One Night in Arlington: Bangkok 54

The Kleiner and the Kleinette had the pleasure of a visit on Friday night from a Boston centered friend.  Undecided about where in Columbia Heights/U Street wouldn't have an insane line on Friday night and would be delicious enough to justify the trip, the group which included another friend of the Boston one decided to journey via the Rock Creek Parkway out to Arlington for a night of delicious Thai food at Bangkok 54.

Widely known in the DC area by those who love Thai food as one of the best Thai spots aside from Thai Xing / Thai Crossing(which a word of warning takes many hours and is extremey spicey, but delicious for anyone who can take the heat) Bangkok 54 was worth the trip.  The restaurant is pretty big and fully appointed with various Thai tchochkis and dim lights.  The music, which drew interest from the group was chilled out techno versions of popular 80s songs.  The menu is long and includes a large number of vegetarian friendly items delineated by vegetarian and mish-mashed amongst the noodle entrees.  There is a long cocktail list that included such gems as blue margaritas, and 'nutty favority' which mixed Rum, almond liqour, pineapple and strawberries in a blender.  Asahi's were cheap too, clocking in at $3.75 per bottle.

The group sampled fresh rice wrapped spring rolls with hoisin dipping sauce, calamari, and fried edamame sticks with sweet-spicy thai dipping sauce.  All were good, especially the edameme sticks which were a new offering to us.  Two of us got Pad Thai with chicken or tofu, which for the spice lover was delicious but not so great due to lack of heat.  The portion was enormous, no one should of finished (but we did anyway). Another got Bangkok fried rice and the Kleiner had green curry tofu which he says was delicious but heat shy me though was so so spicy.

The atmosphere is sparkly and fresh, but still homey and good for a date, an easy weeknight/week end meal, or for a special occassion (there was a party there that night).  The cocktails were good and cheap, so bring a designated driver because it is not so close to the metro.  All and all, while most Thai in DC is simply average, Bangkok 54, in the Klein/Kleinettes opinion is absolutely worth the trek due to the fantastic selection and preperation of food, great price/quality ratio and cosy/well decorated interior.  We will be back.... and we ask, can this open in Columbia Heights?  What do you think?  Should we soon compare it to Thaitanic 2?

And Just for Fun: "One Night in Bangkok" by Murray Head