If your idea of a good Thai meal involves fruity cocktail drinks served in cartoonish, neon-colored surroundings, then Nava Thai in Wheaton is not the restaurant for you. There are no punny names, no sushi bar, and no fried bananas here, just excellent, authentic Thai food. Yes, the ambiance leaves something to be desired (the walls are a nauseating shade of green), and the location is less than glamorous (practically hidden in the back of......

Dish of the Week Cherry drinks from here, there and everywhere With cherry blossom season, tons of restaurants are incorporating cherries and blossoms into their food. But with the recent warmup, I'd rather have my cherries in cool liquid form. Starting with beer, head to Brasserie Beck or Granville Moore's for a Lindemann's Kriek or Kasteel Rouge. These may not appeal to a typical beer lover's taste - they have a very strong cherry flavor......

Finally legal and ready to party This week the Washington Post published an article featuring three local pastry chefs creating recipes around exotic fruits. The article was a nod to the recent change that allows the legal importation from Thailand of rambutan, litchis, longans, new varieties of mangoes, and the "queen of fruits", the mangosteen. Many of these fruits were available fresh in Asian markets, but were often smuggled from Canada. The fruits will begin......

Disoriented and Seeing Stars WaPo reviewer Tom Sietsema has released his 2007 Washington Post Dining Guide online. You can catch it on newsstands this weekend. At the top, Cathal Armstrong's Restaurant Eve has broken through to the four-star category, and his revamped Majestic also made the list. Newcomers Central Michel Richard (3 stars), Proof (2.5), Farrah Olivia (2.5), and Hook (2.5) also made it onto the list. A surprising omission was Brasserie Beck, which Sietsema......

There was very little else for Londonist to be concerned with when the threat of a Tube strike became a very unpleasant reality. The inconvenience was extreme: there aren't many alternatives to the Tube in London despite the best efforts of the Londonist team to get everyone from A to B. Brighter news came in the form of the first ever female Yeoman Warder, or Beefeater as the position is more commonly known, and......

FRIDAY: >> Maybe you check in with DCist only occasionally to get a few tips on which concerts to see, but tend to stick to touring acts for the most part, and still haven't really exposed yourself to the local rock scene. If so, confess tonight and all your sins will be forgiven. Three of the best local bands are playing a show together on the Black Cat's main stage at 9 p.m. -- catch......

This post is by DCist Food contributor Mike Roscoe Sushi restaurants are everywhere. When you feel the need to indulge your appetite for fresh, clean, simple food, chances are there’s a sushi bar not too far away. So how to distinguish between them? Some feature pan-Asian fare where you can mix Chinese, Japanese and Thai cuisines to suit your mood, while others go high-class and offer extravagantly priced omakase tasting menus and expense-account-level sakes. But......

Restaurant Week is becoming the must have fashion accessory for the D.C. area this winter. Everyone’s got to have one. Case in point: Silver Spring, a long-suffering suburban “edge city” that has been on the upswing for the last few years is officially entering the fray to show off its shiny new dining scene February 5-11. THIS JUST IN: The price for a 2-course lunch will be just $12, while a 3-course dinner will be......

If you aren’t in the mood to cross the Potomac for Thai (us), or if you have not yet jumped on the Bangkok 54 bandwagon (us again), then consider The Old Siam a low-key alternative. Since opening early last year in the old Mickey’s Patio location, it’s remained very much a neighborhood haunt. It’s a little out of the way for us, too, but when we’re heading toward Barracks Row, we stop in for......

Jagshemash! Borat is a hit. It's grossing millions and definitely the most quotable thing we've seen in ages. But Borat himself seems to have missed most of the -ist cities, and we were all wondering how the film would have been different if he'd made his way around the world on the -ist tour. In Shanghai, Borat would be observing Inane Learnings of Penis Photos for Make Benefit Glorious Flat World of Handmade Toy......

It's going to be a bright and beautiful day here in Washington, and since we've had some less than sunny headlines so far this summer, we'd like to take a moment to point some good news. Believe it or not, your daily walks to work could actually begin getting easier. How, you say? Well we're just so glad you asked. It seems the city has begun spending money on rubberized sidewalks, which last longer than......

This has been a rough week for your -ist pals, though you wouldn't know it from the great posts all over the network. Plagued with server problems, our tech team (led by the great Neil Epstein) toiled around the clock to solve the glitches as they arose. Seriously, we've said, typed, and thought the phrase "server problems" more in the past week than we have for the last 35 years combined. Why not say it......

Ah, Silver Spring. Even the name suggests silver lining optimism. Despite that it’s the ‘burbs, plenty of former city dwellers are making the commitment to buy real estate, open restaurants, and set up shop in what was previously considered a place to pass through as opposed to a destination. Perhaps Silver Spring is growing into what Clarendon wanted to become, before condos and retail chains began chipping away its character. In five years, will......

When you receive an email with this as its first paragraph, you can't help but want to read the rest: My name is Kimberly Zenz I am the captain of the DC Elephant Polo team, and as our name suggests, we play polo on elephants.Yes, elephant polo does exist. And yes, D.C. does have its own team. But as the rest of the email to us suggests, it isn't terribly easy to play the sport......

Although we find the D.C. area’s Jose Andres-induced tendency toward small plates occasionally irksome, Rabieng has adapted to this trend in a novel way. During Saturday and Sunday brunch, Rabieng showcases its interpretation of Bangkok’s numerous food stall delights on its “Thai Street Food Dim Sum Brunch Menu.” We started off with their Pan Fried Jumbo Chive Dumplings. The outside of each of the two dumplings was appealingly browned and bubbled -- practically volcanic. Beneath......

We couldn't help but be intrigued when we stumbled upon the following item listed on the agenda for Thursday night's ANC 1B meeting (emphasis ours). ABRA Applications 71866 Sala Thai, Entertainment Endorsement 36085 Black Cat, Substantial Change Voluntary agreement review, El Paraiso Market Voluntary agreement review, Daily Fish of Chesapeake Voluntary agreement review, Eleven Market Substantial changes? To one of our favorite music venues and venerable watering holes? Say it ain't so. But wait a......

So, why shouldn't we jump on the Bangkok 54 bandwagon? The Arlington Thai restaurant is one of the rare few places where a very satisfying two-person dining experience will come in at less than $70. And for you skeptics, no, we didn't leave a Rachael Ray-esque $2.32 tip or refuse to pay sales tax on our several cocktails. Even though it's received more than its fair share of press in recent weeks, we had to......

By DCist Food Writer Melissa McCart. If you haven't been to Rice, you might have heard that it's tough to find, that it's a bit New York, and that it's too expensive. None of which is true. Though the door is marked by a tiny nameplate on 14th Street between Q and Corcoran, it is more effective to look for a more visible landmark: the bright yellow sign for our favorite jazz haunt-slash-cafeteria, HR 57,......

You've heard about fair trade coffee and even sweat-free clothing, but what about rice? An organization dedicated to education about international issues is sponsoring a "farmer tour" where three rice farmers from Thailand are stopping in Washington, D.C. to hold a tasting and discussion of the fair trade rice they grow. The event is this Tuesday from 5 to 7 p.m. at Rice Restaurant at 1608 14th St NW. (Pictured to the left in this......

So, the unofficial close of summer has come and gone in a spectacularly gorgeous weekend. Agree? But we all know that living in the District not only means our dog days linger longer than August, but also that the best of 2005 is yet to come, with fall weather making its slow and graceful entrance in the next few weeks. Our thoughts this past week have been preoccupied with the devastation in the Gulf Coast.......

There isn't a Thai restaurant in America that hasn't tackled this classic. In fact, the great thing about Pad Thai is that the number of interpretations is almost as numerous as the restaurants turning them out. Thai-style fried noodles are paired with chicken, prawns, pork and other meats. The sauce can be heavy and oily or light, fishy and salty or sweet. The vegetables thrown into the recipes vary as well. Bean sprouts, chilis, basil,......

Everyone knows that one of the great advantages of living in a large city is the food scene. While we enjoy sushi, perfectly cooked meats with pan sauces, and culinary influences from around the world, we pity our friends far outside the Beltway who, save for a few hidden gems, only have a Lone Star Steakhouse and Chi Chi’s to choose from. Not only can we choose from hundreds of establishments, with character, charisma, and......

Washington is an international city and draws people and visitors from around the globe, but it is more often associated with cynicism and politics than with warm fuzzy feelings of goodwill. That is why it is especially heartening to see local fundraising efforts for tsunami relief activities continue to grow. The latest announcement comes from Georgetown Yoga, which is offering three charity yoga classes, from 5:30-7:00 p.m., on January 16, 23, and 30. Proceeds from......

Still looking for a way to help the tsunami victims? Instead of waiting for an ex-President to contact you, consider attending a live jazz and food sampling fundraiser at the U Street Northwest Sala Thai. According to the Washington Business Journal: On Jan. 10, Sala Thai restaurant will host a fund-raising event at its 1301 U Street location, with live jazz, free tastings from the menu and speciality drinks. Patrons are asked to make......

With PBS' announcement that it is moving to Crystal City, some talk in the local restaurant world is making DCist wonder what may be going on across the river. Crystal City may in fact have a heart beat. Now DCist doesn't want to ridicule the fine denizens of Crystal City, but just about anyone can admit that the area is filled with souless, architecturally bland residental and office towers all bisected by the elevated Jefferson......