Thai Xing

Last Friday, my foodie bff Becca and I finally were able to feast at the mysterious Thai Xing. Wrapped in local myth and culinary allure, Thai Xing was one of those places I kept hearing about in DC - a hidden gem and neighborhood legend. The owner and Chef, Taw Visittabooth, was inspired by his Thai roots and relatives to bring authentic, traditional family-style Thai restaurant to DC. He creates a custom menu each night based on available ingredients and dependent on the current season; no one meal is alike. After making reservations online (you must at least get them a couple of weeks in advance), I was nearly drooling over their website's kitchen pictures. Taw makes everything from scratch, so it was hard to not fantasize about giant pots of steaming soup or creamy sauces soaking into banana leaves. 

Tastiness in banana leaves

A delicious culinary concoction

The outside patio in the spring

all photos courtesy of Thai Xing gallery

So after dreaming about Thai food all weekend, Becca and I huffed it through the snow and meet up at the quirky, unassuming row house where Thai Xing feeds its fans. The aura of the restaurant was enough to get me excited. I felt like I had walked into a dreamy Asian bohemian cavern. Bright red tapestry, happy Buddhas, and velvety ivy coalesced together under warms candle light to provide a warm, exotic respite from the miserable winter weather. We were seated with and candle and under a mirror; our surroundings were reflected back to us in a disjointed, eastern-themed haze. It was intimate and cozy.

We were first presented with a silky coconut soup that had its own special chilli kick to it as it went down your throat. We were both pretty red in the face by the end of it, but found the experience worth it for the flavor. The soup was accompanied by a delicious iceberg lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes peanut salad. The one thing we realized about the popularity of Thai Xing is a number of people are waiting to get in the door. Hence, you have to eat fast before dishes are hurried away by a rushed staff waiting to move you along to the next course, and eventually the next guest. Did I mention the resuturaunt is BYOB? Points there.

The first course

After the soup, the food just kept coming. Salmon in curry sauce. Pumpkin in peanut sauce.The thing was, we never knew how many more courses to expect. As soon as we stuffed ourselves with the last bite of some curry dish, another one would arrive from the kitchen. Baked tofu and noodles. Calamari, shrimp, mussels in a chilli garlic sauce. The only way I can hint at the deliciousness and sheer grandeur of our dinner is equating it to a small Thai thanksgiving.

Just the beginning...

Too much to manage!

After what seemed like endless main dishes, our plates were cleared away. We thought we were finally going to be able to stop making our stomachs hate us. But with the check arrived the best dish yet: a fresh mango with sweet rice. Literally, I have had my share of heavenly chocolate cake and gooey brownies but nothing can compare to how light and delicate the sweet sticky rice was. I think I could have just eaten that for dinner and have been completely satisfied. 

Sadly, Becca and I were so seduced by the sticky rice for me to snap a picture before we devoured it. Instead, later in my apartment while we were trying to process our Thai food hangover, we found a app that makes up for lack of photos.  Can you guess what it was? 

Her ladyship