Pool Boy Posted August 30, 2008 Posted August 30, 2008 What's the best Thai in Bethesda? The Thai language menu at Bangkok Garden. Thanks. I actually went to the Columbia restaurant and I was kind of disappointed -- they made a flavorful fish dish -- but it was so riddled with bones that it really detracted from my experience. That said, I'm willing to give it another go. Grazie!
1000yregg Posted May 24, 2010 Posted May 24, 2010 I went to the Columbia, MD branch of Bangkok Garden last weekend with a roughly translated version of their Thai menu. The food was hot as anything, but excellent. The waitresses came out to watch us eat because they said very few non-Thai customers would eat some of the items we ordered. We started with papaya salad with pickled brined blue crab. It has a totally different flavor from the usual salad with dried shrimp. The item that the waitresses were impressed we got was the crudites (broccoli, eggplant, bamboo shoots, cucumber) with a dip of cold sweet and really spicy shrimp paste. We also added the option of the whole grilled fish to eat with the dip. The Chinese broccoli with pork belly was pretty good- not spicy at all. Our last item was a sour red curry soup with shrimp and acacia leaf omelettes. This was the most spicy item of the meal. There are about 30 or so items on this Thai menu, so I'm planning on going back to try some more. pics
deangold Posted May 24, 2010 Posted May 24, 2010 I went to the Columbia, MD branch of Bangkok Garden last weekend with a roughly translated version of their Thai menu.The food was hot as anything, but excellent. The waitresses came out to watch us eat because they said very few non-Thai customers would eat some of the items we ordered. We started with papaya salad with pickled brined blue crab. It has a totally different flavor from the usual salad with dried shrimp. The item that the waitresses were impressed we got was the crudites (broccoli, eggplant, bamboo shoots, cucumber) with a dip of cold sweet and really spicy shrimp paste. We also added the option of the whole grilled fish to eat with the dip. The Chinese broccoli with pork belly was pretty good- not spicy at all. Our last item was a sour red curry soup with shrimp and acacia leaf omelettes. This was the most spicy item of the meal. There are about 30 or so items on this Thai menu, so I'm planning on going back to try some more. pics Can you scan andpost the translation? Sounds like stuff I used to get when I was friends with a Thai family that owned a restaurant in Chicago. I was made an honorary member of the family after downing a bowl of "Jungle Curry" and actually adding chile powder to it. The son closest to my age just shook his head. It was a red curry without coconut milk but with a lot of pickled and sour ingredients added. Most of them were things that the family really didn't know English names for. There were three or four kinds of bamboo shoot preparations and lots of odd looking stuff.
1000yregg Posted May 25, 2010 Posted May 25, 2010 I am diligently working on a translation of the Thai menu (with descriptions of the dishes) using a couple different translations, the internet, and trips to the place, and as soon as I finish, I will make it public to the board.
Pool Boy Posted May 26, 2010 Author Posted May 26, 2010 I am diligently working on a translation of the Thai menu (with descriptions of the dishes) using a couple different translations, the internet, and trips to the place, and as soon as I finish, I will make it public to the board. And I would be forever in your debt whenever you might finish it. :-)
1000yregg Posted May 28, 2010 Posted May 28, 2010 Finished translating the Thai menu at Bangkok Garden. Here are links- I split them into the two columns that are on the menu. There are phonetic pronunciations as well a brief descriptions. My favorite items are the Yam Makheua Yao ,salad of smoky grilled Chinese eggplant, the Khang Som Cha-Om Kai Sai Koong, sour red curry broth with shrimp and acacia omelette. and the papaya salad with crab. We had the Thai hot jungle curry with chicken wed and it was fire hot- a good hurt. The most puzzling item to translate was something called "gold buttons" - turns out it's chicken nuggets. column 1column 2
1000yregg Posted June 25, 2010 Posted June 25, 2010 Went last night with the Charm City Chowhound group for a dinner at the Columbia branch. pics menu Naam Prik Plaa Raa- fermented fish paste dip with crudites Yam Makheua Yao- salad of smoky chinese eggplant- one of my favorites Som Tum Thai- papaya salad with crab Khang Som Cha-Om Kai Sai Koong- the sour red curry soup with shrimp and acacia omelette Pla Muk Pad Kra Pow- thai basil squid- a new one for me- really good Panang Kai- chicken panang curry- really sweet Pork with White Pepper and Garlic Sauce- good flavor Khao Raat Naa Kratiem- wide noodles with seafood (like chinese ho fun) Mango with warm sticky rice came to about $18/head
Choirgirl21 Posted July 25, 2010 Posted July 25, 2010 Wish I had seen this thread yesterday. I went to the Columbia location for the first time b/c I had a craving for thai and of the few places mentioned on foodie boards, this one looked most promising. I looked for papaya salad on the menu but couldn't find it. Regardless, i thought the food was quite good. I got an egg roll, which was pretty basic, but at least it didn't have the flavor of one fried in old oil, the drunken noodles w/pork, and the duck curry (red coconut curry). I've actually never had drunken noodles before so I can't compare them - not really my style of dish (too much starch), but it was good and lived up to its 3 peppers. The duck curry was fantastic. It had 2 peppers but at times rivaled the drunken noodles for spiciness. Nice chunks of tomato, eggplant, pineapple, pepper, and of course lots of thai basil in teh sauce. My main fear was that I would get it home and find none of the it was spicy, but both dishes had excellent heat and flavor. Portions were also very generous.
Choirgirl21 Posted November 1, 2010 Posted November 1, 2010 Ordered takeout from here again 2 weekends ago. Since I was sharing with a friend this time, I thought it would be a good time to try some of the items off of the thai menu. Was happy to see that the duck curry that I had ordered last time is actually a part of the thai menu as well so I ordered that again. We also got on the recommendation of others the smoky eggplant, the papaya salad with crab, and the chinese broccoli with crispy pork. Absolutely loved the smoky eggplant, next time I will make sure I get an order of that all to myself. The papaya salad left us both disappointed - I found it had a very strong crab flavor to the point of being fishy and my friend felt it was overly salty from the crab. It did pack a serious punch heat wise, but overall we both much prefer the papaya salad from Nava Thai. The pork dish was quite good, I really liked the sauce on this dish. The pork was a bit chewy, but we did order takeout so I'm guessing it lost its crispness in transit. Otherwise, really tasty, I would order it again but don't think it will be a dish I "have" to get. The duck curry was delicious again, with the perfect amount of heat imo.
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