DOI MOI does it deliciously again and with many veggie variations(9-16-18)

Last Sunday night we took a group of Young Artists from the Washington National Opera to dinner and since one was a vegan and our Sam is a vegetarian, he actually came up with the ide to return to Doi Moi on 14th St, NW, which was indeed brilliant. The seven of us just chose various items from the menu and if our server Jenifer said it had fish sauce, paste or other, quickly advised, a vegetarian or vegan version was available. Everyone was happy.

We started with a bottle of Zweigelt Landhaus Mayer 2017 Rose from Austria as I knew this would complement some of the spicy dishes, but moved on to another great "spice pairing" varietal, Gruner Veltliner, Obere Steigen 2016 from Huber also in Austria. Both worked fine. When we decided to move to a red well into the emal, I opted for a Nerello Moscatello 2016 Contadino, and Etna Rosso from Sicily, which we all swore was off as it was quite fizzy. The wine manager opened another and it was the same and agreed it was really not right, so she offered up a nice Syrah from Herve Souhat 2016, a delicious Rhone, but the whites/roses were indeed much better.

Wok Fried Cashews are made with kaffir Lime, Garlic and Spicy Chili and indeed make you drink faster link any other bar snack these days, but our food arrived quickly and well spaced as we ordered so many different dishes(many on FB):

Sliced Raw Scallops with Nam Jim Dressing, Crispy garlic & Kaffir Lime on a Scallop Shell are gorgeous thinly sliced sushi grade scallops that packed a punch from the spice

Green Papaya Salad with Chinese Long Beans, Chili, Lime, Heirloom Tomato & Peanuts was delish, but seemed to lack that intensity that a good Asian green papaya salad has

Sauteed Okra with Turmeric, Shallot, Green Chili & Ginger was so good we ordered a second portion.

The Thai "Gang Makua" Ratatouille with Chinese Eggplant, Zucchini and Red Pepper Curry was less interesting for me, but the vegetarian/vegans and others liked it. I guess I am just not a ratatouille kind of guy.

Jackfruit & Purple Sweet Potato Massaman Curry with Wok Tossed Peanuts, LWT Microgreen and rice was a huge hit. 

The Quail Jungle Curry was a spicy dry curry with Thai Eggplant, Holy Basil and rice as well.

Jennifer suggested we try the jasmine and other rice(I forgot what it was) as we did and there was plenty to share.

Thai Marinated Beef "AKA" the signature jerky came with a yummy Shark Sriracha Dipping Sauce and was also a big hit, disappeared in seconds and was wonderfully crispy.

Steamed Buns were filled with Nyonya Malaysian Fried Chicken and one set came with Chickpea Tofu option for the vegetarian/vegan. These buns were yummy and also not very huge dough portions which can often overpower the ingredients. the fried chicken was a neat variation  on the usual ingredients.

Crab Fried Rice was made with maryland Blue Crab(more would have been nice), Shredded Rainbow Carrots, White pepper and Crab Roe and while not a disappointment, was in need of more crab at $29!

Vegetable Fried Rice was ordered without the egg(vegan style) with Chinese Broccoli, Zucchini, Carrot, Scallion & Garlic and at $9 was a much better deal!

One of the big favorites was the Rohan Duck Leg Khao Soi in Coconut Curry & Egg Noodles topped with Pickled Mustard Greens. The dish was superb with the duck falling off the bone; we only needed spoons and rice (and bread--alas none of that) to lick up all the sauce.

Char Kuey Teow were Singaporean Rice Noodles with Argentine Prawns, Chinese Sausage, Broccoli & Black Garlic Sauce which was another huge hit.
Indeed everything was tasty and what fun we had. Someone asked for a small dessert sample, or maybe Jennifer brought it out for free (I can't recall) but there were two:
a Parfait kind of construction made of Honeydew, Pandan & Forbidden Rice Ice Creams(yes, it tasted like forbidden rice!) and a Mango Sticky Rice bowl.

Vegetarians, Vegans and meat and fish lovers are all happy here as Doi Moi does deliver.