Thai f-ing delicious August 10
First of all, this blog is not being abused or neglected. It merely… fell down the stairs. Yes. For all of July and change.
I went to Austin and NYC and did ridiculously fun things during this time but you don’t want to hear about that, right? Nooo, let’s ignore our hiatus and talk about tonight. Tonight we (The Maestro, myself, and our two close associates) found ourselves in a neighborhood we’d never really been to before, I guess you’d call it Shaw? Maybe Ledroit Park. Maybe Howard? I don’t know what neighborhood it was, but we were looking at an apartment (which was amazing but which we can’t take (no parking)) and the greatest thing my scouting of the area turned up to commend the place was that it was literally on the same block as “Thai X-ing”. Now, I like food a lot, as you may well know, and I also have been known to poke about on this crazy series of tubes from time to time, so of course how could I have missed the million glowing reviews. That said, if you’ll check the dates there you’ll find that I’m coming about 2 years too late to this party, and given that we saw on our way in the place was still in the hallowed one-room basement I’d read about, I feared there was no way we could actually get food there. It’s a one man show, right, and he fucking delivers the food himself, too? Jesus, we’d be lucky if he was even there, and so it was with extreme trepidation we approached the door. It’s hard to stay leery when you see Taw’s wide, welcoming smile as you enter to the sound of his pet bird in the back corner squawking. I’m pretty sure he even said “welcome back”, so thanks to whoever looks like us, and when we (I fear rudely?) inquired about the wait he told us not long- we were the only patrons in the place, so what the hell, it’s not like we’re ever in this part of town anyway. There was, in fact, one very homey dinner table with four humble chairs and just enough space for who I presume are regulars to squeeze by and pick up their carry-outs. After some careful negotiation of the menu we agreed that we should all get a bit of everyone’s everything and sat back to peruse his books on shelves within reach (his 70s-vintage cope of “Washington DC Nature Walks” recommended what seemed to our admittedly prejudicial and pussy-ish eyes a death march through Anacostia) and watch the man conduct his business.
Appetizers: my yum nua was… fuck it, yummy, the beef remarkably rare and tender, heavy doses of mint and cilantro exposing me to flavors I’d honestly never even considered. Better still, though, was the Larb Gai, the very first bite we all had there, which was just a swift kick to the mouth. It was the sort of bite that makes your eyes water and roll back- spicy as hell yet overwhelmingly fresh-tasting too. Goddamn, we knew we were in for a treat. Our meals came out one at a time (as he made them) so we all got a chance to eat each other’s food in turn. First up, the chicken panang, with the most glorious scent of lime leaves and, again, very respectably spicy, with cauliflower, which I think is not so traditional, but very good in context. His eponymous Chicken Vigsittaboot came out next, a glorious stir-fry concoction of sweet, fresh vegetables and savory soy and fish sauce- delightful. Having read the aforementioned blogs (plus also being a sucker for salmon) I had to get the salmon with red curry- fantastically rich yet delicate, spiced but not strong, perfectly cooked, succulent salmon, accompanied by green beans (the most underutilized of green vegetables? So good!) and grilled eggplant (definitely the most underutilized purple vegetable, right? possibly the most overutilitzed, too. Yes, I know these aren’t words.) The Maestro got Pad Thai over our objections. It set a new standard to which I seriously doubt we’ll find a challenge. I certainly know that my home version is not going to compete (and I used to LOVE mine!) All of this food, motherfucking fantastic (and very very reasonable- even my fancy-pants salmon, only 10.95, and that was the most expensive thing on the menu) but we’re hungry hungry men and thought ahead of time to order (3x) mango and sticky rice for dessert. So simple, and yet… sweet god, what a dessert. First of all, I don’t know where he gets his mangoes, but it ain’t the secret Safeway, that’s for goddamned sure. They were just about perfect, neither mushy nor hard, just rich and almost creamy, ESPECIALLY when accompanied by the steaming hot sticky sweet rice. Jesus fucking Christ I’m salivating again thinking about it - the cool mango juxtaposed with the so-fresh-it-almost-burns-your-mouth sticky rice combining in your mouth- almost like the rice melts through the mango- into this amazing mess of sweet sticky creamy fruity (this is getting gay?) orgasm in your mouth. It’s… god. Fuck it, I’m going back to Shaw. Best thai food ever? As far as I know. Best Asian food period? Ehh I mean there’s a lot to be said for sushi and all, and of course I love your standard chinese fare done well, but, yeah, I’ll go ahead and say best Asian food ever. This, of course, puts it in strong contention for best food ever. And the four of us ate for under $20 per person (and had we not wanted to sample so many things, could’ve easily gotten out for less). So, sorry for reiterating what so many have said before, and adding really nothing other than “I agree”- but mostly sorry Taw, b/c I don’t think any of the four people who read this blog either can or will patronize your restaurant, for which I am very sad. Make it up to you by finding another house in Shaw/Ledroit/wherever so’s I can eat your food thrice weekly? Seriously, even if you can’t make it to Thai X-ing, find the smallest weirdest little restaurant you can find and eat there, if you haven’t, and if you have, well, become a regular, because chain restaurants do not need our help, and if the world were stocked with about a million more places like Thai X-ing, well, that’d be a glorious thing indeed.