The Online Edition of the Annandale High School Newspaper.

The A-Blast

The Online Edition of the Annandale High School Newspaper.

The A-Blast

The Online Edition of the Annandale High School Newspaper.

The A-Blast

Duangrat’s Thai

As this is our first official food review of the year, we would like to first start by giving you, the readers, a brief introduction into our thought process behind this column.

It has been a long and time-honored tradition that the Weekend section of the A-Blast gives a food review of a new or interesting restaurant every issue. This year, however, we decided to put a little spin on the old model and decided that we would only review restaurants with cultural influences. 

As AHS contains such a diverse student population, we found that reviewing different ethnic cuisines would not only appeal to a larger portion of our readership, but would also provide us with the opportunity to learn about new cultures through food.

Having said that, let us begin with our first Culinary Conquest: Duangrat’s Thai Restaurant in Bailey’s Crossroads, Virginia.

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Upon first entering the restaurant, we were both amazed at the beautiful spectacle before us. The walls were painted in a deep red and meticulously decorated with ornate statues and detailed artwork. On every table sat a white linen tablecloth, a small candle and a purple orchid, which carries special significance in Thai culture.

After adjusting to our new environment, the next sense to come into play was smell. A wonderful aroma wafted towards us from the kitchen that was both savory and spicy.  

Having only ever experienced Thai food at Noodles and Company (if one can even count that), both of us were incredibly eager to dive in to this new, exciting cuisine.

We were greeted by a hostess in traditional Thai attire and quickly seated at a comfortable booth in the main dining area. As it was relatively early, around 5:00 p.m., there were only a few other customers present. 

The reason we decided to eat at this time was because of Duangrat’s small plate special. This is ideal for the customer new to Thai cuisine, who would like to try a little bit of everything.

There were thirty dishes on the small plate menu, designed to be either appetizers for two, or a smaller portioned dinner for one. This menu is available from 4:30 until 6:30 on weekdays and reasonably priced at around $6.00 a plate.     We quickly scanned the menu and wrote down anything that sounded remotely intriguing or an item we had never tried before. The total amounted to 15 dishes, which we then cut down to nine. 

Our waiter was incredibly patient with us as we bombarded him with questions: “What is the difference between green and yellow curry?” “The green is much spicier than the yellow.” and so on and so forth.

I’m not exactly sure what we expected when we ordered, but the amount of food that soon came pouring out of the kitchen and onto our table was downright embarrassing. 

Dish after dish came out of the kitchen. We ordered shrimp and lobster “cigar” rolls, lemongrass chicken spring rolls, shrimp tempura, duck in a crispy egg roll shell along with many others.  

As each new food reached our table, our waiter would smile and explain what we would soon be eating, as well as how to eat it if we were unsure. The chefs in the kitchen must have assumed that a party of ten was sitting in the dining room for the amount of food we consumed.

And boy did we eat all of it. Not a single condiment, shred of lettuce or noodle was left after we were finished. We then ordered an exotic dessert of Green Tea Ice Cream with a banana spring roll, at which point we contemplated unbuttoning our pants.

    We paid the bill and left to the sounds of many friendly staff members asking if we enjoyed our meal and to come again soon. Overall, our experience was fantastic and we will most definitely be making a return to Duangrat’s soon.

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  • C

    ChrisOct 27, 2010 at 4:11 pm

    The confusing part is: “This year, […] only review restaurants with cultural influences.” Can you give an example of a restaurant that does not have “cultural influence”? Or perhaps you mean to clarify that you are only reviewing restaurants that are “regional cuisince from other countries”?

    The notion that America does not have a culture is extraordinarily offensive.

    Reply
  • C

    ChrisSep 15, 2010 at 11:02 am

    What food does not have “cultural influences”? Or do you mean to say that you have decided to exclude certain cultures? AHS has a “diverse” cultural population, so which particular culture(s) have you selected to discriminate against because it’s not interesting or worthy of reporting? And how did you come to this decision?

    Reply
    • K

      Kelsey PriceOct 18, 2010 at 9:48 am

      Thank you for your response. Sorry for the delayed reply, but we have been experiencing some technical difficulties with our webpage. Although I appreciate your zeal for the diverse community that Annandale does indeed have, I feel that you have missed the overall intention of our column this year. We are not discriminating against any culture, nor did we write in our article that we planned on doing so. We are merely attempting to highlight some local restaurants that will offer Annandale students a greater opportunity to sample menus and regional cuisine from other countries. If you have any suggestions or places you would like us to consider, please feel free to let us know.

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Duangrat’s Thai