Pickled Peppercorn Sprigs

We love Thai food. I’m in the mood for it about 95 percent of the time. This is most likely due to my friends KL and SM, who, no matter where we are, will always support my need to have yet another Thai meal. AC, on the other hand, is only up for Thai about 73 percent of the time. There are times when, even though we’ve eaten Thai several times in the past few weeks, I will still crave it. AC, naturally, will want to switch gears to something crazy like mantu or nasi rames. But if I annoy him enough, he’ll usually buckle.

Anyway, having been Thai enthusiasts for several years, we have discovered a couple trends. For one, the best Thai on the East Coast is in DC, and I’m not just saying that. I lived in the area prior to moving to New York, and found that the Thai joints I sampled in the Big Apple, Philly, and other locations, didn’t even come close to the consistent greatness of area offerings like the small chain Sala Thai, Old Town’s Masaya, and Arlandria’s Po-Siam, to name just a few. However, AC will always remind me that Sripraphai in Queens is much lauded for its genius Thai menu, so I will concede the point that I have not tried what could be the best Thai in NYC. I will certainly seize the opportunity to try it next time I’m in the borough.

Secondly, there are some seriously tried and true items on a Thai menu that we will enjoy meal after meal. Our favorites included Pad Prik King (choice of meat in red curry paste, with kaffir lime leaves, and sautéed string beans), Drunken Noodles (broad cellophane noodles tossed with chicken, vegetables, basil, and sliced chilis in a light garlic sauce), and Yum (a very spicy salad with grilled beef, sliced chilies, crushed rice, fresh mint, cilantro, and lime). In fact, your run-of-the-mill suburban Thai joint rarely offers many options above and beyond the curries, standard noodle dishes, and satays. So while we’re more than satisfied with our Thai standbys, we’re always curious about regional specialties and more exotic menu choices. And this is where Bangkok 54 in Arlington comes in.

Bangkok 54 has received numerous accolades over the years from the local food media, and is perenially listed as one of the top restaurants in the D.C. area. After viewing the menu online, we made the conscious decision to order things that we’d never tried on a Thai menu before. In this case, we chose two entrees from among their specials—"54's Spicy Roasted Duck" and the "Crispy Catfish Curry." Feeling slightly guilty about choosing two fried entrees, we opted for their "Fresh Rolls" appetizer, cold sliced veggies wrapped in rice paper, accompanied with a rich, velvety peanut sauce.

The summer rolls were the best we’ve ever had. Each half of the roll was bursting with avocado and fried tofu, and layered with cucumber, carrots, lettuce, and vermicelli.

Both entrees were delicious, but quite possibly the weirdest things we’ve ever tried at a Thai restaurant. The duck came in small and large pieces deep fried within an inch of their lives and crispy as it gets, the bright red roasted skin practically glowing through the thin fried coating. This dish was hardly saucy at all, just chopped chilis and garlic, and, even better, generously strewn with crispy, fried basil leaves.

The catfish was tender and only lightly fried in a thin curry paste sauce. Its accompaniments, however, were otherworldy, so much so that AC remarked that it looked like it was prepared by aliens from the future. Thai eggplant is about the size of a large cherry tomato, its skin marbled with a two-tone green and milky white swirl, and when halved, its seedy interior almost appeared fig-like. We were also perplexed by the numerous little vines adorned with caper-sized berries. Despite their twigginess, these mystery items easily yielded to fork and mouth, at which point we realized they were pickled peppercorn sprigs.

Now that we have ventured into the unknown of Thai cuisine, we plan to return to Bangkok 54 to make sure our favorites hold up. Stay tuned.

—AK