smiller Posted September 22, 2007 Share Posted September 22, 2007 I'm looking for the best Thai restaurant in the DC-area. Any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted September 22, 2007 Share Posted September 22, 2007 I'm looking for the best Thai restaurant in the DC-area. Any suggestions? This is all you need to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeMc Posted September 22, 2007 Share Posted September 22, 2007 I read this article in the LA Times this week and was wondering if any thai restaurants have the second menu option, like Hong Kong Palace does. And which restaurants showcase cuisine that's more southern, northern, or whatever. I've never been to Thai Square, though I like Thai Basil and sometimes Thai Xing. . . Add it to the list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenticket Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 I've never been to Thai Square, though I like Thai Basil and sometimes Thai Xing. . . Add it to the list.Why not join us for the upcoming $20 Tuesday at Thai Square - details here It's GOOD! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biscuit Girl Posted September 25, 2007 Share Posted September 25, 2007 This is all you need to know. Ok Rocks, watch your toes 'cuz I may step on them a bit. We are fortunate enough to have several great places in the area. In addition to Thai Square, the place Jim and I over all others is Rabieng. We love the place. I know others on this board may disagree with me but of all the Thai places we've tried (including Thai Square and Bangkok 54), Rabieng is the one we always come back to. It serves more of a country style Thai food, has items on it's menu we haven't seen anywhere else and has a cozier feel to it than the others. And they've recently updated their weekend Thai Dim Sum menu. There are several new items that we've enjoyed like the oysters and the crunchy chicken lettuce cups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted September 25, 2007 Share Posted September 25, 2007 Ok Rocks, watch your toes 'cuz I may step on them a bit. I wish more people would! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdt Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 Ok Rocks, watch your toes 'cuz I may step on them a bit. ...Rabieng is the one we always come back to. It serves more of a country style Thai food, has items on it's menu we haven't seen anywhere else and has a cozier feel to it than the others. Where is this place and what are some of the dishes that are not on other menus? If this place is better than Thai Square I cannot wait to try it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PollyG Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 I'm looking for the best Thai restaurant in the DC-area. Any suggestions? I was the instigator of Chowhound DC's 2005 Thai Smackdown, an extremely unscientific attempt to identify our region's best Thai places. We started with a poll asking people to identify their favorite Thai places and went with the top four. In addition to Thai Square and Bangkok 54, Ruan Thai in Wheaton fared very well. Rabieng was a mixed bag for us. The appetizers were significantly better than the entrees. Go for street food type items there to eat well. I had a disappointing lunch at Bangkok 54 within the past few months and I no longer think it rivals Thai Square. If you go to Thai Square, be sure to have something fried--they know their frying. The greens with fried pork are an eye-opening lesson in contrasts; it just isn't possible that the pork bits could stay so crispy against the soft, moist greens. And while the menu on the whole is more reminiscent of Thai-fusion than traditional Thai, the Yum Eggplant appetizer at Neisha in Tysons Corner is the best eggplant dish I've had, anywhere. It's smokey grilled, skinned Japanese/Chinese eggplant in a light spicy marinade, over lettuce with a pair of shrimp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimRice Posted September 26, 2007 Share Posted September 26, 2007 Where is this place and what are some of the dishes that are not on other menus? If this place is better than Thai Square I cannot wait to try it. First is one of their "Chef's Selections", Provincial Chicken, aka Khao Soy in Thai, or as they call it on their lunch specials, Chiang Mai Noodles. It is a creamy yellow curry that tastes nothing like massaman curries. It is chunks of dark meat chicken served with both soft egg noodles and fried egg noodles, pickled vegetables, shallots, lime, and dried hot peppers. Very mild and soothing, unless you break open or otherwise eat the dried peppers. Another is the appetizer 'tidbit', fried rice squares with coconut pork curry sauce. Also Esan Sausage, a pork-lemongrass sausage served with a soy-lime-chili sauce. There is also Esan-style grilled quail or chicken, marinaded in a curry sauce, then grilled. These are served with both the soy-lime-chili sauce and a sweeter chili sauce, and sticky rice. This is typically eaten with ones fingers, pulling off a chunk and dipping it into the sauce or cleaning up after the chicken. Then there are the items on the street food brunch, I described some of them here. I hope this gets you started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dracisk Posted April 1, 2018 Share Posted April 1, 2018 I thought this was an interesting article. The owner of Thai Ghang Waan is quoted. "The Surprising Reason that There Are So Many Thai Restaurants in America," by Myles Karp, in Munchies/Vice. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captcourt Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 59 minutes ago, Harbinger said: Hard to compare to other places when the dishes are mostly different, but the old Baan Thai was definitely my favorite. Only one meal so far from the new location, and it seems every bit as good. The menu is slightly different-many items have edged up about $1, and a few old dishes are gone. But favorites like the Vermicelli with Shrimp, Chicken and Peanut are still great. They are also selling a couple of spice/chili pastes for use in home cooking-I used too much of the red chili one and the spice blew my head off, so use sparingly, but great flavor. Agree on the difficult comparison. Little Serow, Baan Siam and, for example, Thai Square have completely different takes but I would happily eat at any of them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 4 hours ago, captcourt said: Agree on the difficult comparison. Little Serow, Baan Siam and, for example, Thai Square have completely different takes but I would happily eat at any of them. I suppose I know Thai Square’s menu as well as anyone, so if anyone has any questions, please just ask. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kibbee Nayee Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 24 minutes ago, DonRocks said: I suppose I know Thai Square’s menu as well as anyone, so if anyone has any questions, please just ask. Meandering a bit off topic, but how would the DR community rank the Thai restaurants in northern Virginia? Thai Square, Bangkok Golden, Elephant Jumps, Rabieng, Thai Basil...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbwebhead Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 On 7/20/2020 at 2:29 PM, Kibbee Nayee said: Meandering a bit off topic, but how would the DR community rank the Thai restaurants in northern Virginia? Thai Square, Bangkok Golden, Elephant Jumps, Rabieng, Thai Basil...? 1. Thai Square 2. Elephant Jumps 3. Rabieng 4. Padaek and when in Maryland... 1. Kao Thai 2. Ruan Thai 3. Thai Taste by Kob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reedm Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 12 hours ago, dbwebhead said: 1. Thai Square 2. Elephant Jumps 3. Rabieng 4. Bangkok Golden (Thai Basil) and when in Maryland... 1. Kao Thai 2. Ruan Thai 3. Thai Taste by Kob Bangkok Golden is now Padaek. It is still owned by Chef Seng Luangrath. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noamb Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 How does Thai Ghang Waan (In Springfield) fit into this list? It used to be our favorite up to a year or two ago, but after a couple of less good meals it dropped off our rotation. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kibbee Nayee Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 17 minutes ago, noamb said: How does Thai Ghang Waan (In Springfield) fit into this list? It used to be our favorite up to a year or two ago, but after a couple of less good meals it dropped off our rotation. I love Thai Ghang Waan, but I seem to be a chorus of one until your post. Their shell-shrimp (goong gleur) and spicy pig liver salad are absolute faves.But everyone raves about the other places, so I wanted to get a ranking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bart Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 11 hours ago, dbwebhead said: 2. Elephant Jumps I'm certainly not qualified to weigh in because I haven't eaten at most of the places listed above...….but here I go!! I was excited to try Elephant Jumps for ages because I always read about the place in Washingtonian's Cheap Eats and in the Post, etc, and I did as much research as I could as to what dishes to order, but I was just sort of meh about the whole meal. Maybe I ordered the wrong things, but I did do my research! or maybe my expectations were too high, but nothing I got made me want to come running back to revisit the place. I think I went in Jan 2019 so my memory is very fuzzy, but I remember leaving the place sort of scratching my head at all the acclaim the place gets. If anyone has any tips for great dishes, I'd love to hear them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captcourt Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 On 7/20/2020 at 2:02 PM, DonRocks said: I suppose I know Thai Square’s menu as well as anyone, so if anyone has any questions, please just ask. Say hi next time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ericandblueboy Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 Sisters in Mosaic is probably my favorite for authentic Thai. Padaek is Thai/Lao. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ziv Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 Thai Square is still my favorite for Northern Virginia, everything from the crispy squid with basil to the floating market soup to the pork noodle soup to the Pad Ped Pla Dook are all winners. But another option nearby is the Nam Kao Tod and the grilled esan sausage at Zaap, they are REALLY good! It is a takeout counter at the back right of Duangrats Oriental Food Mart near Bailey's Crossroads, and the food seems to be prepared by the cooks at Rabieng on the Rte 7 side of the building. It has 3 little tables but I think they are exclusively take out for now. Photo of their menu board below. And I still like Thai Noy in Westover/Arlington. They have really good light spring rolls and their som tum is really good, I order it with sticky rice to get every juicy bit. The larb mu is good as well. It isn't great Lao/Thai food, but it is pretty good. --- Crystal Thai (hopsing) 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
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 accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now