Falls Church residents in the Seven Corners area looking to add a little flavor to their diet should say hello to Thai Spice, an innovative new Thai restaurant. Having opened the restaurant just over six months ago, manager and chef Rjuiraporn Chuvong (known as Lek) is confident that her customized recipes of Thai entrees will get customers coming back frequently.
The menu at Thai spice is a mix between old and new. While there are plenty of classic Thai dishes such as Pad Thai, panang curry, and drunken noodles, Lek has also added some custom creations. Such innovative (and creatively named) dishes include Panang Pasta, Spicy Shrimp Pasta, James Bond Scampi, and Phuket Noodle - a combination of shrimp squid, and sliced pork. Lek emphasized that all of the sauces used in her dishes are made using her own personal recipes. Her motto is “Fresh and healthy,” which is employed to the fullest.
Several dishes came highly recommended, so it was necessary to try them all. For light fare, spring rolls and chicken satay were a good place to start. Each appetizer came with a variety of sauces and was presented with garnishment.
For the main course, the Pad Thai was chosen as a benchmark with which to compare Thai Spice to other local Thai restaurants. Thai Spice’s is certainly one of the best and freshest Pad Thai dishes that we at the News-Press have eaten. Cashew Chicken, a dish which puts the “Spicy” in “Spicy Thai,” gives taste buds a plethora of delightful sensations. For dessert, try the fried banana with ice cream. For those kiddies with discriminating tastes, there is a kid’s menu with traditional American food. The key, it seems, to all of the dishes is the freshness of their ingredients and the delectable sauces used to add zest to the already delicious dishes.
That Spicy Thai’s food is tasty is no surprise, given the experience of Lek. Though only having been in Northern Virginia for several years, Spicy Thai is her third restaurant. She has been cooking since the age of twelve, and was suggested to enter the restaurant business by friends who loved her cooking so much.
In addition to running Spicy Thai, Lek has other ventures involving food. She offers cooking classes to all ages taught in the restaurant’s kitchen in order to give others insight to the art of Thai cooking. Lek also currently has a product line known as the Thai Spice Boat (for sale at www.thaispiceboat.com), which includes all of the spices and sauces (Lek’s own creations) necessary for Thai cooking, as well as a cookbook, written by Lek, full of Thai recipes.
As fresh as the food, so is the atmosphere inside Spicy Thai. Though small, the restaurant offers a full bar, and plenty of seating to accommodate you and all of your friends. Thai artwork adorns each wall, while flowers are used liberally everywhere else. It even smells faintly of spices, adding even more support to the reasoning behind the restaurant’s name.
All in all, Thai Spice is a wonderful new addition to the area. Anyone seeking a new spin on Thai food or some of the best traditional Thai cuisine in the region should run to Thai Spice.
6395 Seven Corners Center, Falls Church • 703-533-9480
Hours: Mon-Thurs: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. (Lunch), 4 p.m. - 10 p.m. (Dinner); Fri-Sat: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. (Lunch), 4 p.m. - 10 p.m. (Dinner);
Sun: 12 p.m. - 4 p.m. (Lunch), 4 p.m. - 10 p.m. (Dinner)