I was as upset, if not more upset, over the death of Tom Bosley (the guy who played Ron Howard’s dad on “Happy Days”) as anyone else, and in situations where you have gaping emotional holes, the best solution is to try to fill them with calories. But where could I find delicious calories in this day and age? The answer, of course, was thai food, and in Thai Thai Restaurant, I may have discovered the perfect blend of deliciousness and fair-pricing.
I was as upset, if not more upset, over the death of Tom Bosley (the guy who played Ron Howard’s dad on “Happy Days”) as anyone else, and in situations where you have gaping emotional holes, the best solution is to try to fill them with calories. But where could I find delicious calories in this day and age? The answer, of course, was thai food, and in Thai Thai Restaurant, I may have discovered the perfect blend of deliciousness and fair-pricing.
As regular readers will no doubt already know, I like it when restaurants get to the point and don’t try to lead me down a confusing path that challenges my beliefs or insults the small amount of intelligence I have left. When I saw a restaurant that simply said “Thai Restaurant,” I knew I was in for some good times. No misleading names, just some food that could fit the description in the restaurant’s title.
While Thai Restaurant is located in a tiny section of a strip mall on Lee Highway, the interior seems very open when you walk inside, although all the bright clashing colors and geometric shapes make it look pretty “80s”. Furthermore, it has a six or seven seat bar on the side that has a surprisingly large liquor selection for a restaurant of it’s size, which eliminates the annoying need to find a nearby bar to pregame at before dinner.
The food is Thai. Therefore, it’s already likely to be pretty good, and Thai Restaurant delivers. It could stop there and merely be an alright Thai place in a strip mall, but they go further and put enough flavor into a dish to last you the whole night, possibly longer. The Thai dumplings, a staple of any self-respecting Thai place that I may show up at, are juicy and flavorful, stuffed with pork, carrots and spices. Combined with the sweet soy sauce, they’re too money not to get, so don’t think about not getting them.
The Ped Ka Prao, crispy roast duck sautéed with chili and basil leaves in a garlic sauce, is a dish worthy of idolatry. Crispy yet moist, spicy without being too spicy and all at the reasonable price of $10.95. Though I have little doubt that living off this would clog my arteries in a week, I feel that that’s a perfectly acceptable way to go.
However, I was a bit underwhelmed by the (pork) Pad Prik Khing, a concoction of pork, string beans and curry. It certainly wasn’t bad, but I was expecting a bit more of a curry punch. The string beans weren’t too soft, which is surprisingly common in Thai dishes I order that contain string beans, so I was willing to not bring the hammer down too hard. But a little more spice couldn’t hurt (note: I never in my wildest dreams thought I would ever tell a Thai place to add more spice.)
So it’s pretty clear that you should order from Thai Restaurant, and although parking is extremely limited and the lot is pretty hard to get in and out of without crashing into someone, you may want to stop in sometime for drinks and dinner. Like many others, I had judged this place on its location for years, but that ends now. Get some Thai food and watch “Happy Days” reruns ASAP.
Thai Thai Restaurant
5123 Lee Hwy., Arlington
thaithairestaurant.com
703-533-1919
Hours:
Monday – Thursday & Sunday, 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Friday – Saturday, 11 a.m. – 10:30 p.m.
