For those of you who live in the DC area, the word is out that Komi’s new, next door basement Thai restaurant* is ‘to die for.’
Well, not true.
Or at least my wife and I didn’t think so last night.
There are many things to like about Little Serow.
Good, friendly staff.
Not a pretentious place (basement of town house with minimal attention to decoration — my wife termed it ‘NY grunge’ and said DC needs more spaces like this one).
Good music, also according to my wife.
Reasonable cost – $45 per person for their seven or eight dishes.
Authentic Thai spicing and tastes, or that is what they say.
A few of the dishes are outstanding (the pork ribs in Mekhong whiskey and the herbal sausage were the two that we particularly liked).
But maybe it’s that Little Serow has been over hyped.
All the chatter I’ve heard about it and all the mini reviews on line have simply raved about it.
We thought it was different, good, but feel no need to rush back any time soon or urge others to line up for the some times hard to get seatings. They don’t take reservations, and when they open at 5:30, they take the first 28 people. From then on, you put your name on a list, they’ll give you an approximate time to return, and they’ll text you when your ‘table’ is ready. Some evenings they have three seatings, sometimes four.
The menu is set, and the dishes are largely small dishes, brought at a good pace. They change two or three of the dishes each week and, I think, change the whole menu each month.
Walking out, my wife said , “Too many tastes that don’t, in the end, amount to much. Not a lot to savour even tho the spices tickle your tongue.'”
Some folks have said that the dishes were too highly spiced, too hot. That wasn’t our concern. There was sticky rice and lettuce, etc. to wrap some of the food in. It’s just that everything seemed merged, and only having a bit of each dish, followed quickly by another dish with other tastes, didn’t seem to allow time to enjoy the new taste (and I say that as some one who loves little plates, tapas, dim sum, etc.).
Bottom line: by all means check it out. But if you don’t get there immediately, you’ll survive.
(*There is no name over the door of the restaurant, but it’s downstairs just to the left of Komi, one of DC’s top restaurants.)
