Thai at Silver Spring

Story and photos by Patricia Grossman

Thai at Silver Spring, a welcome addition to Ellsworth AVenue, serves a great Pad Thai.

As I walked into Thai at Silver Spring on a recent Saturday night, I had visions of previous disappointing Thai experiences: thick, starchy rice noodles; peanut-laden yet somehow flavorless Pad Thai. But right away, my dining companion and I were heartened by the upscale decor and the beautiful glass windows overlooking Ellsworth Avenue. Nothing resembled gooey Pad Thai on the trays of food that the wait staff was whisking by, and when we were handed our menus, I didn't even see it listed until our server pointed it out on the back page. That was a good sign--a Thai kitchen that doesn't rely on the old standby.

The menu does serve traditional Thai food, but the dishes take little twists that reminded my partner and me of Chinese and Japanese cuisine. For example, as an appetizer we ordered the BBQ Pork. It was slowly marinated then grilled, and served with sticky rice and spicy dipping sauce on the side. The rice came in a small cane-weaved basket that looked almost Ethiopian in design. A tiny white bowl held the spicy dipping sauce, a dark, soy-based liquid with chilies and a ground white topping, almost like sugar, sprinkled on top. After tasting the topping several times, my partner decided it was some kind of ground corn. She was almost right: our server said it's ground, toasted rice.

Generous and attractive portions are followed by unexpected desserts.

Whatever the technique, this combination of the barbecued meat dipped in the sauce, with a mouthful of sticky rice, is worth walking up the flight of steps along Ellsworth to get to this restaurant's door.

Although we didn't order soup, the appetizer portions are generous. The other appetizer selections include the standards--chicken satay, spring roll, green papaya salad, larb kai (mixed chicken with spices), nua num tok (grilled flank steak with spices), and seafood salad. But also listed are quite a few surprises: jacketed shrimp, shrimp cake, and shrimp toast, all prepared with unique Thai ingredients; fried sun-dried beef; healthy roll; steamed mussels in clay pot; and grilled shrimp or squid salad, which competed for our choice as a second appetizer. The grilled squid won out over the mussels, and also outshined any squid I've ever eaten. Let's face it: squid gets rubbery--that's part of the experience, or so we expect--but this dish is outstanding. Moist and tender, the squid is slow grilled and mixed with lime juice, onion, cilantro, spring onions, mint leaves and fresh chili pepper, the squid is spicy-tingly, not fiery.

For our entrees, we selected from the Chef's Specialties, all of which I enjoyed reading about and am looking forward to trying during another visit. The list includes honey roasted duck, roasted duck in curry, crispy duck in basil leaves, lamb in two seasons, golden scallops, and five beautiful fish dishes incorporating Chilean sea bass, salmon and rock fish.

I had to try the sea bass. Upon questioning, I learned that Chilean sea bass is not served in Thailand, but the traditional preparation is used on this fish here at Thai at Silver Spring. With the red pepper and Napa cabbage in a mildly spicy ginger sauce, I was definitely pleased. The dish came flaming in a hot pot and that brought even more excitement to our table, already laden with delights.

What is Thai food without curry? Chicken, pork, duck, beef, seafood, or shrimp are available with your selection of curry spice--red, green, Panang, or yellow.

We decided upon the Chef Specialty roasted duck in curry. Sliced, de-boned duck is served in a spicy red curry paste with pineapple chunks, basil leaves, (a huge fresh bunch on top of this dish) chili pepper, tomatoes and coconut milk. It was mildly spicy with enough bang to enjoy the curry rush but not overwhelming. Delicious.

As with the curry, you can mix and match meats and seafood with various rice and noodle dishes. The crab meat fried rice sounded interesting and I almost ordered it, but I decided that I couldn't leave without trying the Pad Thai for comparison.

I've tasted my fair share of Pad Thai--not yet in Thailand, but throughout the Metro DC area. And the Pad Thai at Thai at Silver Spring is a shining star. Whether mixed with pork or shrimp or beef or seafood, this dish is a giant in the world of famous dishes. We ordered the shrimp Pad Thai, which came with the typical saut ed Thai noodles, bean curd, crushed peanuts, bean sprouts, scallion and egg. The shrimp were huge; the rice noodles were soft--and not sticky! Even if you are not a food experimenter, try Pad Thai here --it's great.

Can you believe that after five dishes, we ordered dessert? While the standard sweet sticky rice with fresh mango is offered, we opted for the baked Thai custard, made from coconut cream, rice flour, cane sugar, plum sugar and taro root. It was soothing and comforting after the whirlwind of exquisite tastes courses that had come to the table. Other options were almond cream custard, triple layer chocolate cake, key lime pie (yes, the Florida favorite), raspberry crumb cheese cake, and fried banana with ice cream.

One day, just for a treat, I'm going to come by and order the Thai Silver Spring ice cream: iced Thai coffee with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and ground peanut. It's almost as good a treat as knowing we finally have a great Thai restaurant in the area.

Thai at Silver Spring is located at 921E Ellsworth Drive, Silver Spring. 301-650-0666.