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A guide to three extraordinary Asian cuisines—and the top restaurants
that serve them
By Virginia Myers
It wasn’t long ago that “Asian cuisine” meant white
cardboard carryout boxes bulging with chop suey
and chow mein—nondescript
Americanizations of vaguely
Chinese origin, delivered to your door.
In the last 10 years or so, though, there has been an
influx of Asian cuisines and Asian restaurants in the
Bethesda area. Bethesdans
are now fluent in bulgogi,
pho, miso
soup and seaweed salad. We buy sushi at Whole Foods
and pot stickers at Costco, and have expanded our palate
to include Thai, Vietnamese and Japanese (and even Burmese,
Malaysian, Indonesian and Korean). Today, there are
nearly 30 Asian restaurants in Bethesda alone.
But as much as we indulge in Asian food, there’s still
much we don’t know about it. What makes each cuisine
unique, for instance, and what do they have in common?
Food traditions in these various countries have drifted
and shifted for centuries, with Indian curry traveling
to Thailand, Chinese dumplings landing in Vietnam and
the ubiquitous noodle spreading from China in all directions.
Talk about fusion. Some distinctive elements in each
region endure, but a common thread runs throughout.
Vietnam’s pho is Thailand’s
tom yum is Japan’s ramen—all different versions
of soup. Similarly, you’ll find papaya salad at both
Vietnamese and Thai restaurants; sticky rice is part
of both cuisines, and in Japan it becomes rice balls.
Here’s the low down (not the lo mein)
on the three Asian cuisines that now challenge Chinese
for popularity—Thai, Vietnamese and Japanese.
THAI
Thai food is all about combining five flavor sensations:
sweet, sour, salty, hot and bitter. In a well-prepared
dish, each essence can be savored equally—none will
sing out over its companions. Similarly, color and texture
are created by the subtle play of ingredients in each
dish, as in the classic pad Thai with broad rice noodles
never smothering the tiny flecks of red-rimmed tofu,
the crunch of bean sprouts, the silk of soft egg. You
should be able to savor earthy dried shrimp, the tang
of tamarind and the bite of hot red pepper. And, also
a signature of Thai food, you can further season your
food to your own taste with a variety of condiments.
Contrary to what many Americans assume, Thai food is
not always searingly spicy—but
it can be if that’s what you want.
“Spicy hot, spicy not,” laughs Chef Suchan
Phatiphong of Benjarong Thai restaurant
in Rockville. He learned to cook at the knees of his
grandmother in Bangkok, who sent him to market with
a basket over his arm, taught him which peppers to buy
and how to make a good fish sauce. Forty-some years
later Phatiphong leans over a bowl and pushes my fingers away from
the hot pepper powder he’s put on its rim. Don’t touch
it with your fingers, he admonishes, it can burn. Instead,
I use a spoon and sprinkle liberally. I pick up the
lime and start to squeeze and the chef’s eyebrows go
up—not too much, he is telling me.
You’re likely to get those raised eyebrows if you ask
for chopsticks, as well. They are not traditional to
Thailand.
But everything else is to the diner’s individual taste.
“If they walk in, we’ll find something they’ll like,”
says Jessada Photong, known as Fluke, who warmly greets customers old and
new at the door of Thai Corner in Bethesda. “We have
some spicy, some medium…” Indeed, Thai Corner Chef Nopadol
Mimaphunta makes three different curries during my visit.
I try one after the other and decide I like the spiciness
of the green curry best. The yellow curry is mild, the
red deeper and sweet. Each is made from curry paste
made fresh in the kitchen; their ingredients vary, but
include different combinations of dried red chilies
or fresh green ones, galangal (a relative of ginger),
lemon grass and kaffir lime
and skin. The kaffir, or wild
lime, aroma makes me think of the blue skies and heat
of the tropics when I sniff the crushed dark green leaf—one
of the “bitter” taste elements. Phatiphong
of Benjarong grows his own,
along with peppers and lemon grass.
After choosing their dishes from the menu, diners can
then tailor them with condiments, which Thai people
use lavishly. Look for these on the table: bright red-orange
pepper sauce, brown and salty sauce made with fermented
fish faintly reminiscent of anchovies, a clear vinegar
with green peppers and sometimes a thick, sweet, Chinese
hoisin sauce. There is no
“right” way to use them—so you can have fun experimenting.
You can also expect to test your companions’ food—traditionally,
everyone shares. Mealtimes in Thailand are thought of
as bright, happy occasions. Common dishes are placed
in the center of the table, and each individual reaches
for bits of each dish to mix in with his or her own
bowl of rice. Rice is a staple in Thailand: kin kao,
“to eat food,” literally means “to eat rice.”
Even the noodles, which come in various shapes, are
rice-based; “Drunken Noodles” (pad kee
mao), typical Thai fare,
are big, flat noodles sautéed with various meats, Thai
basil (spicier than the sweet basil growing in many
American gardens, and a key ingredient in many Thai
dishes), chili and garlic, all of which comes together
as comfort food, Thai style.
Also traditional is papaya salad, made of shredded green
papaya and raw green beans with a complex sauce that,
if authentic, should include lime, turmeric, fish sauce,
coconut sugar, garlic and chili. The salad is topped
with peanuts. Laab or larb is finely
minced meat—pork, chicken or beef—mixed with hot chili,
lime, coriander and/or mint and sometimes roasted ground
rice. In some regions of Thailand it is made with raw
meat, usually pork, but we have not found that to be
true here. Thai iced tea is a sweet treat rendered in
sunset colors with condensed milk and orange tea. Sticky
rice with mango for dessert is hard to resist.
If you are feeling particularly adventurous, you can
find less mainstream choices at Wheaton’s Ruan
Thai, known among ethnic food fans for more unusual
items (along with the standards). For example, Yum Watercress
features deep-fried watercress mounded together with
chewy calamari, raw red onion, rich roasted cashews
and a limey dressing in a riot of flavor and texture.
Top Thai Restaurants
Benjarong
Thai
Décor in this comfortable, well-turned-out restaurant
reflects co-owner Cici Hart’s import-export business; you’ll find niches with
sculpture, Thai art and thoughtful details in wood trim
and framing. The food is the real thing; it comes from
a proud chef who learned from his grandmother in Thailand.
He has taught classes in Thai cookery in the U.S., and
grows his own kaffir lime
and peppers. Presentation adds to the allure; sticky
rice with mango is especially good and the pad Thai
unbeatable. 885 Rockville Pike (Wintergreen Plaza),
Rockville, 301-424-5533.
Thai Corner
This small kitchen turns out big variety, from whole
fish to crabmeat wrapped in bean curd skin, a selection
of curries and chicken, beef or crispy fish with basil.
Eager to please, the kitchen will adjust your order
to steamed instead of fried, mild instead of spicy,
or you can use sauces at the table to season your own.
Chef Nopadol Mimaphunta
was one of the first Thai cooks in the area, at the
old Thai Room in Washington; his restaurant reflects
a deep understanding of his native cuisine and accommodates
the many nationalities who enjoy it. The dining room
is cozy and comfortable, just steps off the bustle further
down Bethesda Avenue. 4733 Bethesda Ave., Bethesda,
301-654-0262.
Bangkok Garden
Packed with rich carvings, artwork, sculpture and collectibles,
this 20-something-year-old matron of local Thai food
is a visual as well as gustatory feast. Walk over a
little bridge from vestibule to dining room and look
for the usual array of curries, rolls, noodles, soups
and salads on the menu—with a few Chinese items sprinkled
in. This place is respected by area Thai chefs; if you
want to go especially authentic, ask for the Thai menu,
which you’ll need translated, or ask for “Thai style”
when you order off the regular menu. 4906 St. Elmo
Ave., Bethesda, 301-951-0670.
Sala
Thai
This spacious corner property looks contemporary and
delivers with comfortably familiar Thai staples like
tom yum, satay, papaya
salad, drunken noodle and the like. Part of a local
chain, it is one of seven Sala
Thai locations in the area. Its most distinctive standout
is the live jazz offered Thursday, Friday and Saturday
nights—no cover charge. 4828 Cordell Ave., Bethesda,
301-654-4676.
VIETNAMESE
After Thai food, Vietnamese will feel familiar—with
some important differences. Instead of sweet iced tea,
there is the famous iced coffee; if you’re an old hand
at this, you’ll ask for extra water to make it go farther
at your table. Like the Thai, Vietnamese season their
food at the table, liberally sprinkling and splashing
hot pepper and fish sauces to customize their plates.
There is the ubiquitous rice, noodles galore and more
beef options than at a typical Thai restaurant.
The Vietnamese are also the ones who make those great
summer rolls, so good, in fact, some Thai restaurants
have usurped them; instead of being fried like egg rolls,
these wraps use uncooked, translucent rice paper wrapped
around a tight package of vermicelli noodles, fresh
vegetables, often mint, and sometimes shrimp and pork.
Good ones will have enough flavor to stand on their
own, but sauces make the dish.
Sauces are an essential element in Vietnam. Kim Su Tu,
the chief cook of the Tu family’s
Taste of Saigon in Rockville, arrives hours before the
restaurant opens each day to make 25 to 30 of the sauces
from chilies, fish sauce, beans, soy, vinegar and more—to
accompany specific dishes. The secrets to these sauces
and other recipes are closely guarded, passed down to
Kim by her mother-in-law, “Ma Tu,” the former matriarch who ran a restaurant in Saigon before
the family evacuated in 1975.
When they began serving Americans, Ma Tu
would make two pots of Saigon beef stew—one for “new
customers,” says Kim—mostly Americans—the other for
Vietnamese. The meat in the Vietnamese pot was fattier,
and included beef tendon, a chewy ribbon of sinew favored
by natives. Eventually the restaurant made only the
American pot, because so much of the Vietnamese would
be left over—but they still make the homier version
if you call in advance. Vietnamese food has changed
so much, even back home, that Khai Tu, Ma Tu’s
son who runs the Rockville restaurant with his brother
Khie Tu,
says there’s no such thing as authentic anymore.
At Pho Hiep
Hoa in Silver Spring, homestyle
Vietnamese dishes are still on the menu every day. Amy
Nguyen, daughter of proprietor Hiep
Nguyen, describes her native food as, “pretty much a
blend of everybody.” The differences: “Unlike Chinese,
we’re not oily or greasy.” Vietnamese is less spicy
than Thai, she says, and uses piles of fresh herbs—whole
branches of basil, for example, served beside pho (beef soup) and used the way Americans crumble
crackers into chowder. Customers ask for “the real taste,”
says Nguyen, so the restaurant offers at least 10 kinds
of pho (including tendon,
tripe and fatty eye-round) as well as huu
tieu—a chicken-based soup—and,
if you know to ask for it, the more complex bun bo
hue, along with a full menu, which includes Spicy
Trasi or “True Viet Diner,”
meat, lemon grass and vegetables in a clay pot.
Vietnamese food is heavily influenced by China: The
Vietnamese migrated from that country around 1500 B.C.
Eventually, southern Chinese traditions like chopsticks
(yes, they do use them in Vietnam), stir-fry, noodles,
soy sauce, ginger and tofu took root. The 100-year French
occupation brought butter, baguettes, yogurt and coffee;
the rest of Southeast Asia and India contributed curries
and spices.
On most local menus, you’ll find authentic caramel dishes,
with a deep brown, sweet sauce mixed with peppers and
other spices and served in a traditional clay pot as
a stew. In a country with two seasons—rainy and dry—Khai Tu says it is a perfect rainy
season meal, hot soup for a rainy day.
There’s also beef in grape leaves, or bo
nuong la nho, ground meat mixed
with spices and flavored with the smoke of the grill.
The best way to imbue sauces—and this also works for
dumplings—is to use your chopsticks to poke a hole in
the top and spoon the sauce in. Banh
xeo, or “golden crepe,”
is another popular selection among Viet-fans: an enormous
crepe (it should be crispy on the outside, soft inside)
filled with savories like shrimp, pork and vegetables,
Nguyen considers it the Vietnamese taco.
And, of course, there’s pho,
pronounced “fuh,” but widely recognized as the Americanized “foe.” Shops
that specialize in this signature beef soup pride themselves
on their broths; I was scolded by one chef who learned
I’d not yet tasted his version of what could be called
the national dish. Pho
restaurants, like Pho 75,
one of the region’s most popular, are named by number
so that the chefs’ signature broths will be recognized
as distinct from someone else’s; one Vietnamese explained
to me that the number is easier for Americans to pronounce
than the Vietnamese name.
The original Pho Hiep
Hoa in Wheaton, however, is named for the owner and heavily
patronized by Vietnamese, for whom language is no problem.
Expect a big bowl of broth with a tangle of vermicelli
noodles and whatever meat you’ve ordered, with a huge
plate of bean sprouts and basil and sauces on the side.
Don’t be afraid to sauce liberally and watch the broth
change color as each new addition is swirled in. Grab
chopsticks for the noodles and beef, slurp your noodles
and either use the flat spoon you’ll find on the table,
or slurp—never considered rude in Vietnam—the broth
directly from the bowl.
Vietnamese dessert is one of the greater adventures
for American diners. Bean puddings are typical—super-sweet
concoctions involving beans, coconut milk and strands
of chewy tapioca and/or shredded agar-agar, a gelatin
made of seaweed—things normally not seen together at
an American table. Mixed with ice in a tall glass and
stirred with a spoon, it’s exotic and fun—though perhaps
an acquired taste. You’ll also find sticky rice and
fried bananas for dessert, as on Thai menus, and in
some places crème brûlée.
The mango crème brûlée at
Taste of Saigon is especially satisfying. Equally foreign
to American palates are the salty-sweet drinks, like
salty lemonade.
Taste of Saigon
This popular eatery comes from a long tradition, starting
with a restaurant in Saigon and winding up with a loyal
following of Rockville locals who have befriended the
gregarious Tu family. You
can get traditional food, like rolls, dumplings and
beef in grape leaves, hot pot and pho (though you have to order grittier items like beef
tendon in advance) or French-influenced fare like black
pepper steak, pork chop and asparagus crabmeat soup.
Portions are generous and presentation lovely. 410
Hungerford Drive, Rockville, 301-424-7222.
Green Papaya
This is Bethesda’s most central Vietnamese restaurant,
and a handsome place to land for a quiet meal. Surrounded
by eye-catching décor, like the wall of water sliding
across soothing blue tile and a curious palm tree carved
of wood, the place feels peaceful. The menu is comprehensive,
and includes Vietnamese favorites as well as some more
creative treatment of traditional ingredients. We especially
enjoyed the duck papaya salad. 4922 Elm St., Bethesda,
301-654-8986.
Pho Hiep
Hoa
The Wheaton location offers a pho-only,
bare-bones shop with mostly Vietnamese diners, and in
Silver Spring a much more extensive but still highly
authentic menu in more comfortable surroundings. The
Silver Spring restaurant also has excellent pho,
along with conventional clay-pot caramel dishes, summer
rolls, curries, banh xeo pancakes
and the like. You can try “True Viet Diner” of seasoned
meat and vegetables as well, and the desserts and sweet
drinks are fun to explore. 921 Ellsworth Drive,
Silver Spring, 301-588-5808; 2211-A University Blvd.
West, Wheaton, 301-933-7660.
Miss Saigon
This upscale restaurant perches on a second floor overlooking
the new Rockville Town Center. Décor is soothing, bathed
in warm light with an eye-level fireplace and a soothing
slate waterfall. Food can be on the bland side, but
sauces help juice it up. Service is friendly; the menu
includes clay pot, curries, banh
xeo, French-influenced
steaks and plenty of vegetarian options. 11 N. Washington
St., Rockville, 301-838-9070.
JAPANESE
Japanese stands furthest apart from the other Asian
cuisines. Like Thai and Vietnamese, it features sticky
rice and all different sorts of noodles. Many dishes
are served at once—typically rice, soup, a protein like
fish and perhaps pickled vegetables—much as they are
at Thai and Vietnamese tables. You can slurp your noodles,
sip your soup and use chopsticks. But where Thai and
Vietnamese foods are like big, happy parties, with lots
of different ingredients mixing together, Japanese food
is more like a soothing, contemplative meditation on
the singular essence of each morsel.
Japanese food is much simpler than Southeast Asian food.
Freshness and quality are paramount. Vegetables and
fish figure prominently; meat is a late introduction
to the culture and while it is present on Japanese menus,
it does not dominate. Japanese cuisine is refreshingly
lean and light.
Perhaps this comes from Japan’s history, which includes
thin times, when rice, with just a hint of flavor from
a scrap of fish, had to fill bellies. Migrating from
barren northern steppes and adapting to temperate climates
with relatively little land for cultivation (unlike
the lush southern latitudes of Southeast Asia), Japanese
people made do. Thus, we have tiny pieces of tangy pickled
plum or salty dried bonito fish, tucked into
a ball of sticky rice and wrapped in nori
seaweed. The effect—called onigiri, or rice ball—is a powerful zing of flavor
set apart by the satisfyingly filling texture of the
rice. Similarly, the ubiquitous sushi stretches prime
pieces of fish by presenting them, beautifully, with
rice and vegetables.
Visual appeal is another essential element of Japanese
cooking. With small quantity, the Japanese learned to
savor each bit—and one way they accomplished this was
to present it as if it were a jewel. Colors and shapes
of dishes are matched with food and garnishes—pickled
vegetables or simple leaves. Even in small, homey restaurants
like Temari on Rockville Pike,
the chef puts thought into presentation: The salad bowl
may be plastic but is a lovely translucent yellow/green,
and even the carryout containers are tasteful, earth-colored
bowls.
Sushi, of course, is a primary example of eye-catching
presentation; simple ingredients combined become a complex
work of art. For the uninitiated, sushi is any one of
countless combinations of raw or cooked fish, vegetables
and sticky rice: Sashimi is the fish itself, and maki
is rolled up in sheets of nori
seaweed (as in California roll, an Americanization with
crabmeat, avocado and cucumber). At Temari my, literally “bowl,” of sliced tuna and avocado over
rice, could have been a jumble. Instead it features
carefully layered tuna separated by a single lettuce
leaf from an oval of sliced avocado; this is perched
on snowy rice littered with strips of nori,
all presented in a square bowl enameled black outside
and rust red inside. Similarly, a simple seaweed salad
at Tako Grill in Bethesda
is minimally adorned with two lemon slices, three cucumber
slices, a tangle of daikon
and a spray of radish sprouts. A whole sea bass is cunningly
plated as if in mid-swim, curved in an “S.”
You will be served soy-based sauces but Americans typically
overdo their dipping, says Kunio
Yasutake, owner of the venerable
Matuba in Bethesda. Instead,
you should savor each bit, dip sparingly and don’t be
afraid to drop the chopsticks for sushi and use your
fingers, as he does.
While sushi may be the initial draw for Americans sampling
Japanese flavors, there is much more to try. Equally
identified with Japanese cuisine is miso soup, served with every meal. Made from fermented soybeans,
it should be delicately salty with silky cubes of tofu.
Expect your tempura, another familiar selection, to
retain the unique flavor of the vegetables or seafood
it features, with the lightest of crispy batter (the
secret is to dip the food in ice-cold batter, then sizzling
hot oil, so that it puffs away from the food and crisps
while the food steams).
Teriyaki is another popular choice. “Teri” means “glossy,”
and “yaki” means “grilling.” The words describe the shiny results
of basting and grilling the meat—usually chicken, but
often beef or fish—which leaves a caramelized surface
and a moist center.
Noodles in Japanese restaurants include udon
(wheat-based) and soba (buckwheat), and are sometimes
served as ramen, a broth of noodles garnished with seaweed,
fish cakes, egg, bean sprouts and pork.
Matuba
Matuba has been around for
28 years. A pleasant space with a staff who shouts out,
“Irashyai” (welcome!) when
you walk in the door, it’s upbeat and popular.
The “rotary sushi bar,” a conveyor belt of sushi, is
a big attraction, but the rest of the menu is also worth
considering: gyoza
(dumplings), seaweed salad, tempura, udon,
teriyaki and donburi. Some of the sushi creations are eye popping
(the crab tower has soft-shell crab and vegetable roll
in yuzu sauce, a spicy
Japanese orange concoction). Chef and owner Yasutake
is a sushi master featured at National Geographic demonstrations
and each year at the Cherry Blossom Festival. He travels
to Japan, New York and San Francisco to continue learning
the art of Japanese cooking, and hopes to perfect noodle
making next. 4918 Cordell Ave., Bethesda, 301-652-7449.
Tako
Grill
Voted as having the “Best Sushi” by the readers of Bethesda
Magazine, Tako Grill does shine in this area, with a well-endowed sushi
bar and a host of chefs (of several nationalities) keeping
the sushi moving. But the menu offers much more, all
of it authentic—lots of fish and seaweed, teriyaki,
tempura and several kinds of soothing noodles. Specials
are especially good, like melt-on-your-tongue fatty
tuna. Wait staff is well-informed and pleasant. 7756
Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda, 310-652-7030.
Temari
Tucked into a strip mall, Temari
is so unpretentious one of its decorative elements is
a bookcase stacked with Japanese comic books—well used
by the heavily Japanese clientele. Casual and authentic,
the restaurant takes great care with presentation as
well as preparation, and the food is fresh and lovely.
Look for the ceramic cat grinning from a shelf—it is
a symbol for happiness, a sentiment easy to find in
a soothing bowl of miso soup and pristine sashimi on rice. Along with many seafood
options, Temari has tonkatsu,
the deep-fried breaded pork popular in Japan, as well
as chicken and wafu—Japanese-style—hamburger steak, served with radish
sauce and rice. 1043 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
310-320-7720.
Aji-Nippon
Located across the parking lot from the Japanese grocery
Daruma, Aji-Nippon,
literally “Taste of Japan,” first opened in 1988 and
is one of few area restaurants featuring shabu-shabu,
the cook-your-own experience involving raw meat, lots
of veggies and boiling broth. The small dining room
offers outstanding sushi as well as sukiyaki,
soba and udon noodles, tempura
and more. 6937 Arlington Road, Bethesda, 301-654-0213.
Hinode
Sit at a table or opt for pillows on the floor at Hinode,
where you’ll find a full Japanese menu with gyoza
(dumplings), udon soup, tempura,
combination plates, sushi and no fewer than 13 salads.
Chefs are both Japanese and Korean, so don’t be surprised
to find kimchi on the popular
lunch buffet in Rockville—along with bowls of tofu cubes
and and scallion ready for
you to add to the miso. Also
found on the buffet is color-coded sushi—easily identified
as raw, cooked or spicy by identifying tags. Among the
more interesting choices is the Baltimore roll, spiced
with Old Bay. 4914 Hampden Lane, Bethesda, 301-654-0908;
134 Congressional Lane, Rockville, 301-816-2190.
OTHER ASIAN CUISINES
Korean
After Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese and Japanese, Korean
restaurants are most common, clustered in Rockville
and Wheaton. Many grill meat right at the table; all
offer panchan, the
traditional small bowls that are less condiment and
more an integral part of the meal—an array of kimchi, fermented or pickled vegetables, bean sprouts and
fresh radishes, for example. Like Thai and Vietnamese
food, traditionally everything at the Korean table is
shared and one’s “private” plate becomes a mixing bowl
for various dishes combined to individual taste. Look
for plenty of soy (tofu, soy sauce), a la Japanese;
mandu, dumplings, as
in China; and haemul
pajun, similar to Vietnamese banh
xeo pancake.
Woomi
Garden
Grilling at the table is popular here; photos on the
menu help identify unfamiliar foods but you’ll find
Korean standards like bulgogi,
thin slices of intensely marinated rib eye (wrapped
in lettuce leaves) and galbi, boneless short ribs. As in many other Korean
restaurants, Japanese food is also featured—this one
includes a sushi bar, tempura and teriyaki—plus a fish
pond. 2423 Hickerson Drive,
Wheaton, 301-933-0100.
Sam Woo
Sam Woo also has cooking tables for sizzling meats;
as at other Korean restaurants, look for lots of beef,
including the popular bibimbap,
a compilation of rice, veggies and beef much like a
stir-fry. There is a sushi bar and other Japanese options.
1054 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 301-424-0496.
Lighthouse Tofu
Nicely decorated and service conscious, Lighthouse offers
eight kinds of tofu soup, both vegetarian and with meat.
Spice it up with an array of panchan, side dishes, including a raw egg—break it
into the soup while it’s still hot! You can also choose
among five levels of spice, from mild “white” to mouth-searing
“spicy spicy.” The haemul
pajun “pancake” is delicious,
brought sizzling to the table and sliced like a pizza.
12710 Twinbrook Parkway,
Rockville. 301-881-1178.
Malaysian
Penang
Malaysia is split in two; part of it hangs down from
the end of Thailand into the South China Sea, and the
other part borders Indonesia on an island facing Vietnam.
The state of Penang is close to the Thai border, so
it’s no surprise that at Penang the restaurant, rice
is a staple and dominant spices include galangal, wild
lime, pepper and lemon grass. There are differences,
however: Indian influences (in curries and roti),
and Indonesian (in gado-gado,
a vegetable salad with peanut sauce), for example. There
is also satay, spiced and
skewered meat; and beef rendang,
a spicy dish involving chilies, ginger, coconut and
a host of other flavorings. Penang, the restaurant,
is part of a small national chain. 4933 Bethesda
Ave., Bethesda, 301-657-2878.
Burmese
Mandalay
With an encyclopedic menu, Mandalay has a taste of Thai
in selections like papaya salad, Myanmar iced coffee
reminiscent of the Vietnamese version, and a bit of
India in curries and deep-fried gram fritters made of
yellow split peas, ginger and garlic. That makes sense:
Myanmar—once known as Burma—is sandwiched between Thailand
and India. Family run, Mandalay is a staple among locals
and a destination for those who remember its first popular
location in College Park; service is dependable and
on Sundays you may see large extended families of Asians
there, along with the Americans who have learned to
navigate the varied menu. Look for lots of vegetarian
options, five different kinds of noodles in various
combinations, and variations in spice—“would you like
that hot?” means “would you like fire on your tongue?”
The ginger salad is especially good. 930 Bonifant St., Silver Spring, 301-585-0500.
Freelance writer and editor Virginia Myers lives
in Takoma Park.
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