100 Very Best 2015
Eat Great Cheap 2018Americanized versions of Thai cooking tend to be sweeter, with fewer sharp edges. If there’s heat, it feels tacked on, not integrated, and without the spreading warmth of the real thing. To eat at this tiny spot in the back of an Asian grocery is to see Thai food in its natural habitat—spikier, hotter, funkier. Look past the pad Thai; you’re here to focus on loving renditions of street food, such as the scorching papaya salad and esoterica like chicken ma muang himmapan, a stir-fry of chicken and cashews that’s a powerhouse of heat and crunch.
Cuisine: Thai
Where you can find it: 11315 Fern St., Wheaton; 301-942-0288
Also good: Chicken-and-potato curry purses; basil fried rice with shrimp; grilled-pork skewers.
Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
