Little Serow, Washington DC

I don’t stand in line for much (ok, basically for anything), but I made an exception for Little Serow.  I’ve been hearing about it for years now – a spicy, underground, no substitutions Thai tasting experience.  It’s been named to top restaurants lists by the Washington Post, GQ, and Bon Appetit.

So shortly after our arrival in DC, we found our way to an unmarked basement door made recognizable by, yes, a line.  We joined it around 440pm, becoming prospective patrons #7 and #8 nearly an hour before the 530pm opening.  Fortunately it was a lovely afternoon, so we chatted with our line-mates and managed to while away the time (while building our appetites!).

Finally, the door opened – hooray!  We got seats at the communal counter and were given the brief on the menu.  There’s also a list of drink options, but we opted for a pairing, which included sparkling, white, and red wines and several interesting beers.

First up was nam prik, a spicy condiment that comes in many forms in Thai cuisine; this one was made with green peppercorn, salted fish, and garlic.  That tiny bowl packed a lot of heat, but also a lot of flavor – a preview of the dishes to come.

We also received a basket of sticky rice and some fresh vegetables and greens, to provide a cooling counterpoint throughout dinner.

The next dishes arrive as a duo: yam makeua yao (eggplant) and khanom jin sao nahm (rice noodles).  The eggplant dish was my favorite of the night – spicy hot but also tangy from citrus and herbs and funky with fish sauce.  It paired perfectly with the cooling, slippery rice noodles that tasted of coconut milk and pineapple.

After we polished off every bit of the eggplant, our next dish arrived – laap gai chiang mai (I’ve more commonly seen it spelled as larb gai), a classic Thai dish of spicy ground chicken.

The addition of chicken liver here provides a savory depth.  I ate it by piling spoonfuls of the chicken onto fresh lettuce leaves, merging rich warmth and crisp coolness.

We had two rather less memorable dishes before arriving at the finale, si krong muu (pork ribs in Mekhong whiskey).  These were amazingly tender, with a slight sourness in the sauce and fresh dill to offset the richness of the meat.  At just two small ribs each, this dish actually left me wanting more rather than feeling stuffed.

Small cubes of sticky rice accompanied the check, and I also asked to try the sweet rice milk that I’d seen mentioned online (it was similar to horchata, and quite tasty).

All in all, this was a meal worth waiting for – in all senses of the word!