Thai X-ing DC

Thai X-ing:

I'll break this review down into three sections:
1) Location/Ambience - Thai X-ing is in a row house in northeast DC. You can very easily walk right by the front door because of how inconspicuously it is marked. The main entrance to the restaurant is on the main floor and it is very easy to miss. My friend and I walked straight upstairs without realizing we had missed it. The atmosphere is as homey as any restaurant in DC. The service is authentically asian which comes with being able to understand about every other sentence based on which server you are talking to. In addition, I had a table that was both by the door AND the coatrack. Since there is no waiting area, I had people standing right on top of me my entire meal. I'm sure other people's experience was not this bad since I had the absolute worst seat in the restaurant. Make sure to request a table away from the door, if you can but the feeling in here is cramped no matter where you sit. I'd give the location/ambience both high and low marks and a 2 of 5 star score.

2) Service - The service is very average. The server even admitted forgetting a course (salmon cupcakes) for my table and the table next to us. We also saw another table getting served a fish entree that we never got either. Would have loved to try it. No-menu restaurants are cool in my book but not when you end up coveting the neighbor's dishes. I needed extra napkins, refills on our water pitcher and clean silverware and there was no one around most of the time. Some of the help speaks no english and simply nod and smile. For spending over 30 dollars a person, I'd say the service here falls short. 2 of 5 stars.

3) Food - The food was delicious. I understand why people come here in spite of the other issues with the restaurant. The first courses were a spicy shaved cabbage/radish dish along with a bowl of lemongrass soup. Initially I thought the soup had a big piece of soft potato in it along with a meatball but it turns out it was a big piece of melon! Very tasty. Subsequent courses were classic thai and heat was consistently medium with each dish. I like spice but can only take so much before the sweat is an issue :) But the dishes are not "mild" by american standards so you are warned. By the time I was to the hybrid drunken-noodle-pad-thai dish, I was full. Dessert was a sticky rice coconut concoction steamed inside of banana leaves. I didn't care for it too much because of the heaviness when I was already full but it was extremely sweet. Almost forgot! The best dish was the pumpkin curry. Actual full pieces of pumpkin cooked in a delicious curry sauce. The smell was divine and I really liked this dish. I'm not even a fan of pumpkin. Food score - 4 of 5 stars.

This restaurant is BYOB and savvy patrons brought bottles with them and cracked them open as soon as they sat down.

Reservations are not easy to make as you need to leave your phone number and they call you back at their convenience.

Overall, I rate Thai X-ing as one of the better Thai food experiences in DC but overall, I rate it a 3 of 5 stars.

Visited December 2011

Little Serow - Johnny Monis's Thai Restaurant

DC foodies know the name Johnny Monis.  He's the proud owner of the #1 restaurant in DC - Komi.  While I could go on and on about Komi, this review is about his latest creation - Little Serow.

The first thing you'll notice about Little Serow as you are trying to plan a night there is:
1) No phone number
2) No reservations
3) No call ahead
4) No SIGN outside of the restaurant
5) Seeing Johnny dip upstairs to Komi for a short while.  He built this restaurant in such a way that he can go back and forth easily between Little Serow and Komi.  Very cool.

So you basically are in-the-know or you will never, ever come across this restaurant.  In my case, my foodie friend, Carissa, turned me on to its opening.  The restaurant is as hidden as you can imagine.  It's in a basement of a rowhouse in east dupont.  The lack of a sign makes it almost impossible to find unless you know exactly where you are going.  Inside, the decor is basic.  They painted the walls mint and didn't bother to lay flooring down at all over the concrete base (I actually like this look and cleaning it must be simple). No paintings or furniture except the antique hutch that hidesa digital cash register in the top drawer. The open kitchen is, no joke, half the size of my kitchen at home.  And sitting inside of it is one of the top chef's in the country preparing family-style tapas to be enjoyed.

I walked in on a Wednesday night at close to 8:30 pm with pouring rain outside.  Even still, they only had two seats at the bar open.  Jackpot!  The wait staff and service were excellent throughout the meal and I marveled at the symphony of food, wait staff and kitchen staff coming together to arrive at your seat at exactly the right moment.  I must have had 12 refills of my water glass as I burned (literally) through each course.

Highlights:
1) The basket of lettuces, herbs and vegetables brought out at the beginning of the meal.  A much healthier (and less filling) alternative to bread, this helped to cleanse my palette and was actually incredibly fresh and good.  I had no idea green cabbage was so sweet!
2) The basket of sticky rice.  This is essentially a side dish but served to help sop up juices and to make little nigiri bites of the various courses.  It also helped to keep the heat of some of the dishes from overwhelming me.
3) Johnny Monis himself talking to the table next to me explaining some details of one of his courses.  Awesome...

Here is breakdown of the menu:

jeow dtap bpet
crispy pork / duck liver / shrimp paste
*** This was essentially homemade pork rinds but the duck liver pate was really, really good.  I dipped cucumbers from my salad basket in here like I do with hummus.


yaam makhua yao
eggplant / cured egg / pickled garlic

*** Eggplant is on my list of things I typically avoid.  So are eggs.  However, Monis found a way to make this delicious.  This dish is almost exactly like your standard beef salad that every Thai place has (very hot).  The eggplant replaced the beef and instead of shaved peanuts on top, they took cured egg yolks and shaved it on top to give the appearance of peanuts but a different flavor.  This was the hottest dish of all of them but if you like Thai food, you should be fine.  The sticky rice came in very handy here.

laap pla duk
catfish / shallots / chiles

*** Extremely tasty.  The catfish was ground up.  This dish was a play on larb.  Similar ingredients and textures but made with catfish.  Great inside a lettuce wrap from the veggie basket.  It was at this point that I decided wine wasn't going to cut it and ordered a beer to counter the heat of the food.


goong dten
shrimp / lemongrass / lime leaf
*** Can't say that I've ever had shrimp so tender except when you eat them somewhere and they are clearly waterlogged and soggy.  Somehow these shrimp were tender without feeling soggy!  Again, familiar flavors just a slightly unique presentation.


sai oua
pork sausage / kaffir / basil
*** Sausage lovers will enjoy this course.  It's their homemade sausage served with basil on top.  Diners are encouraged to eat a leaf of basil with every bite of sausage.


jichao yoon
fried meatballs / fresh turmeric / basil
*** These meatballs besides being perfectly cooked (meatballs are almost always overcooked) were pretty subtle.  Nothing too crazy going on here.  A little bit of heat but otherwise a normal dish of meatballs.  They tasted great on a piece of sticky rice.

si krong muu
pork ribs / Mekhong whiskey / naam phrik

*** Perfectly cooked ribs are a favorite of mine.  This course came out last and I was so full that I couldn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked.  However, the excellently seasoned rib meat was falling off the bone and I ate every last piece.

Dessert was a two-bite sized piece of "jello"  The top half was a coconut custard and the bottom half was sticky rice.  Very mild in sweetness and was just the right size to cap off a large meal.

Meal price - 45 dollars per person excluding alcohol.  With service and creative food like this and a chance to see a master working in the kitchen, this is an excellent value.  Throw in a 5 star staff and an opportunity to see simplicity and efficiency in its purest form and you've got a great deal.

4.5 out of 5 stars