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By: AARON FLYNN COMMENTS
 
HOW MANY THAI restaurants does it take to screw in a light bulb? A million, if
you live in DC.
These things keep cropping up like a plague of locusts or killer bees or boy
bands.
Someday we will be free to go back to Chinese food or, maybe, on a wild night,
Mexican. For now, Thai is king.
And at the Regent, I love the way this restaurant is decorated. On its slick
premises, I took a moment to mourn my dearly departed Grille 88, the Regent’s
predecessor, done in apparently by a major plumbing accident and, well, a lack
of customers.
The Regent, on the other hand, seems to be constantly alive with patrons and,
as best I could tell, is free of leaks, floods and related problems. It is,
in fact, quite pleasant inside — warm greens and browns, clunky teak furniture,
a tasteful bar, and a delightful wooden house that pleases the latent sissy
in me that always wanted a dollhouse.
FOR THE MOST part, expect what Thai restaurants always have on the menu, but
the Regent does turn up the heat on the competition with a few novelties and
skillful preparation of the classics. Appetizer-wise, I can tell you I am a
kanom jeeb expert, and the Regent’s version is among my top three fave
picks. These steamed dumplings, stuffed with chicken, shrimp, water chestnuts,
garlic, and peppers can, remarkably, be cooked with no flavor at all, but not
so here.
The chicken satay is nice as well, with rich, creamy curry sauce livening things
up. And lest I forget, the Num Tok salad — greens, herbs, onions, and
grilled steak in an acidic, sweet dressing (not sweet and sour, I promise) —
is refreshing.
A notable exception at the Regent is the Phi Phi Island. This shrimp, scallop
and crabmeat platter didn’t taste as fresh as one might hope and really
wasn’t a cohesive concept on the plate.
Other options, though, are surprising and really quite good. The lamb is lean,
light and flavorful, as is the honey duck.
The Regent’s dessert options are limited, although expansion is promised.
There were ice creams available but more notable was the mango and sticky rice.
Granted, one good batch of mangoes could completely throw off any objective
evaluation here, but if there’s any kind of consistency about this at
the Regent, you’re in for a treat.
Appetizers range from $5 to $8, entrees from $14 to $20, and desserts are $6.
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