100 Very Best Restaurants 2017: Baan Thai
Photo courtesy of Baan Thai
What started as a sushi spot with only a few noodle dishes has grown into one of Washington’s most alluring Thai restaurants. If you’re looking for pad Thai, don’t bother. Chef Jeeraporn Poksupthong proudly avoids the Americanized carryout staple in favor of the spicy, funky, sour flavors of her home country. Ease in with khao soi gai, a rich chicken-coconut curry with egg noodles and pickled cabbage, or the vermicelli in chili-peanut sauce with ground chicken and shrimp. The menu still advertises sushi, but the best dishes pay homage to the chef’s heritage. Inexpensive.
Also great: lotus root with grilled-shrimp salad; crispy rice cakes with chicken and shrimp; chicken stuffed in tapioca skin; northern pork curry with pickled garlic.
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Executive Food Editor/Critic
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.
Food Editor
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.
Food Editor
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.
Articles Editor
Kristen Hinman has been editing Washingtonian’s features since 2014. She joined the magazine after editing politics & policy coverage for Bloomberg Businessweek and working as a staff writer for Voice Media Group/Riverfront Times.