Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Two Thumbs Up for Thai Tanic II

In keeping with my tradition of visiting new neighborhood eateries and bars within a week of their opening, I stopped by Thai Tanic II for an early dinner on Saturday. Short review: Great space, well-trained staff, quick kitchen, good food.

Having visited its other location (near 14th and Rhode Island) many times, I knew I would not be disappointed by the food. My vegetarian Kra Pow was delicious, and my friends said the same about their entrees. What I was really impressed by my first visit to Thai Tanic II, was that it didn’t contain all the normal management pitfalls of a new restaurant opening. Especially what I have experienced in Columbia Heights. Our waiter knew what he was doing, the food came out quickly, and the staff did not look frazzled. Nor were they too absent or too pushy.

I was also very impressed by the space. Thai Tanic II is easily the anchor retail for the Allegro, and it is one of the larger restaurants in the neighborhood. There are plenty of tables set along the windows looking out to 14th Street. The interior is very Southeast Asian Jetsons, but it works. Particularly the orange dining chairs; love them. At 5:30 pm on Saturday, its second day, the restaurant had only a few tables occupied but I am sure it picked up later in the evening.

When it was first announced in the spring that we were getting a Thai restaurant, I had high hopes. Those hopes were easily met.

3 comments:

laura said...

It's finally open! thanks for the update ill be stopping by today

Alex said...

"Southeast Asian Jetsons?" This I must check out.

Jamie said...

I was there Saturday too... it was delicious!!

I didn't think the service was quite as perfect as you, since one of our dishes came out lukewarm. It also seemed to take a while for us to get service at first even though there were not many people (other than servers) in the restaurant.

On the other hand it may have just seemed like a long time because of the awkward void created by the lack of a liquor license.

But these are but tiny quibbles that mean less than nothing for a restaurant on its second day. The food was great, it's definitely the most interesting menu I've seen of any Thai restaurant in DC. The room is fantastic, the bar area is cool too. There were easily a dozen things I wanted to try on my first run through the menu.

Hands down: best new addition to Columbia Heights since Target.