Sala Thai

August 20, 2011

Washington, D.C. – Had the chance to hang out with family over the weekend. My sister suggested a place called Sala Thai for dinner. I love Thai food so I was all in.

Sala Thai opened their first restaurant in 1987 and now has 3 locations around D.C. and Maryland. The one we visited is on U Street NW. We ended up parking about two blocks away. When my cousins drove up a few minutes later, they lucked up on a spot directly across the street.

The restaurant is fronted by large glass windows. When you walk inside, you can see how well-lit the place is due to the windows. The first thing you’ll encounter is the hostess station. Our group of six was greeted and seated immediately. I took a few moments to take in the décor. The only way I can describe it is Asian fusion. The chairs and tables are all made of wood stained a very dark brown, as are the booths. See the photo on the right. How would you describe it? A small bar with six stools leads to the kitchen. In the corner of the restaurant is a tiny reading area. (Tiny meaning an end table with two chairs and a few magazines). Sala has live Jazz during the evenings. Check their website to see the schedule.

We were seated in one of the booths. From there we had an excellent view of the D.C. pedestrian traffic as they walked by our window.

Our waiter, Nick, arrived to take our drink orders. Everyone requested water, but you know me, I had to have a Thai iced tea ($2.95). Nick returned rather quickly with our drinks and then took our meal orders. My Thai tea looked inviting; burnt orange color at the bottom, creamy white on top. The cream looked whiter than most Thai teas I’ve had. After tasting, I discovered it was because Sala used real cream instead of coffee creamer. Score points there. The tea itself was good but I would have liked it to be a tad bit stronger. After stirring and watching the elixir turn a dark peach color (I love that part), I sipped again. Just about perfect. Not too sweet. It was so good, my wife asked for a taste. After having her first ever sip of Thai tea, she ended up ordering one for herself.

Since there were six of us, we got three appetizers; satay, one which I escaped my memory, and Thai Crab Cakes ($6.95). Yes, you read that right. Thai Crab Cakes. Makes sense since D.C. is just outside Maryland. It didn’t take long for the appetizers to come to the table.

The crab cakes featured deep fried crab meat and minced chicken wrapped in bean curd skin. They differed from most crab cakes in that there was no breading involved. Shredded carrot and red cabbage garnished the plate. A container of sweet and sour chili sauce joined the party. I tasted the cakes ‘naked’ first, without the sauce. Delicious! Many different flavors ran across my palate so quickly that I couldn’t identify them. But last to cross was the crab and it lingered a bit on my taste buds. Score more points for being able to taste real crab in a crab cake. This is another good example of where fusion works really well. Usually the sweet chili sauce compliments the flavor of Asian appetizers but in this case the crab cakes were so good by themselves that I ate half of them without dipping.

Presentation of the meals was another factor that scored points with me. One cousin had the pineapple chicken shown here. Impressive!

Back home in So Cal, I remember having duck once at a Thai restaurant in Hollywood. Ever since, if it’s a nice-looking place, I’ll order duck. This is probably an attempt to recreate that first experience with duck in a Thai restaurant. So that’s what I ordered this time.

The name of the dish is Ped Ma-Karm ($15.95), noted as the chef’s specialty. It is roasted breast of duck, fried and served with sweet and sour tamarind sauce. Sala’s duck is rolled, then sliced into about eight pieces. The skin is nice and crispy. It is topped with French fried onions. Stir-fry vegetables rounded out the meal, but as you’ll soon see, these, though they tasted good, were so left so far behind by the taste of the duck that I almost forgot they were on the plate. Rice came in a nice square cup.

I couldn’t tell what spices were used in the dish but it did taste like it had been well marinated. It was very tender, almost to the point of not needing a knife to cut it. Neither the spice not the marinade overpowered the duck itself. To me, the French fried onions are what take the duck up to notches unknown to man. (Apologies to Emeril). I couldn’t get enough. But as we did eat a few hours before coming here, I did get enough and decided to take the rest in a doggie bag. (Believe it or not, the duck tasted even better the next day!) This is a dish I would be happy ordering every time I come to Sala. Looking back, this is easily one of the top five duck meals I have ever had.

No dessert this time. That was to come later on in Baltimore.

Sala Thai is a good spot for a couple or a group of friends to relax and enjoy a meal. All of us really liked our food. And what is better than spending time with family?

Sala Thai – 5 forks. Very highly recommended.