Last night friends of ours invited us along with Samuel for a superb feast at BANGKOK 54 (www.bangkok54restaurant.com at 2919 Columbia Pike, Arlington, VA) which was indeed a treat. Easily the best Thai in Arlington, and perhaps the DC area, (although Zagat does give several better ratings), we enjoyed every bite. The decor is pleasant, traditional and comfortable; the service attentive and helpful.
We started with SPRING ROLLS to which they added chicken to the veggie version on the menu for Samuel. We tried the HOUSE SPECIAL DUCK ROLLS which are more like pancake wraps of tasty lean duck with duck sauce and veggies with a hot mustard/sweet and sour swirl to dip in on the side.
If you like spice try the dishes marked with little peppers. SPICY ROASTED DUCK SALAD has crispy coated pieces of duck in a lettuce salad with ginger and pieces of pineapple and has some mild heat. The GREEN PAPAYA SALAD is much hotter and comes with minced shrimp, tomato, peanut and needs something cool (like water!) to wash the heat (which fades fast) away.
Will opted for the SINGHA Thai beer and I had the SHIRAKABE GURA TOKUBETSU JYUNMAI Sake which was nicely chilled and a great deal at like $16 for a small bottle.
There were so many dishes it was hard to choose, so we let our server guide us to the PANANG CURRY. We chose the chicken which comes in a rich creamy coconut and peanut curry with broccoli. It comes with white rice, which I think works best with the rich curry, but you also get whole grain rice if you like. Speaking of rice, Samuel asked for the SIMPLE FRIED RICE with CHICKEN which he gobbled up. It is a very tasty fried rice with soy, scallions and egg.
STIR-FRIED SPICY EGGPLANT can also come "not spicy" if you like and while I am not an eggplant lover this dish is a great veggie option with chili, bell peppers, sweet basil and a yummy black bean sauce. This dish comes under the "HOT WOK" category listing many dishes that can be ordered vegetarian or with chicken, pork, beef, shrimp or seafood.
FLANK STEAK is cooked nicely and comes with mushrooms and the grain rice as well, but our favorite dish was unquestionably the huge FRESH JUMBO SOFT SHELL CRABS tempura fried and served with a tasty CHILI-BASIL sauce. These were indeed very JUMBO and I was thrilled to get one last taste of them before their season closes!
FRESH MANGO and STICKY RICE is a pleasant dessert if you are still hungry; I tasted one small spoon, but was oh so full from all the yummy tastes!
I asked the owners why "54" and they said it was a nice number that adds up to 9. So much for why the name is 54! Who cares, I give it a very high number rating too!
