidneys and gizzards because they're quite crunchy.  The fried snapper, while pretty to look at, also had a nice texture, i.e., very crispy exterior with a slightly dry interior.  However, the fish really didn't have much flavor.  Lastly, the spicy grilled beef was nice and tender.

All in all, a very good addition to McLean. 

ETA: The portions are bigger than pictured.  I think a couple of wings were already down the hatch when I took the pic.  Same for the beef and fish.

Wings and Laab - Copy.JPG

Fried Fish.JPG

Spicy Grilled Beef.JPG

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Went yesterday ... wings are tiny, as said above, but crispy and flavorful. The pork and chicken intestine laab is no longer on the menu - they have pork and then they have a vegetarian (mushroom) option. Was damn good laab, not very spicy, but fresh and light. The som tum muor (Essan style papaya salad) was very good, funky, fermented, and the spiciest thing we had. The best thing we had was the fried mackeral on top of noodles. It's eaten like a lettuce wrap. Delicious, but the piece of mackeral was too small. 

It's really good - comparable to early years at BG - the presentation is beautiful, food is fresh/tasty, and there are a lot of interesting things on the menu I'd like to try. It's a small menu, though, not the yooge menus that you usually see at Thai restaurants. It's really a nice space (I don't know what the oyster place that was there before looked like) - felt more like DC than McLean. It's pricier than BG/Thip Khao/Baan, but at dinner time on a weeknight it's faster to get there than anywhere else for me. The 4 courses we had came out to $50, which doesn't sound like much, but we cleared our plates with zero leftovers - and I certainly could have shared 2 more courses - so, order 6 courses for 2 people. They give a small amount of sticky rice (less than BG or Thip Khao) and I think additional costs money. It's the purple version and it's hot A F, so be careful getting it out with your hands. Oh, they have a full bar and a cocktail menu that looked pretty good, but we didn't have anything. 

Friendly owners, from Bangkok and not Isan Province, but capitalizing on the Northern/Northeastern Thai fad. If you want it spicy, ask for it spicy - otherwise I think they bring it down a notch. Oh, and I like the website design. Good job on that. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Had dinner there tonight. Best Issan style food we have had since LA days. 

Fish Dumplings were a special and quite good. Dense fish past inside and a nicely doughy wrapper with a spicy lime and chile dipping sauce

Fried Mackerel atop noodles on lettuce leaf, again with a chili lime dip, this one with a bit of honey or sugar. They are to be eaten as a saam style one bite, but the fried mackerel kept falling off.  Very good as well.

Grilled Squid is a large squid grilled whole then sliced into rings and two bundles of tentacles. Perfectly balanced between tender and chewy, they came with a lime chile dipping sauce. Another win.

Som Tum Muor came with a warning that you needed to like fish flavor to like this dish. It had some fishiness but not enough to warrant the warning. This dish was merely good: the flavors a little muddled and the veggies like Thai eggplant were not very present tastewise.  They have 5 other Som Tum and we will explore them.

Sticky Rice & Custard for dessert. The rice has a blue tint and was nicely flavored with a bit of coconut milk, the custard rich and creamy. Nice ending.

3 beers: DC Brau's forgettable something or other {someone not me in this relationship always orders DC Brau and I always comment that it tasted papery {no matter which insipid offering it is} and a Vienna Lager which was quite delicious {this unnamed person wanted to share my second glass and admitted that the DC Brau sucked.}I tried to find out who brewed the Lager and didn't really get an answer.

$78 before tip. Pricey but worth it. Much better than the last meal at Thip Kao or Baan Thai which serve a similar flavor palate. 

We saw their whole fried fish served at two adjacent tables and it looked superb. $43 as it is 2.5#. Looked like 4 or 6 could share it {although where 6 people would sit is a question, the place is tiny. The other dish we saw was either pork or beef but I am not sure which dishes they are from the online menu.

Definitely going back. 

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

Edited:  Essan was on Groupoon + as late maybe a month ago,  which gave you 20% cash back.

It still is on offer. You link you credit card and you get the discount in the form of credits to the credit card. Wish I had seen that before we went. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We were excited for our first visit, but I have to admit that we did not enjoy our meal very much. We began with the Fried Tofu, which came out as light cubes, in a puff-pastry style, but they were completely tasteless, and I didn't care for the consistency. The sauce that came with it was tasty, but it wasn't enough to save the dish. The highlight of the meal was the Grilled Pork Sausage, which had an intense and complex taste, with ginger sticks serving as a nice accompaniment. The Grilled Pork came as strips, and also had a really interesting combination of flavors, but they were buried under so much salt as to render the dish almost inedible. Finally, the Fried Fish was filleted, cubed, then fried (with skin on, which was surprising). While there was a little bit of sauce collecting on the bottom of the plate (so that you had to tilt the plate to get at it), it wasn't enough, and that hurt the dish. It was also $45 (listed as market price on the menu), more than double anything else on the menu, which gave us a bit of sticker shock (I recognize we share [own?] the blame here).

Service was attentive, but it took quite a long time for them to bring out our food (both apps and mains), and a couple tables that arrived after us were served well before us (the delay of our mains I recognize is likely a product of us ordering the fish and that requiring more time).

Anyway, we appear to be in the minority here, but I don't think we'll be back.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...