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Neisha Thai, Closed in Tenleytown and Tysons Corner Center, But Reopen at a New Tysons Location


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We were in the mood for Thai, and didn't feel like traveling far. We went up to Neisha Thai and had the pattaya noodle and tofu in green curry. The noodles were ok - heaps of okay seafood - the shrimp that I tasted was a little less than fresh. The tofu in green curry was pretty acceptable, but I wish they had put some other vegetables in aside from bamboo shoots.

But the most distinguishing feature of Neisha Thai is the music. Jazz on the outdoor patio with a horrible clarinet player that sounded a lot more like a bad recorder recital from third grade. And really bad easy listening music played at levels so that you can't hear your companion speak. Enrique Iglesias' Hero was deafening and flat out painful. Maybe that will be takeout next time.

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Went to Neisha last fall. The only musical accompaniment we had were the continuous sirens from emergency vehicles.

We ordered Panang curry w/ tofu and roasted duck curry; both were nothing to write home about. The Panang had lots of crushed peanuts, but very little "pang!" And, other than two strips of red pepper, no vegetables. The curry was lukewarm; the tofu was room temperature. The rice was undercooked; quite telling that an Asian restaurant can't get its rice together.

There was a surprising lack of fish on the menu. Shrimp and scallops were the extent of it. (I see now they offer Tilapia, Rock fish and Flounder.) Nothing stuck out as a "must-try." However, when the wait staff makes unsolicited recommendations, go with that; they oft know something you don't. A neighboring table shared a bite of some noodle and shrimp dish, recommended by the server, which was quite good.

It was a nice evening and we lingered over an early dinner on the barely filled patio; only two other tables were in use. (When we left, only six - still less than half - tables were occupied.) Yet, the check was bought rather quickly. One of those is there anything else moments and before the period was put on the no, thank you the bill was at the table. We dawdled a bit to enjoy the weather. However, when a second check arrived at our table - next to the first one... we got the message. Could it have been any clearer that they wanted us to leave? (I feared the second check had a $9 surcharge for occupying the table as long as we did.) However, they quickly realized the mistake and whisked the errant check from the table.

Dinner for two - no appetizers, no dessert - with a glass of wine each, came to $23 including tax and tip. Wine, at $10 a glass, was a bit over-priced for the neighborhood. Yet, I really do appreciate those restaurants that offer wine pairing suggestions for meals.

I did like the presentation of the silverware: the knife and fork were placed upside down inside the folded napkins. It wasn't until you unfolded the napkin did you realize it was fork and knife, rather than elegant chopsticks. Ha! Fooled ya!

The night we went: it was obviously a neighborhood, family-oriented restaurant - plenty of parents with young, as well as college-aged, children in tow. Dining on the patio was a nice treat - not much for people watching; fire engines racing up Wisconsin avenue, resulting in one too many awkward pauses during dinner conversations - on a cool, Fall night.

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Neisha is generally an acceptable restaurant for last-minute Thai take-out cravings. Their Passion Beef is a pretty good entree, although more often than not, comes out chewier than one would hope for something that has been marinating for three days. I actually haven't ordered from there in a while, so I'm not sure if the quality remains roughly the same or is headed downhill...

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Neisha is generally an acceptable restaurant for last-minute Thai take-out cravings. Their Passion Beef is a pretty good entree, although more often than not, comes out chewier than one would hope for something that has been marinating for three days. I actually haven't ordered from there in a while, so I'm not sure if the quality remains roughly the same or is headed downhill...

Neisha Tysons has become the Thai delivery of choice in my office, which provides lunch for us on Wednesdays. They have a few dishes that are standouts---the Yum Eggplant appetizer is my single favorite eggplant dish anywhere, hands down. The leaf-wrapped dishes are also good, though a bit awkward to eat. They do a good job on hoi obb (lemongrass steamed mussels), though I haven't had those delivered. On the whole, the appetizer menu is probably a bit stronger than the mains, but the main courses with seafood and cellophane noodles are generally winners.

Considering how fusiony some of the dish presentations are in the restaurant, some of the dishes are surprisingly spicy.

Our last encounter with live music there was a few months ago. It was a pleasant enough flute and acoustic guitar duo, playing snippets of classical music. A suspiciously high number of their selections appeared in books 3 and 4 of Suzuki method violin lessons.

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Last night's debate included an order in from Neisha Thai for my guest. I tried one of his salmon rolls, which was a cooked salmon roll cut on the diagonal and smeared with flying fish roe. Rice was mushy, but a good amount of vinegar and sugar made this one of those gross guilty pleasures.

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Third Thai meal in the span of a week. I started last week at Paya Thai, then Nava Thai, ending at Neisha Thai. If "Thai" wasn't in a restaurant's name, is it still Thai food?

The spring rolls were good, stuffed with purple cabbage with a nice thin crispy wrapper. The five sauces (soy, hot sauce, chili powder, soy with chili peppers, and vinegar with chili peppers) were fun to experiment with. This is what kills me, 3 smallish spring rolls were $5.75. Have spring/egg-rolls prices gone up everywhere without me noticing or are Thai restaurants just more expensive (Paya Thai also didn't have an appetizer under $6, IIRC)?

I tried the POO GOONG OBB WOON SEN - shrimp cooked with cellophane noodles, shitake mushrooms and vegetables topped with crabmeat and served in a clay pot with sweet lime dressing on the side ($12.95). The portion was decent, the shrimp overcooked (never had shrimp that's not overcooked in a clay pot anywhere, frankly, why cook shrimp this way?), the noodle flavorful. You end up eating lots of shredded ginger since that's mixed in with the noodle.

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Neisha Thai's Tenleytown and Tysons Corner locations closed.

Neisha ThaI is opening a new location at 8027 Leesburg Pike, Suite 110 (in building with Nordstrom Rack), Vienna. They're having a grand opening party tomorrow, Sunday, July 7, and officially opening on July 8 (via an email I received and their website).

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The Tenleytown Neisha Thai location is now something called Pho EurAsian (or some nonsense like that). The sign outside advertises pho, hotpots, noodles, and tapas. Seriously.

Apparently these is also a Pho Eurasian in the Dupont area, took over the Saigon Bistro space.

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