Soi 38

The special office intern requested something Asian for his farewell lunch, so I chose Soi 38. Located over at 21st and L Street, NW, it's in the old Galileo space. The decorations and architectural touches are really pretty nice. I like the cedar and the booths were pretty comfortable for a party of four. I was also pretty surprised that the owners were the same as the Thai place near GW Medical Faculty and the old Froggy Bottom. We ended up ordering one dish from each section and sharing, which was a great way to try a bunch of dishes and get a decent sense of the newish restaurant.

Duck rolls, the sauce was a little too sweet for my taste, but a nice starter to share.

Tom Yum soup (interestingly it comes in small and large size, so I suppose you could share).

Hands down the best dish: larb gai. Super spicy and great flavor, I liked the little crispy cups too.

Duck in red curry. Great flavor, although a little oily. I'm actually a big green curry fan, but liked this a lot.

Pork belly with sauteed gai lan (Chinese broccoli). Liked the gai lan, the pork belly was kind of dry.

 

Fancified pad thai with shrimp. Super pretty but not my favorite pad thai. 

I did like the thin sheet of egg on top.

Fried Chicken with sweet and spicy sauces.

Probably my second favorite dish. The coating was super crunchy and great flavor.

***

Overall this is a lovely new addition to the area. Prices are a bit higher than I'm used to paying for Thai, but given the investment into the restaurant decorations as well as the location, it's understandable.