Reunion with My DC A-List

by Erin

Last weekend, I managed to extract myself from my local pub and the amazing basketball that's been on so I could head down to DC to see some of my closest friends from college. Amazingly, we hadn't seen each other since Christmas so a visit was long overdue.

Picture #4591 of us...what's another one in the album?

I met up with my BFF Rachel in Dupont Circle and after making a brief appearance at one happy hour, we met up with Mark and Craig at a nearby Korean place for more drinks. We hung out with a few of their friends and continued the drinking (mmm, Sapporo), and suddenly it was 9:00! We were all hungry and decided to get some Thai food at Regent Thai on 18th Street.


Regent Thai had a cool vibe, dark and hip, but not obnoxious. The restaurant was pretty hoppin' but thankfully we didn't have to wait and we were seated right away.

We ordered more cocktails (though I abstained since I was going to make the drive back to Charm City later in the evening), and Craig got some Thai Iced Tea which was so delicoius! I had never had it before but it was sweet and refreshing - it's on the must-have list for next time.

Craig LOVES the iced tea

As for the food, I will fully admit to being a bit bossy in the choice of appetizers since there are a handful of things I LOVE to get when I have Thai, and I wanted everyone to enjoy them with me! We ordered the green papaya salad, a bowl of tom kha gai, and curry puffs.

Xani introduced me to green papaya salad (I believe the first time I had it was when we risked life and limb for Thai in Baltimore), and now it is one of my most favorite Thai dishes to get. It's made with green papaya (duh) cut into long strands, peanuts, spicy chili sauce, other veggies, and sometimes is served with cold shrimp (but not this time). It was a spicy and refreshing start to the meal.

Shocking, a dimly lit picture on this blog?

The curry puffs were deliciously deep-fried but served with a surprisingly sweet sauce with fresh veggies floating in it - very different and very good.

Then there was the tom kha gai, a classic Thai soup that is spicy, creamy, and surprisingly sour. It is a beautiful and totally unique flavor combo that gets me every time! It's made with coconut milk, veggies, sometimes chicken or tofu, and then I think lime juice and/or fish sauce are the sour components? Delish.

For my entree, I went for the standard Pad Thai with tofu since it is one of my faves. I know, I know, sooo trite, but what can I say? I love it! Craig also got Pad Thai, but with chicken; Mark got the Pad See Ew (wide noodles in a sweet Thai soy sauce); and Rachel got Larb Kai (salad of ground chicken, lime juice, herbs and veggies).

Larb Kai

Pad See Ew

Everyone's dishes were excellent. My dish was sweet and salty, with a great myriad of textures from the noodles, peanuts, veggies, and crispy/soft tofu. Pad Thai is definitely a comfort food to me and it was great to enjoy it with such great friends.

Pad Thai

Rachel and I parted ways with Craig and Mark and ended up in an Irish pub -- where we watched basketball! B-ball is hard to escape this time of year, and I'm not complaining! Gotta give a shout-out to my Terps for (a) making it into the tournament in the first place, and (b) making it to the second round!

It was great to see my A-list crew in DC, and I hope to see them again soon! Love you guys!

Cheers,
EP

ps. Stay tuned for many more posts in the pipeline about recent home cooking, Xani's most recent trip to Chicago (including a very special repeat appearance of the best cupcake of her life), and a wee announcement about donuts.

Risking Life and Limb for Good Thai Food

by Erin and Xani

Last weekend, we decided to try "Thai Restaurant" (yes, that's the full name; no website that we could find, but see the City Paper review here) for lunch on a sunny Saturday afternoon. We had heard that Thai Restaurant was one of the best Thai places in the city, and we soon found that while the food was amazing (stay tuned for an overly detailed discussion below), the journey to TR was...well, interesting.

Xani used her trusty Google maps abilities on her phone (it's magic, I swear) and we diligently followed its course. We traveled through some parts of Baltimore that, let's just say, we don't see often. Let's also say, had we been in the market for illicit drugs, guns, or possibly a black-market kidney, we probably could have obtained these items on any one of many corners that we passed along a long stretch of Greenmont Ave. Once we reached the restaurant, there was luckily a spot right out front and we darted into the restaurant. The restaurant was beautifully decorated, but empty. Our first thought was "Crap, it's empty. Why?? Maybe this place sucks?" But we were quickly reassured that TR did NOT suck, not only because the room filled up about five minutes after we sat down, but more importantly, because the food was AWESOME.

We ordered tea and perused the lengthy menu. We decided to order two appetizers: we started with some tom kha kai, a traditional Thai soup that had lots of coconut milk, chicken, and pumpkin (the pumpkin was a special ingredient added that day). The soup was a bit spicy but mostly just incredibly rich and delicious because of the coconut milk. The pumpkin added sweetness and heartiness to the soup.

Tom Kha Kai

The other appetizer we got was probably the favorite of the meal: green papaya salad. This dish was so incredibly delicious (and beautiful) and each ingredient stood out but they all worked together: the green papaya was shredded (looked almost like noodles), and there were green beans, peanuts, cilantro, something spicy (jalapeno maybe?), and a delicious sweet and sour vinaigrette-like dressing dancing throughout. An added bonus were the few delicious shrimps on top, but honestly, they were not necessary since the salad itself was so good.

We would recommend the soup and this salad as a great meal for one, but of course, there were two of us, and we were still hungry!

We ordered two main dishes: Thai Fried Rice with pork, and Panang Curry with tofu. The fried rice was really good and more interesting than traditional Chinese fried rice (lots of Thai basil gave it a subtle anise flavor). The curry was very good as well. We could have chosen red, green, yellow, or panang curry and we went with the panang. We ordered it "spicy" (actually, we were given the opportunity to adjust the spiciness of all of our dishes, which was a nice touch), and that it was! The tofu was prepared nicely and in large pieces, and the curry was intensely flavored and rich from a bit of coconut milk. (Flash-forward to the next day, when Xani tried to eat the leftover curry, which had intensified in spiciness about four times!)

Thai Fried Rice

Panang Curry with Tofu

We were offered dessert (including deep-fried cheesecake!) but alas, we were too full. We paid the bill and once again, darted to our car, keeping the doors locked, like BCD Mom always says. We found a more, um, familiar route home, which we'll be taking the next time we are looking for great Thai food. It was totally worth the risk.

Happy eating,

E & X