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Very good Thai restaurant hidden in the back amongst office buildings. The popularity of this place is a testament to word-of-mouth and the quality of their food.
The staff is friendly and helpful, they sell wine in carafes, and their food has the proper amount of heat in them. For Herndon, you really can't find a better Thai place.
Their duck-dishes are excellent, as well as their currys. Their market menus, such as soft-shell crab and whole fishes are also excellent. However, the whole fried fish with chili-based sauce can get a little thick.
Thai Luang is a great Thai restaurant if you are ever in Herndon.
Decor: traditional, not fancy but nice.
Atmosphere: can get loud at times
Service: great, staff is friendly, and are Thai. Helpful with recomendations.
Bar: there is a full bar with tv
Food: very good. Very authentic.
Lunch special comes with spring roll and tom yum soup.
The following items are excellent::
Fried rice with crab, red curry, panabg curry fried rice, green curry with thai vermicelli, crunchy duck noodle soup, spicy crispy duck in sweet basil with rice, pad see eww, sticky rice with mango.
Spice meter: Their american spicy is equivalent to Thai spicy at other Thai restaurants. If you order Thai spicy be prepared to sweat and cry.
Price: very reasonable.
Enjoy!!!
Overview: Awesome place to meet locals that value great tasting Thai food. Whether you're alone or in a gang of 10, this place has to be one of the most hospitable and relaxing places to visit.
Staff: Super friendly, especially to veteran guests!
Food: Best Thai food in this area, by FAR! I love the Thai Crispy Duck and she likes the Spicy Chicken Fried Rice w/Chang Beer (try it!!)
Parking: Easy peasy
Money: Not the cheapest, but definitely worth the value.
Nunu- One more Goose and Soda, please!
So I"m staying in Reston for business and I'm looking for a good Thai place for a quick lunch. I of course Yelp it and find Thai Luang is highly rated and only a mile from my hotel. This place is definitely a little hard to find, well off the beaten bath.
The restaurant itself is small, nicely decorated, and cozy feeling. My service was prompt and very kind.
On to the food. Based on most of the flavors, I would give this place 4 stars, easily. I'm going to knock it down to three stars based on the chicken though. I got the Drunken Chicken Noodle lunch special which comes with a bowl of Lemongrass Soup with Chicken, a spring roll, then the main dish itself. The first item out was the soup. The broth was amazing, I mean, out of this world. It had a few straw mushrooms in the bowl and was topped with fresh cilantro. The chuncks of chicken, however, were hard and very dry. I don't know how they cook this chicken, but it was horrible. I make Thai soups at home weekly and I'm never had my chicken come out like that, so I'm not sure what they are doing wrong.
The spring roll was your standard deep fried roll, nothing fancy.
Then the main course came out. When I order a chicken dish, I expect to get chunks of chicken, similar to what came in the soup I just finished. Instead, this dish is made with ground chicken. WTF? If I order Beef Broccoli, I don't want hamburger. Similarly with this chicken dish, I'd like some meet that still has a shape that identifies it as being chicken. Again, similar to the soup, the dish tasted amazing, other than the chicken. I easily would have given the dish 4 stars, but not with that ground chicken crap.
Maybe it was for the best, after all, if the chunks of chicken in the soup were that tough and dry, maybe grinding them up and drowning them in sauce is the only way they can get people to eat it....
This is a definite favorite in my household. Whether we eat there or bring it home, it's always delicious.
I normally get something with tofu in it and my mom likes things really hot so we have a wide variety of things to eat. The atmosphere inside is pleasant, the employees are really nice but it is somewhat chilly in there.
This is definitely one of my favorite Thai places in the NOVA area. Tofu with mixed vegetables is SOOO GOOD.
Decent, everything from decor to atmosphere to food was very decent.
_The restaurants lighting is kind of dark, that made me feel good.
_The waitress who served us was very polite and attentive.
_The bathroom was a disappointment, someone dropped couple oz just right before I step in and it smells pretty fresh, a piece of basil leaf was flowing in the toilet, I'm pretty sure the previous user is a customer of Thai Luang.
_Foods were delicious, the first bite of Dancing Tiger (?) already deleted my memory from the bathroom scene momentarily. The $20 duck was awesome, not to mention the Drunken Noodle, Pad Thai and Green curry chicken. Wow, I was in heaven.
Price was fair enough, very good experience overall and will sure cum back.
Thai Luang is among my fave Thai restaurants in Northern Virginia. I've been coming here now and again since I started working in Reston, VA five years ago.
I'm pretty predictable when it comes to ordering Thai - there are a few items that I love and lust for constantly - I must experience them regularly - so it's not often that I deviate from those few menu items. Having said that - I will say that I agree with Sam R. - the one time I tried the Crispy Duck - I thought it was very good!
I typically order the Som Tum (Papaya salad), the Tom Yum Kung or Tom Yum Kai soup, and the Drunken Noodles (some places call it Kee Mao Gai - although I've also seen it called other variations of that name - not sure why there is so much variation in the name of this dish). The other dish I like here is the Chicken Ka Pow - which as I recall they call something else - something like Sweet Basil Leaves.
Thai Luang was also the first Thai restaurant that de-virginized me to Thai iced tea!
Lunch time the place is almost always busy - so be prepared that you may have to wait for a table. This has happened to me a couple of times now! Worth the wait though, IMHO!
very good authentic thai food. The best thai food in the area, hands down! Best dish is the thai luang special chicken, be careful how spicy you get it cause they can crank it up! If you have not been to Thai Laung, GO! Dinner or lunch both are excellent!
I've been going here for the past 10 years, and I gotta say, they are by far the best, most hearty home-cooked Thai I've come across in the DMV area. I've been to over a dozen other Thai restaurants, and nobody to date can stack up to them, some close but not quite there.
One of their main guys (I'm pretty sure he's the son of the owner), commonly called "Nunu" pronounced noo-noo, is one of the nicest, coolest hosts. He told me his real name once, but without my pocket recorder there's no way I can master it. He even offered once to teach me how to cook certain Thai dishes once...Who the hell does that? The whole family is as awesome as their food.
I've tried lots of stuff on their menu, so I'll break everything down by menu order per what I've had. Note, that I always ask for the spice tray so I can spice up everything to my liking. They do Thai hot hotter than most other places I've been to, but sometimes that just ain't enough for me.
Beverages:
Standard American drinks, Thai beer (Sinha, and Chang), they also have Tsingtao, and Supporo. Their Thai Ice Tea is quite tasty.
Soups/Apps:
Tom Kah Gai/Goong (Coconut Chicken/Shrimp Soup) - is pretty damn good, but average in my opinion.
Tom Yum Gai/Goong (Traditional Spicy Lemongrass Soup) - Now this is where they begin to stand out for me. Most other places don't provide the variety of ingredients as Luang. A few mushrooms, a few shrimp or pieces of chicken, slices of ginger, a piece or two of lemongrass, and a couple tomatoes.
Chicken Sate - One of the best sates I've had. They char it just right, the peanut sauce is sweet and I think home made, the cucumber relish is sweet delicious. Put it all together and you'll get a dance in you mouth, like a tango or something.
Crying Tiger - Spicy grilled and sauteed slices of beef. I usually don't order beer from restaurants, but tried this when my Pops ordered it. Whoa, yummm. If you're into beef, this stuff is really good.
Kanoom Jeep - Thai style dumplings, kinda like shumai, but better in my opinion. These little homemade pork dumplings are topped with slices of roasted garlic and cilantro, accompanied by a light sweetened sauce (I forgot the specific name for it). This is one of my favorite apps.
Entrees:
Pad Thai - Their Pad Thai stands out amongst the crowd for me. Not sure what it is, but once I asked Nunu where they get their noodles, to which he replied in general "We get'em from a little China-boy from China Town, He roll up here with big bags of noodle lookin like a Chineese gangsta". So the noodles are homemade, although apparently not by them, they know how to do them up right. The freshness must make the difference.
Raad Na (Varying regional pronunciations include Laad or Lard/b Na) - Now this is one of my absolute favorite comfort foods. Never before have I tasted that smell of a roaring grill infused into wide noodles. I remember that smell as I skated through the streets of downtown Bangkok years ago.
I usually get the seafood, though I would prefer whole (grilled) baby octopus to the standard squid they use, the flavor of this dish makes it sooooo easy to outweigh any preferences.
Crispy Duck - I'm not sure why this is such a common recommendation. I tried it once, and it was good, but my pallet was spoiled by certain other dishes that in my opinion outweigh this dish in price and flavor.
Crispy Whole Fish (Flounder) - Do this with the chili basil sauce, you will not be disappointed. This is one of those dishes that trumps the crispy duck, though maybe not by price at roughly $24, it's big enough to serve 2 and the flavor is down right orgasmic.
Desert:
I've always been a big fan of the traditional mango with sticky rice, which they serve. They also serve a mango ice cream, which I was impressed with.
The only thing I'd change is to use grilled whole baby octopus rather than that funky squid with the tough string in the middle. Lots of Thai joints use this stuff, I don't know why, I see the octopus in the East-Asian markets all the time, and I know these restaurants have grills.
Note:
I usually try out a place several times before putting up a review because I find it a little upsetting to see 3 star and below reviews of restaurants you know does some phenomenal dishes. I've been to over two dozen Thai restaurants throughout DC, MD, and VA over the past 20 or so years, and I'm tellin ya, Thai Luang is still at the top for me. So I encourage you to hit them up several times, try some of the things I mentioned above. I've you've had better Thai, please please please tell me where because I'd imagine a greater orgasm would be fucking Nirvana.
Solid service, two Thai bottled beers (Singha and Chang), not-to-be-missed crispy duck dishes, but mediocre tom ka gai.
The crispy duck with sweet basil is totally worth the ~$20. Order it to share, because it's a pretty hefty portion, easily enough as an entree for two. Although it can be ordered to your preference, even the medium spicy is pretty spicy for me - and it comes with a good bit of sliced green chili peppers, so if you really want to amp up the heat, you have plenty of ammo to work with.
On the other hand, the chicken in the tom ka gai was... well, it was -possible- to chew through it. It just wasn't necessarily the most tender chicken I've had in my life. I'd probably avoid it in the future. Their steamed dumplings were also not terribly exciting; they reminded me a little bit of the microwaveable shiu mai my mom used to send me when I spent my first summer working away from home at a manufacturing engineering plant.
The thing that's most interesting about this joint is not that it's situated off the main drag, with the only ingress/egress is via an access road off Carlisle Street. It's that it seems to be -quite- the date restaurant. We witnessed at least a half dozen different couples, some obviously on second or third dates, some married... of extremely varied ages and ethnicities. It was like a veritable TV advertisement for http://match.com. Bizarre!
While the duck was definitely enjoyable, I felt that the price ranges on the mains were a bit much at $12-$15 a pop. That's just a notch more than I anticipate shelling out for Thai grub, regardless of how great it is. If I can pay roughly $9-10 for a pad khee mao, along with another $6 for a Chimay at Kanlaya, smack dab in the center of the District, I should not have to pay even -more- for not-that-much-better food out in the 'burbs.
I'm not a huge Thai food fan but the Beau is and we had been planning on coming here for some time. Finally made it out, and though I was skeptical at first, I may have a new found like for Thai food.
I ordered the pad thai w/ chicken, no peanuts. I've never had pad thai but Thai Luang's is GOOD. I really liked the noodles, though the chicken had a sort of a weird clean/seaweed type taste-- hard to describe but didn't taste like normal chicken. I ended up avoiding the chicken for the most part, but the noodles, sauce, bamboo shoots and eggs more than made up for it.
The Beau ordered his favourite, crispy duck w/ basil, american style spicy. Out came a plate piled high with HUGE chunks of duck... it IS an expensive dish, but you get your moneys worth. I tried it and found it to have just the right amount of crispiness. However, some pieces were tougher or crispier than others-- almost like I was chewing cartilage. I'm not a duck connoisseur though, so don't take my word about the duck.
The only problem I had with the restaurant is that one of the two water glasses on our table had a big fat lipstick mark on it. Ladies, I appreciate lipstick as much as you do.... but if you're going out to dinner at a restaurant that uses the same silverware/glassware/dishes (ie; a nice fancy sit down restaurant), for the love of God, DO NOT WEAR LIPSTICK. Not all automatic dishwashers remove lipstick marks; because restaurant workers simply don't have the time to inspect every glass and are not paid to clean up your make up stains, many glasses come out with lipstick marks on them.
I will definitely be back up this way for the pad Thai again.
First the pre-amble:
When I joined Yelp the only thing I was Meh about was the lists, just couldn't figure them out, and it was a while before I put any together. Now I am all about the lists - it's clearly a great way to get to the tops tips from people.
I saw yesterday that this place was at the top of Tina R's Causasian-Asian list and it is only about a mile from my office, so I had to try it.
So we had a wee business lunch today and I suggested this place.
Now the Review:
Definitely the best Thai food I have had in the DC region. Three things I need to tell you:
1. The spice factor is definitely jacked up - I have asked for the Thai level at other places and not been impressed - this one had me just on the edge for the whole meal. Fantastic. Perfect.
2. There is something about good Asian food - heck - maybe this applies to all food - that makes it different from the not-so-good - it is tough for me to describe - but it has to do with being able to taste all the different ingredients , and all the different spices together and separately. You do not get one single taste from a piece of meat, fish or vegetable - not a single note - more like a symphony - that's what this place delivers. A freaking symphony of tasty pleasure. Plus, you look at your dish and you can see and pick out the different ingredients, herbs , spices, you can look at and admire the consistency of the cuts of the vegetables and the fish ( I had the ginger snapper), it just looks so damned fine on the plate, you pause a wee bit before you give in, and then you dive in.
3. Tuesday lunch and the place was jammed ! And most people did not need or want a menu- all regulars who know what they want - and at a mile from my office I will now be a regular myself.
Listen to Tina: go to thai luang. do not pass go, do not collect $200.
Great food. But, before I go any farther...
What the fuck does being kid friendly have to do with changing tables in the bathrooms? My god, if you are bringing your still-in-diapers kid out, I hope you aren't feeding them spicy food. Baby sitter. Find one, pay them well, enjoy a night out once in a while. Spare the rest of us the screaming.
Back to the food. A favorite place for lunch, albeit not a quick lunch, unless you are doing takeout. The staff is sometimes exceptionally efficient, but not consistently enough to expect a 30 minute sit down meal at lunch.
Tucked away at the bottom of an office building, at the back of a parking lot that is not the easiest thing to navigate, Thai Luang has been a consistent place to get Thai food for more than 10 years. I was introduced to this place in the 90's by co-workers in Reston, and was an addict for several months. Then I got moved out of Reston.
FF a few years, and I stumbled/remembered it while moseying down Elden street, at a breakneck speed of 15mph during lunch one day, and decided to see if it was still there. Heck yeah, it was still there, and they hadn't forgotten how to make a dish spicy. Thai hot is 4 peppers. If you really want it hot, ask for it hot like the chef likes it. Be prepared.
A fan of anything with garlic and sweet basil, I've also found I like the veggie fried rice, and the shredded ginger platters.
As a fellow yelper so eloquently said, "fuck the duck." I agree. There's no need to get anything fried, when there are so many other options.
While I am not a desert kinda guy, my wife gets Mango & Sticky rice frequently, but only after inquiring as to if the mangos are any good that day. About 25% of the time, the staff will let us know, subtly, that it would be a good idea to pick something else. Gotta appreciate that.
Lunch Specials for $10-11 are an inexpensive way to find out if you like their style. Don't let the limited number of lunch specials fool you -- any dish can be done as a lunch special, that comes w/ soup & spring roll.
With probably 200 restaurants in Herndon to choose from, Thai Luang is makes it hard to go wrong.
Checked this place out yesterday for lunch. Normally, I get stuck at the chain feeling Busara in Reston Town Center. This place was far less flashy and more of a 'homestyle' thai place. However, while the atmosphere was better, then food was only a small step up.
I had the lunch special which came with soup, spring roll and Seafood Pad Thai (all for 14.95). The meal was quite large and better than the pad thai at Busara. However, I was not blown away. It was pretty standard, nothing special. While I asked for very spicy, it came out weak and mild.
I would go back here rather than other area thai places for lunch. However, based on the location, I think that 14.95 was a bit much, even for what I got. Busara was about 8.50-10.50 per dish, no spring roll and soup though. Either way, the place is average.
Today, I burned my face off at Thai Luang...and that's a good thing. For the perfect, lunch time filler, under ten bucks, get value for your dollar Thai, Thai Luang is the place.
Is this exquisite Thai cuisine? No. Is this a good place to break up the monotony of Reston/Herndon food options? Absolutely.
The service is quick and efficient. The food is good. If you ask for Thai hot, they don't give you the, "poor American doesn't know what he's asking for so we'll hold back." I repeat. Today I burned my face off at Thai Luang, and that's a good thing.
Amazing place. The staff is really friendly and the service is great. The food was delicious. Not authentic, which is why I gave it 4 stars, but absolutely delicious. I will definitely be going back.
I have tried many things here. The crispy duck gets lots of rave reviews, but I really can't say I would order it again. Many items are quite good, but I now find that the only thing I ever order here is the Panang Curry. They have the best Panang Curry I have found in the area, so it is really hard for me to stray from it. Seriously, give it a try. I get mine "Thai hot" and ask them to add the green thai peppers to it for some extra kick (this dish does not have these peppers by default). It is fantastic.
If you go here for lunch you can get a lunch special version of your food which is a smaller portion but comes with lemon grass soup and a spring roll. The spring roll with the sauce provided is also the best I have found in the area. Same goes for the lemongrass soup.
This restaurant is really good and is my Thai lunch place of choice.
'Forgettable' would be the word to sum up my experience today. The food (Red Snapper with Ginger and Chicken with vegetables) was pretty tasteless. I did not have any of the duck dishes but I did have the mango ice cream and even that was not anything to rave about.
Service was average.
You will find better Thai in the Reston Town Center (2min drive away).
I wavered between three to four stars for a long time. And yeah, it's located in a recess from Elden on the opposite side from the other restaurants. Even smaller appetizer/dessert selection than usual. The waitress blew us off for 15 minutes so the bus boy offered to get us our drinks. After hearing so much about the crispy duck, we decided to try the crispy duck red curry and the crispy duck with sweet basil.
To be honest, the chiles drowned out any flavor the sweet basil typically offers. The carrots were peeled into decorations, at the cost of that dish coming out lukewarm. In addition, the bamboo to duck ratio in the curry was ridiculously high. The duck itself was good, but the presentation of flavors was an underwhelming disappointment at these prices. The waitress didn't stop by to offer more rice until we were clearly done eating. And when I ask for stuff to be boxed up, I'd like to have all of what I didn't finish, not two ladles' worth. If I ever come back, I may try the duck panang, noodle soup, or pad thai... to go.
I think after reading all the great reviews of this place, my expectations were set too high. I just had lunch there with my lunch crew and we weren't that impressed. The place was pretty packed when we arrived. Service was good... not great, ambience... as good as it can get in a strip mall, decor... can probably use some updating. On to the dishes...
We all ordered the lunch special which comes with a fried veggie spring roll and soup. I could have definitely passed on the soup. I didn't like the smell, or taste much. The ckn was also very tough and dry. The spring rolls were average. Nothing to write home about. We ordered the Spicy Ckn Noodles, Ckn with Sweet Basil (Ka Prow, Ka Plow, Ka Pow), and Ckn Panang Curry. The Spicy Ckn Noodles were delicious! I really enjoyed that dish... and it really WAS spicy! It had the perfect amount of spice and great flavor. The Ckn with Sweet Basil was salty and not as flavorful as I wanted. The ckn didn't absorb any of the sauce and it was dry. The Ckn Panang curry was the worst out of the three. It was extremely salty and you couldn't taste much else. Normally, you could taste the coconut milk and there is a sweetness to the curry, but not here. It also looked very unappetizing... they didn't even add steamed broccoli like other places~
Kudos for getting the degree of spice right, but I don't think I'll be returning for a second visit anytime soon.
After a stressful morning of spending 4 hours presenting to seventy biology teachers about my summer work and trying to convince them that its worthwhile for them to use it, I needed two things: Food and Caffiene. So my favorite buddy at work convinced me to check out Thai Luang.
Well turns out hes a regular, so we walk in and have to fight away the beers (we did have to go back to work....). Didn't have to even look at the menu before i ordered my typical Pad See Ew. The lady was nice enough to give it to me on the "lunch special" (even though it wasn't suposed to be) which means it comes with Chicken lemongrass soup and a spring roll.
It was a lot of food! Good thing i was starving. The soup was excellent, and a great way to wet my appetitite. I was not impressed with the spring roll, which may simply been because it was veggie and had not meat! I loved the pad see ew. Very frequently i find that it comes either too wet or too dry. Its very annoying. But it was definitely the perfect consistancy here. I was very happy to find that. The flavors were great and the broccoli was perfectly cooked.
But the best part comes with the caffiene. After i went through a diet coke, they came back with a refill and it wasn't just any refill.... it was a caraffe of diet coke! I know they did it to save themselves the effort, but i greatly appreciate it! That almost earned them the coveted fifth star!
I will definitely be back!
It was good but I have had better. The crispy duck was a little chewy but it was tasty. The Pad Thai was good. We also had the pompano with ginger and ground pork, the crying tiger, veggie spring roll and chicken spicy fried rice. The veggie roll was good and not too oily. It came with two pieces cut in half. I am not used to only getting two pieces per order. The crying tiger was a little tough but the sauce was tasty. As a traveler looking for rice, I recommend Thai Luang.
I've been going to this restaurant for lunch since 2004 and I have never been disappointed. I was introduced to the Duck Noodle Soup last year, and that is all I order now. It's absolutely delicious!
The staff is extremely friendly and the service is speedy, despite the busy lunch crowds. I would say it's the best Thai Restaurant in the Reston/Herndon area.
Best. Thai. Ever.
We read reviews of this place online and decided to try it out. We were not disappointed! Everything on the menu is delicious, we would definitely eat there again. We met many "regulars", a good indication that the restaurant is a consistently high performer in terms of food and service quality.
Would highly recommend Thai Luang to others. You MUST try the crispy duck!
One of my favorite Thai lunch destinations in the Reston area. People do rave about the duck, but I wasn't particularly impressed. Don't judge the place by that one dish, though -- their food is pretty much great across the board.
Soups are well flavored and light. All lunch specials come with one, which is great.
The pad thai is my personal favorite -- it's a great baseline by which to judge Thai places in my experience. It's well spiced (which can be adjusted if you're not a spicy-foods fan) and the noodles are well balanced and integrated with the meat, eggs, peanuts, and veggies.
We tend to hit Thai Luang for lunch once every week, and don't have much of a problem assembling a crowd to go.
This place is the epitomy of a 3.5 rating, normally I'd probably give it a 4 but a lot of the other reviews are already in the 4 range so hopefully mine will balance it out!
My coworkers raved about this place, and I can kind of see why. They offer a lot of dishes that subpar Thai restaurants do not offer, namely their signature lunch special of the spicy, crispy duck. And the dishes was quite good, I've definitely had better in DC (Thai Square Honey Basil Duck!!!) but this may be the best in Reston/Herndon. I wish I could comment about all the other dishes they offer, but all of my coworkers got either the duck or the chicken in the same style. I like to rate a place based on its squid salad, so I can't say that I love it, but hey it's not so bad for lunch!
Side Note: The place is packed, so if you order something spicy it may take a while to get something cooling to soothe the mouth.
I was brought here by a friend after a very bad Thai experience at Thai Xing. I've never been to Herndon before and was thinking that this place would suck since it is way out in the burbs. Stupid, stupid city boy!
If you go here you MUST eat the panang crispy duck....thai spicy if you can handle it. I could be wrong, but I am guessing they cook this duck in it's own fat (like duck confit) as one step of several in it's preparation. The results are spectacular IF you like fried food. And oh boy do I. It was super crispy, even after being drenched in panang sauce, and full of flavor. I have never had duck from a Thai joint like this. Transcendent, amazing, mouthgasm, whatever adjective you want to use can be inserted here. Miss the duck and you miss the point...Got it? 5 stars for the duck.
And this place understands the meaning of Thai spicy. A rarity these days. You actually see sliced up green and red hot chilies in your food when you order Thai spicy.
They lose a star for lackluster decor and ok service. I don't consider service or decor at cheap eats. This is not a cheap eats place though.
If on subsequent trips other items on the menu prove as good as the crispy duck they will get the 5 star rating because some places deserve it for the food alone. If the food is truly amazing I really can forget about everything else.
This is my favorite Thai restaurant in VA. I used to work nearby and every time I'm in town, I make it a point to come here. I've had just about all the dishes here and I can say that each meal has been prepared just right. My favorite picks here are the Pad Se Ew, Panang/Red/Green Curry. If you're here for lunch (come earlier than noon) - get the lunch special. The Tom Yum Gai is delicious. The only thing I don't like are the spring rolls but everything else is just great.
my coworker came to me and asked me what i had in mind for lunch one day a few weeks ago. i was new to the company so i didnt really know what was in the area. he through out a few genre's of food, and i heard thai, and said yea why not? lets try that. he quickly said "really?? we always go to this GREAT thai place that i'll take you to."
well we went to thai luang and i must say HE WAS RIGHT ON POINT. i am a average thai eater at best. i usually play it safe and go with pad thai chicken since its safe and i know i'll like it.
well we sat down and my coworker said hello to his buddy at the bar (working). he's been coming here for at least 3 years he said, and is convinced their is some sort of addictive drug in the food because he just cant get enough!
i took his suggestion and got the sweet basil beef (medium) and boy was it delicious. it comes with a delicious lemon grass soup and a crunchy spring roll. reasonably priced ( about 10 bucks) and well worth it. good size portion (filling) and great level of spicy.
we went again just yesterday and i got the same thing except i got the beef "drunken style" this time. they added mushrooms and another type of vegetable. all in all i think i liked this one a little more because of the change of vegetables. anyway, i had to write my first yelp review on this because im still sitting here craving it again!
In town for one night and realizing that the suburban hotel location usually means a plague of chain restaurants but can also mean good Thai, Sushi, Vietnamese etc so I yelped around and found Thai Luang to be highly rated and very close by. Checking the photos I saw they had a bar but not a great one so i opted for take out.
The place seemed to be winding down for the evening but was pleasantly filled with customers and the sounds of a restaurant. There was a large table near the bar that was obviously having a wonderful time and enjoying the banter with the staff. The place was clean, comfortable and save for my personal annoyance of people(staff included) smoking immediately outside the entrance, I thought it looked fine.
I got there early on purpose and ordered a Singha(one of my favorites) and soaked in the atmosphere. The bartender was very talkative and really engaged not only the large table in the corner but all the customers but not in an overbearing way. We chatted and he even offered me a sample of a new Thai beer they had, which was good but was by no means on the same level as Singha.
I ordered the stuffed chicken wings and the very highly recommended Thai Luang Crispy Duck. the food came up very quickly and I drove back to the room smelling some very good smells!
The stuffed chicken wings were exceedingly underwhelming. A pale batter that just looked bad, could have stood to be fried longer and probably hotter and overall we just not very tasty at all. I regretted ordering these because the Crispy Duck was all I could have hoped for! It was delicious and Spicy and crispycrispycrispy, even after the drive and the time spent waiting for me to suffer through the chicken grossness.
I am a Thai food fanatic and believe I am a pretty good judge and this is good, and could be great but I will need more samples to be certain. Just as a measure, I had takeout from a reputable place in Minneapolis, True Thai, (some consider the Best Thai in Minneapolis) and while Thai Luang was pretty good, True Thai was fantastic! (review coming)
I have no doubt I will be back and would give a much higher score if the rest of their menu is closer to the Duck than it is the stuffed chicken wings.
go to thai luang. do not pass go. do not collect $200.
we went back here for my bday prior to leaving for puerto rico last week... my mate wants to go back here for his bday now and order the same exact thing.
order the crispy whole fish. perhaps, the tastiest fish you may ever dive into ever. fuck the duck... it's over rated. the fish is where it's at. order the lad na seafood thai hot, if you must... it won't disappoint either. this is for your mate so you don't have to share too much of the fish (even though, it's pretty big). make sure to get the mango ice cream for dessert. this ranks up to one of my favorite dinners and desserts of all time.
and tell me what you think after you try it. i am salivating just thinking of this spot... can hardly wait to go back...........
This is pretty close to as authentic to Thai food you're going to get around here. Very tasty. For… Read more »
This restaurant has my hands down, favorite thai dish ever. Crispy Chicken with Basil. American Hot. Love it! They also do a Crispy Duck with basil (their house specialty) and they can make it with beef. All are good, but the chicken is my favorite.
My husband and I do mostly carryout from here. The staff is very friendly when I come in to pick up. We've had some other excellent dishes here as well. So far, I have not been disappointed.
Thai Luang is the only place to eat Thai food in Reston or Herndon. The crispy duck with basil is phenomenal. Speedy service, consistently good food, and so much better than the stuff served up at Big Bowl in the Town Center. The lunch special is a decent deal and a nice, spicy pick-me-up to a boring work day.
Good Thai Place. This is a small place on the ground floor of an office building near the intersection of Elden St. and Fairfax County Parkway. The place was crowded on a Friday night, and service was spotty, but the kitchen was pretty quick. I suppose it feels more crowded because the tables are very tightly placed.
The food is very good. The medium spice level is actually pretty hot for me, I am not one for the ultra spicy stuff. The Panang curry sauce was excellent, with a complex flavor.
I'll probably be going back and will update this review when I try more items!
Luang is one of our favorite take-outs. Everything is awesome, very flavorful and delicious. Panang Jumbo Shrimp, out of this world. The curry dishes are incredibly delicious. Crispy chicken with chili and basil can be very spicy, especially the next day after it ferments. Pad thai is great, very fresh tasting. Everything can be ordered with a custom spicy level.
I usually also order string beans with chili sauce to pretend that I am getting a veggie serving.
On busy Friday and Saturday nights, they often answer the phone "FBI" or something equally bizarre. Great sense of humor and friendliness among the servers.
My Quest for Thai brought me to Thai Luang in Herndon on this lovely Monday night for take-out. Very friendly service (even for take-out) and reasonable prices (all of this food was only $32).
Here's the play-by-play, as I shovel it in. (Excuse me for typing with my mouth full.)
Tom kha gai: OK, but not super-interesting. It's a thick broth that's mostly salty and coconutty, but no lemongrass or galangal notes to speak of. Chicken was good, and the cilantro was in good shape. I ate the chicken and cilantro out of it, and left the rest. 5 out of 10. Meh.
Beef salad: Also OK, but not super-interesting. Beef was tender, delicious and not fatty. All veggies are fresh and crisp, but if I close my eyes I can't tell it's Thai. It's just salty tender beef over lettuce and veggies (which is certainly delightful, just not Thai-ish). Where's the lemongrass? Where's the spice? Another 5 out of 10. (Wow, very helpful, my little numbering system so far... (talking like Yoda, I am...) )
Ah, the sum tom is giving me hope. Sweet, slightly salty, a nice level of heat (but not overwhelming), crunchy-good, and a generous amount of papaya. If you're not so keen on the spicy, then beware of the red chili pieces that are disguised as tomato fragments. 7.5 out of 10. Could use a little more sweetness. So could your mom.
Chicken pad thai: Surprisingly orange-colored, but not artificially so. I think the orange might come from ground chili powder because this dish has some spice, but nothing mild-food lovers couldn't handle. A little heavy on the fish sauce, which some may see as a plus, but I'm a rabid anti-fishite. Hardly any chicken. I'm not even gonna pity-eat it. It's OK, but not worth wasting the calories.
To finish up, I got sticky rice with coconut cream (they were out of mango), which you can't really screw up... definitely the highlight of the meal.
So, it's totally solid food, but I think you can do better.
Nobody will ever beat Sweet Rice in Falls Church, I suspect.
It can be expensive, but it's always good. Been there more than a couple times, usually take out, but have also dined in. Dining in on weekend is good because there are not much people. Lunch time is where the crowd is.
As for some other comments about spicy-ness level, here's the secret : Ask them to give you what it's normally come with. It's always the best, although it means some times it can get quite spicy. But then again, if you think about how "hot and sour soup" without the right amount of spicyness could become, you'll understand why it's important to just take what it come with.
Thai Luang jumbo shrimp is my favorite, but it's 22 bucks, so it _IS_ expensive.
Is there an echo here?
The Pengang Crispy Duck = AROY. Dammit now I want some!
We eat here once a week. Nunu and the gang are always a hoot and the food and service is great. The Pad Thai and duck with sweet basil are fantastic. Veggies are always fresh and the specials are worth a look. For lunch or dinner - you won't be disappointed. If you're in a hurry, get take out. Most food stands up to the drive home.
Herndon, VA
Category: Thai
Herndon, VA
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Herndon, VA
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Herndon, VA
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Herndon, VA
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