We went to an outdoor happy hour near U Street crowded with gay men. At the beginning of the Obama administration they would have been clean-shaven and fresh-faced, and the new bars and condo buildings were just beginning to transform the neighborhood; and now, at the end of it, most of them have sculpted facial hair and many people who moved to the city a long time ago have been here long enough to make it their own. The nearby restaurants were predictably full, including a new cafeteria-sized ramen place, and we finally decided to go to Thai X-ing, which has been on my list for some time; I enjoy the privilege of living in a city long enough that you know exactly where to find good food if you’re in the mood and decide you can afford it. Inside it felt friendly and colorful and cluttered, like the backstage area of a theater that isn’t in use. They seated us at the bar and provided the regular eight-course tasting menu. A trouble with Thai food for me is I have no frame of reference: I rarely buy the ingredients, and I can’t draw a connection to the food I grew up eating or make on my own. They had so many courses that it was hard for me to differentiate between the degrees of sour and heat. As far as I can remember them, they included a soup, which tasted of cooked cucumbers; papaya salad; a salad sprinkled with ground chicken; chicken skewers; drunken noodles; and the dish they’re really known for, pumpkin slices in a curry sauce. Dessert was a plate of mangoes with a tower of blueberries and sticky rice.
(Photo: Storefront, Bethesda, Maryland.)
365 Days of Food 