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Padaek (Formerly Bangkok Golden), Chef Seng Luangrath's Lao and Thai in Seven Corners Plaza


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Does anyone know if Chef Luangrath's Laotizan menu is still available and still awesome? My whole family is sick, so this gives me an excuse to buy half the menu for myself and  eat it over the next day and a half.

I'm sure it is; but fair warning:  Chef Seng is in Laos this week, and will be focused on opening her new place in D.C. when she returns.  Doesn't mean you won't get great Laotian food at BG; but the quality control *might* be a bit lower than usual.

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Does anyone know if Chef Luangrath's Laotizan menu is still available and still awesome? My whole family is sick, so this gives me an excuse to buy half the menu for myself and  eat it over the next day and a half.

I know from Twitter that she is wrapping up a trip in Laos right now. So if you decide to go, I'd be very curious how your meal is there, as their ability to produce good Lao food when the chef is not in the kitchen is about to be tested with Thip Khao's opening in DC.

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The last time we went the redid their menu to have a Thai side and a Lao side, so I'm sure it's still there.

As far as it still being awesome goes, that's another story.

The first time we went was right after Tom's review in the Post and it was fantastic. So different than anything I'd ever had and wonderful bright and spicy favors. We pretty much ordered everything that Tom raved about loved it all.

The next time we went they didn't have the tapioca balls (I think that was it) which were so unique and a real highlight of our first meal. The rest of the food was good but not as spectacular as the first time.

The third time we went they didn't have two of Tom's raves which were also two of our favorites and the rest was fine but nowhere near as special as the first meal.

All of these meals were before the announcement of the new place too. Sad to say that this place went from a place that I couldn't wait to go back to, to a place I'm indifferent about.

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That's too bad, though just one opinion. Haven't been in a while, but last outing was also mediocre for me, as well.

Seems to be the DC life cycle for good ethnic dining (thai xing, many indian places come to mind)- place opens up, meteoric rise, chef gets hands into other stuff, and place falls...

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Went for lunch today and had the buffet, which should have been a good way to sample a little of each of a lot of dishes. The only dish marked "Lao" on the buffet was a fish dish that I don't recognize on the regular menu. I'm glad I got to taste small amounts of some spicy dishes I wouldn't normally order, like green papaya salad and larb, but most of the food was pretty lackluster. Fried chicken wings were crispy but lacked any real herb or spice flavor. Tom ka gai was loaded with mushrooms, but not one piece of chicken. I didn't try the drunken (chicken) noodles, but my husband said there was no heat or any discernable chicken in the dish. The mussels in the seafood stew weren't open. Green curry was watery and not at all hot.

I'm glad we tried it, but we won't rush back. I'll stick to Elephant Jumps as my favorite Thai restaurant. My husband prefers the curries at Bangkok 54.

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I think I mentioned this somewhere way up above, but the one time I ate at Bangkok Golden, I took a look at the very dreary buffet and immediately decided to order off the menu. People have been saying it's been disappointing of late, but I don't think the buffet was ever the way to go here. You might want to give it another chance and order off the menu. The dish I had, pork orm from the Lao menu, was remarkably delicious. I ordered it "Thai hot", which is less hot than "Lao hot", and it was plenty hot.

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My son & I had lunch here yesterday, after car shopping (anyone have a gently used vehicle for sale? I'm in the market)-we got there at noon, it was crowded, he said he'd never been there before, I thought he had. We got the buffet,because we were not being picky- the Tom yum soup (at first I thought it was too sour) was great, the larb was much milder than I prefer (Thai Nakorn makes it spicy), Tom liked the crispy chicken w/ basil (I got a lot of crispy, no chicken), the spicy pork & eggplant was spicy, I managed to scoop out some shrimp w/ the seafood dish, spring rolls were wonderful, & it was a good lunch.

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We were in last week and when ordering a beer were told that they didn't have a liquor license presently.  The waiter said they had to reapply for the license because they had new management.  I don't know how the licensing process works but it sounds like things are changing there.  

For what its worth, the food was still fantastic and if you want a beer you can bring your own.  We saw several customers run over to the Shoppers after they ordered and bring beer back.  

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44 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

Thank you, cheezepowder. Can anyone confirm that the adjective is "Lao" and not "Laotian?" I guess I never knew, so used something that "sounded reasonable."

I believe, but am not certain, that "Laotian" means from the country of Laos, whereas "Lao" is an adjective referring to the particular ethnic group, who might or might not be in Laos (e.g., Lao Isans in northern Thailand).  My sense--but I'm happy to be corrected--is that "Lao" is much more commonly used by people from Laos.  More to the point for present purposes, Chef Seng refers to "Lao food."

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34 minutes ago, Marty L. said:

I believe, but am not certain, that "Laotian" means from the country of Laos, whereas "Lao" is an adjective referring to the particular ethnic group, who might or might not be in Laos (e.g., Lao Isans in northern Thailand).  My sense--but I'm happy to be corrected--is that "Lao" is much more commonly used by people from Laos.  More to the point for present purposes, Chef Seng refers to "Lao food."

Thanks - also, here's a thread devoted to Northern Thai and Lao Cuisine. (Regional spelling corrections welcome and encouraged - I don't know much about the names, spellings, pronunciations, or even cartography of North and East Thailand. I do the best I can, but my knowledge base is quite limited). Here also is a thread for Khao Soi.

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I advise people, in strong terms, to wait awhile before going to Padaek. The meal I had last night was so distressingly mediocre that I won't return here until hearing something to the contrary - I cut them some slack because, for example, they just put their new sign up yesterday, and the only beers they had were Heineken and Corona. The salmon tasted like it came from a college dining hall, the quail was cooked to a crisp, etc. Just don't rush over there - I understand they're in transition, but I'm downgrading them from Italic for the time being.

PS - It's a mortal crime comparing this in any way with Little Serow right now.

IMG_3370.jpgIMG_3371.jpg

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Went here for lunch the other day.  I had the noodle soup that was not curry from the Lao menu Khao Piak Sen.  It was delicious.  The broth was lots of ginger and lemongrass which are my favorites.  We also had shrimp cakes, which were good.  Hubby had the pork Piing.  It looked really good, although I didn't eat any.

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15 hours ago, ktmoomau said:

Went here for lunch the other day.  I had the noodle soup that was not curry from the Lao menu Khao Piak Sen.  It was delicious.  The broth was lots of ginger and lemongrass which are my favorites.  We also had shrimp cakes, which were good.  Hubby had the pork Piing.  It looked really good, although I didn't eat any.

2 hours ago, naxos said:

Love that soup!

I just did a Google Images search, and the dishes (especially the long-cooked dishes) look *much* better than what we had last July, so I attribute that to Opening Blues.

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40 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

I just did a Google Images search, and the dishes (especially the long-cooked dishes) look *much* better than what we had last July, so I attribute that to Opening Blues.

FWIW, Seng and Bobby have been encouraging me (and I assume others) to check out Padaek if we haven't been in a while--they're proud of the staff and offerings they've put together there.

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I went a couple of days ago for the first time in a long time and it was absolutely delicious.  A catfish soup (Orm) was the highlight, a real depth of flavor.  Also a delicious and subtle rice noodle soup with tofu (khao piak sen). Oddly, the only available beer was Corona but I managed. :)

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April 1 & 8, 2018

Exquisite dishes on the Weekend Specials Menu ingeniously composed and expertly executed by Chef Seng! So sublime beyond words, I am left dreaming and longing! You can taste the passion and soul in her cooking! Padaek is in a groove and on 1f525.png🔥1f525.png🔥1f525.png🔥

I highly recommend following her posts on Facebook and Instagram to time your visit for her Special Menu creations.  I believe she was in the kitchen for lunch service on both visits.

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tapioca pork dumpling, fermented radish, peanut, & palm sugar!
 

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grilled rice-cured pork stuffed inside banana leaves, garlic & chilies!

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Fried butterflied pampano, tamarind salt, pineapple padaek sauce, rice noodle, peanut, raw collard greens, green lettuce, lemongrass, ginger, cherry tomato, Thai eggplant mint, rau ram, dill!
 

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KHAO NIEW WAN NAHM PAA2728.png✨2728.png✨2728.png✨
black sticky rice, caramelized fish sauce, palm sugar, ugli tangerine, oro blanco, kiwi, crispy mung bean, prematured rice, black sesame seed, puffed rice, coconut glazed!

 

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Padaek is open for contact-free take out.  We used it for Mother's Day.  The menu has been pared down and their hours are a bit more limited.  It was the perfect solution for Mother's Day for our family.  Excellent food and no one had to do emergency consults with me to prepare it!   https://www.padaekdc.com/

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Padaek this past weekend was great and super easy. Order online and pickup only takes a few seconds. The Ping Muu was delicious, Tam Mak Houng was spicy hot in the best of addictives ways. The flavors of the crispy catfish were amazing. I wish we knew all the herbs that were included. It would have been perfect in the restaurant, just suffered slightly from being in the packaging on the ride home.

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We also got carryout from them recently (last week, I think?  Time has no meaning anymore.)  and thoroughly enjoyed it.  What did we get?  Damned if I can remember everything right now, but we were happily overstuffed, with leftovers to spare.

Padaek and Hong Kong Palace constitute my personal favorite Restaurant Row right now.

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24 minutes ago, captcourt said:

We also got carryout from them recently (last week, I think?  Time has no meaning anymore.)  and thoroughly enjoyed it.  What did we get?  Damned if I can remember everything right now, but we were happily overstuffed, with leftovers to spare.

Padaek and Hong Kong Palace constitute my personal favorite Restaurant Row right now.

What's traveled well from HKP?  thanks

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19 hours ago, captcourt said:

We also got carryout from them recently (last week, I think?  Time has no meaning anymore.)  and thoroughly enjoyed it.  What did we get?  Damned if I can remember everything right now, but we were happily overstuffed, with leftovers to spare.

Padaek and Hong Kong Palace constitute my personal favorite Restaurant Row right now.

Concur.  Had excellent carry-out from Padaek last night.

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22 hours ago, Marty L. said:

What's traveled well from HKP?  thanks

We live a 10-15 minute drive from HKP (in the Ballston vicinity).  We almost always carry out, and order meat fried dumplings, spicy wontons, the bacon homestyle and chicken with stuffed peppers (both specials from the wall, in pre-pandemic days when they had dishes posted in Chinese on the wall, with so much ❤️ for the DR community for alerting us to those) and then something else, depending on our mood.  All of this generally travels well.  Yes, it's only two of us, but it's a good variety and we have easy meal choices for days.  We also like the szechuan green beans, and we ordered them, but I don't feel like those traveled so well this time around.  YMMV.

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1 hour ago, Bart said:
On 1/15/2011 at 9:33 PM, DonRocks said:

The problem:

A bottle of expensive, way-too-young, way-too-old, way-too-tannic, way-too-prematurely-bricking (purchased from MacArthur several years ago) 1996 Oddero Barolo which was something not unlike drinking a metallic Band-Aid with the faintest hint of black cherry.

The solution:

Orm Pork.

The review mentions something called “Aom.” My guess (and it’s only a guess) is that it’s a variant spelling of what was formerly listed as “Orm.”

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Just went there Friday, had to sit on the patio because we had no reservation. Very good sai karok esaan (sausage, spelling’s probably wrong), a bit like sai oua, but more sour. Khao Soi (noodles in yellow curry broth) also very good, only slightly spicy. Meatiest chicken satay we’ve ever had, more spices on the (dark?) meat than usual, really good. Pad see ew also good, but more average. And the wings were vaguely reminiscent of K(orean)FC, with a bit more sour in the sauce (tamarind?), also great.

After the post review I’m sure it’ll be even harder to get a table.

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