Pad Thai
38 West St.
Annapolis, Md.
410-280-6636, http://www.padthaiannapolis.com
Open Mon.-Thurs., 10 a.m.-10 p.m.;
Fri. & Sat. 10 a.m.-11 p.m.;
Sun. noon-10 p.m.
Atmosphere: Modern, warm Service: Accommodating and attentive
Don’t miss: Tom Kha Gai, Crispy String Beans
Tariff: Appetizers, $4-$8; entrees, $7-$25
Anyone looking for real Thai food, come here,” invites Lex Tsamasangvarn, the owner of Annapolis’s tasty new restaurant, Pad Thai. After enjoying a knockout meal there, I can only say that those who don’t take Tsamasangvarn up on her offer are missing out.
Pad Thai opened in September 2007, after Tamasangvarn, who also owns Lex Bridal in Annapolis, sensed a lack of reasonably priced authentic Thai food in the area. “I want young people to be able to afford to eat better,” she explains matter of factly. The evening we were there, the sleek restaurant was filled with a mix of hungry young people, well-coiffed moms enjoying a ladies’ night out, and a few older couples. One woman unabashedly confessed that this was already her third visit to the restaurant in a month’s time, but if I lived in Annapolis, I’d be right there with her. Yep, it’s that good.
What sets Pad Thai apart from other restaurants of its ilk is the sheer quality of the food. Sure, most of the menu items are familiar standbys you’d see at most Thai restaurants: variously colored curries, appetizers like Tod Mun (curried fishcakes), or, well, Pad Thai—but it’s the execution of the dishes resulting in such clean, fresh flavors that makes this particular restaurant stand out.
Pad Thai also looks gloriously different. A modern study in red and black (an homage to the colors of Tsamasangvarn’s husband’s college), the space still manages warmth while maintaining an air of cool. Natural lighting glows from white rectangular recesses in a black ceiling, while a shiny black-tiled bench that runs the length of one side of the restaurant (and which looks vaguely uncomfortable, but isn’t) is backlit in red. The small bar boasts red leather stools with small rollbacks, and even the servers sport black T-shirts with red logos.
We began our meal with steamed dumplings filled with a combination of pork and shrimp, and a bowl of Tom Kha Gai, a coconut milk-based soup tinged with lime and garnished with strips of chicken breast and plump mushrooms. The dumplings were moist, meaty, and not a bit heavy, and they sat like plump little hats on the small plate. A sprinkling of chopped scallions and crunchy onion bits provided nice contrast. But as good as the dumplings were, they were overshadowed by the nearly ethereal soup, a perfect balance of rich coconut milk and sweet citrus resulting in flavors that were clear and amazingly vivid. The soup looked elegant in its white oval bowl, smelled enticing, and tasted even better. All three of us at the table were rapturous, and one of us even fantasized about bathing in its seductive fragrance.
Clearly, the entrees had a tough act to follow, but they held their own admirably. Pad Thai with shrimp wonderfully displayed the dish’s myriad flavors and textures. A green curry made with beef was chock-full of bamboo shoots, carrots, and peas and yielded a pleasant creamy slow burn, while the deep-fried whole fish (snapper, that evening) retained moistness despite its crisp exterior. (Note to the squeamish: The fish arrives with head and tail intact, but the accommodating kitchen will remove them for you, if necessary).
The restaurant also offers a variety of noodle, rice, and stir-fry dishes that can be augmented with beef, chicken, shrimp, or pork, as well as nearly a dozen strictly vegetarian plates, to which we turned for an order of crispy string beans, described on the menu as “lightly battered and deep fried with fresh ground pepper and garlic sauce.” Let it be known that these crunchy, spicy string beans are absolutely addictive. Like popcorn, once you eat one, you will want to eat the whole plate. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Although I barely had room for it, I ordered the pleasantly sweet sticky rice with mango and custard. (The menu also included some distinctly non-Thai choices, such as dense chocolate cake and fried banana ice cream.)
Service at Pad Thai is slightly disorganized (it took several reminders to get seated at our table) but well-meaning and sweet-tempered. Our server took time to explain dishes and make recommendations to us, and the waiter who cleared our table went out of his way to fillet what was left of our whole fish for us to take home so that none would go to waste. It’s that kind of care, in both service and food, combined with more than fair prices, that make me want to return to Pad Thai. As Lex Tsamasangvarn points out, it’s like going to Bangkok, just closer.
Mary K. Zajac writes from Baltimore.
