Nava Thai

Nava Thai, web site, 11301 Fern Street, Wheaton, MD, 240-430-0495 (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [Washingtonian | WaPo | City Paper | Don Rockwell | Yelp]

At any point in time there are four or five ethnic places which are way better than the rest. Nava Thai joins that select group. Everything tastes so real and it is the closest thing to Thai street food that I’ve had in the U.S. The Floating Market Soup is excellent, although too spicy for many. The Penang Curry – usually a boring dish – is a revelation. The tamarind sauce on the roast chicken is very good. The curry puffs are recommended as well. The service can be a little slow and not every dish is great (though all are at least good if you are confused just mimic the Thai customers with your order), but right now this is one of the places to visit. It also attracts more Thai customers than any other place with the possible exception of Thai Square.

Related Posts:

This entry was posted in Current Favorites, Maryland, Thai, The Best, Top Five, Wheaton/Kensington. Bookmark the permalink.

7 Responses to Nava Thai

  1. Aron says:

    Nava Thai seems to be closed now. We got the impression from a guy standing outside that maybe they’re merely moving to a new location – something to be hoped.

  2. kuromori says:

    They moved just down the block, I believe, to a full-fledged restaurant. My best friend’s family is their new landlord, so I can vouch for this new location!

  3. James Lawlor says:

    Nava Thai has reopened next door in what was most recently a Greek restaurant–eons ago, a Sir Walter Raleigh Inn. I hope the “curse” that seems to infect that place doesn’t get them, and that they don’t take too much business away from Suporn down the street.

  4. Kurt says:

    They totally renovated the interior of the old Sir Walter Raleigh inn. I was in there tonight and managed to take a sneak look into the kitchen. Its the same as it was back in 1980 when I was a dishwasher there while in college! Like going back in time..

  5. Corinne says:

    We moved to the area recently and heard rave reviews of Nava Thai. We went there a couple weeks ago and were not impressed at all. They use too much fish sauce in everything!

  6. Gaew says:

    Yes, this is a very good Thai restaurant by DC metro area standard! Unfortunately, too far for us to become a regular but otherwise it would be our Thai restaurant without a doubt!! The somtum has not been toned down for “farangs” so that’s certainly a good sign. They also have a good selection of noodle dishes including my childhood favourite “bamee nam moo daeng” (egg noodle soup with roasted pork).

  7. Tom says:

    Went to Nava Thai…very very disappointing. Ruan Thai and Little Serow are an order of magnitude better. This was average Americanized Thai at best. Overly sweet and no balance. Food had no complexity and really missed the mark in the balance of the 5 flavors that good Thai aspires to. NO HEAT AT ALL. I really insisted on Thai spicy…as you would eat at home…when I told them it was not spicy enough, they showed me the fish sauce and chiles. Come on! I usually get the full treatment as I am Asian and waiters do not doubt I can handle the spice. We ordered tod mun pla, kee mao, the floating market soup, crispy pork belly, kaprow. All was edible but no more. This is the only time (out of maybe 100 I’ve tried) I have to fully disagree with you on this one, Tyler. If it has been awhile, I suggest you go back and perhaps reconsider your recommendation.

Comments are closed.