Bangkok 54 - Arlington, VA

I've missed you guys! It's been close to a month since I've posted (horrid). Life has been crazy busy but I'm back and ready to bring you along on my eating adventures. Let's go...

Many of my friends have considered Bangkok 54 their favorite Thai restaurant in the metro area, so I went with a couple of them to see for myself.

There is a front and back entrance with a small private lot behind the restaurant. The closest metro station is Pentagon City on the blue/yellow line.

The interior is very clean with a blend of Thai and contemporary decor. It's really cute in there.

The menu has a standard amount of items that I've seen at other Thai restaurants, but what makes them unique is their interpretation of the dishes. The food presentation was a nice bonus.

Thai Iced Tea!

I've included pics of my friends' dishes for visual reference.

We started off with 2 orders of Fresh Rolls (avocado, carrots, cucumber, fried tofu, lettuces, and vermicelli noodles) for $5.95. These are different than typical Spring Rolls and are AMAZING! The avocado makes this appetizer memorable. Next time I'm ordering one for myself and I'm not sharing.

Top: Green Papaya Salad (Shredded green papaya, peanut, tomatoes, garlic, dried baby shrimp, seasoned with chili, fish sauce and fresh lime juice) for $6.95. I've tried some that had too much fish sauce, but this was not the case here, when I tried a bite.

Bottom: Daily Special - Fried Soft Shell Crab. Beautiful presentation and great with the accompanied sauce.

Top: Roast Duck Curry (roasted duck, pineapple and cherry tomatoes in spicy red coconut-curry sauce) for $12.95. The pineapples were a great addition and I'm ordering this as my entree next time.

Bottom: Pork Belly Stew (I couldn't find this on the menu, so maybe it was a daily special). Reminded me of a Vietnamese dish that has whole boiled eggs with the pork. We all wished it was fattier.

Onto my my dish! I ordered the Penang Curry (panang curry in the light creamy coconut sauce with sweet basil served on top of steamed broccoli) for $10.95. I always order my curry with fried tofu because I like how it soaks up the sauce. I liked the curry sauce, but I thought there were too many crunchy vegetables.

We ordered some Mango and Sticky Rices for the table, which was a great way to end our meal. The rice was slightly salty, which added another element to the dessert.

Very minor observation, but we all agreed that the silverware was awkward to use because it was rounded.

The restaurant has a lounge and a market next door!

I got myself some delicious goodies and will have a short post on how to make Thai Iced Tea.

I had a great experience. The place was super cute, and not pretentious. The service was fast and nice. Everyone's dish was good! I was pointing out a few things I'd prefer with the dishes, but none of them tasted bad. I'm looking forward to coming back and trying dishes that other friends have suggested. I also ordered Pad See-Ew to-go for the bf and he thought it was exceptional.

2919 Columbia Pike
Arlington, VA 22204
703-521-4070
www.bangkok54restaurant.com