A Southern Thai Dinner at Little Spice, Hanover, MD

My friend Nick recently organized a dinner at Little Spice in Hanover, MD that focused on Southern Style Thai cuisine. The chef-owner's mother came from that region of the country, and she was excited to make a few specialties from South Thailand.
We started with a set of appetizers. First, we had crispy rice cakes served with a warm shrimp dipping sauce. I've had a version of this dish with pork before. This shrimp version was also very tasty.
Our second appetizer was fish cakes, or Tod Mon, served with crispy Thai basil. We used a sweet chili sauce on top of the bite size cakes.

We followed a generous set of entrees. We had Gang Garee, a Thai yellow coconut curry, with chicken and potatoes. It was like Thai "comfort food" in that it was rich, warm and just pleasant to eat.
My favorite dish was crispy stir fried catfish with curry paste and fried basil leaves.

We also got Naam Prik Gapi, a dish that I have only tried for the first time this year, that being at Bangkok Garden a few months ago. It is a fermented spicy shrimp paste served as a dip or topping for fresh raw veggies like cucumber, eggplant, or squash. While I think most of the table was thrown by the "funky" flavor of the paste, I liked Little Spice's version. While not as spicy, I think I appreciated more subtle flavors in their take of the dish.

We had Southern Thai style fried chicken. It was seasoned with garlic, turmeric, and onion marinade and topped with bits of crispy garlic. Alas, the chicken was a little dry and overdone.

Another favorite of the evening for me was the Khua Kling, a classic Southern Thai dish that took minced pork cooked with dry spicy curry. I loved the hot kick it gave you as you ate more and more of it.
Our last main was a whole fish cooked in a banana leaf. Unfortunately, it was overcooked and too dry. I imagine it's hard when you are making items not usually on the menu.

We finished with a great trio of dessert. I particularly liked the warm tapioca with coconut milk and canteloupe.
We also had fried banana and fried pineapple with palm sugar syrup.






1350 Dorsey Road
Hanover, MD
(410) 859-0100

Bangkok Garden, Columbia, MD

I've been meaning to visit Bangkok Garden in Columbia, MD since friends reported that the restaurant has a Thai language menu available to try. Equipped with a makeshift photocopy of an approximate translation of the menu, we dropped in last weekend for lunch.
We started with their papaya salad. However, instead of the usual dried shrimp, we got a version that used padaek, or raw brined blue crab. The flavor was fresh, salty, spicy and very good.
Our second dish was a crudite dish with a dip called Naam Prik Gapi which was a sweet and very spicy shrimp paste. We dipped veggies like baby corn, thai eggplant, bamboo shoots, cucumber, and broccoli, and we got a small whole grilled fish to eat with the dip as well.

Our third plate took a break from the spiciness. It was a straightforward dish of Chinese broccoli cooked with chunks of pork belly.
Our final dish, the spiciest of the meal, was Khang Som Cha-Om , a sour red curry broth with shrimp and pieces of acacia omelette. Acacia is a green leafy vegetable. I'm not sure what it tastes like because the curry was so hot, but the texture in the omelette reminded me of spinach.

When we ordered our meal, one of the other waitresses came out to our table because she said that she had not seen non-Thai customers order some of the dishes we selected.
The Thai menu has at least 20 or more items that, considering how good this lunch was, warrant return trips to explore.

5810 Robert Oliver Place
Columbia, MD 21045
(410)992-9553

Dinner at Spice Xing, Rockville, MD

I had one of the best Indian dinners I've had in the MidAtlantic region at Spice Xing in Rockville, MD, courtesy of Chef Sudhir Seth.
We started with Mirchi Paratha, a version that was whole wheat and had a strong spicy kick to it. Fortunately, you could cool it down with some Raita.
We were then served a platter with various appetizers. There was a little salad and some chili cheese toasts. (Indian pizza?)
I liked the vegetable cutless which was red inside from beets. There was Lamb Seekh Kabab and some spicy Tandoori Chicken wings.

I loved the Kathi Roll, chicken with onions and peppers wrapped in Indian bread. It would be a perfect companion to the gyro/kebob as a late night snack.





After appetizers, we were presented with our plates for dinner, already loaded with basmati rice and veggies. The revelation for me was the Methi Chaman. Imagine the spinach loaded Saag Paneer with mustard seed. The flavor is completely different, and so much more subtle. We also had Gobhi Simla Mirchi, a nice cauliflower dish.











We got four different main dishes.
My favorite was the Salli Boti Jardaloo, a sweet and savory lamb stew that had apricots.
We also had the Indo-Chinese "Chili Chicken" and the Nariyal Shrimp Curry.
I also enjoyed the Masala Baked Fish which came out piping hot in a cast iron skillet.

Chef Seth's lentil dish, the Dal Makhni was also fantastic. One of my dinnermates talked with the staff and found out the lentils are roasted beforehand to give a different flavor.




For dessert, we had the Rasmalai, saffron flavored poached cheese dumplings, and the Gajar Halwa, a carrot rice pudding. Needless to say, I was completely stuffed after this fantastic and memorable meal. We were finished off with a piece of Tandoori roasted pineapple.

100-B, Gibbs Street
Rockville MD 20850
(301)610-0303

Shanti Soup Curry Dining

In Harajuku in Tokyo, we had lunch at Shanti, a soup curry restaurant. This kind of curry, I read, originated from Sapporo, Hokkaido, and consists of a light broth made of spring water and various spices with vegetables and various meats added in and served with a side of rice.
I got the special "Black-Eyed Peas" soup curry (yes, the named after the band). It had corn and black-eyed peas mixed in. The flavor was nice.
We had the option of getting the spice 1 to 10. I got a 6 which was really actually quite mild. The Japanese are not much for the heat I guess. We also got a nice side of fried naan with our meal.

Honoraly Harajuku Bldg.2F
3-26-11 Jingu-mae
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
03-5772-6424