Wednesday, December 19, 2012

shoving off soon

While my brother Sean has been rehearsing in Boston for a Christmas gig there, I've been house- and dog-sitting for him in Alexandria. Sean's coming back today, though, so my services end in just a couple of hours, when I'll pack up and trundle off to work at YB Near.

I had the chance, last night, to visit a Thai restaurant called "T.H.A.I.," in nearby Shirlington. It turned out to be very nice, though a bit pricey. I had a seafood lemongrass soup, a chicken satay appetizer, and a garlic shrimp dish (Garlic Lover's Shrimp, according to the menu) for the main course. When I compare T.H.A.I. to Thunwa in my town, I'd have to say that Thunwa comes out on top: despite the Shirlington resto's better-designed, more sophisticated ambience, the food wasn't as good or as plentiful. T.H.A.I. was also more expensive than Thunwa; I spent about $25 in Appalachia and $41 in Shirlington. More bang for the buck out in the mountains, but I will say that the seafood soup at T.H.A.I. was amazing, even if the satay was not. It all looked and smelled good, though.

So I'm just sitting here in Sean's dimly lit dining room, working on my YB textbook-editing project and listening to a load of laundry percolate upstairs. Very soon, I'll strike camp and leave the dog to meditate alone until his rightful master returns.


_

3 comments:

Charles said...

The real question, though, is: what does T.H.A.I. stand for?

The Helpings Are Inferior?

Kevin Kim said...

Heh.

According to the restaurant's website, "T.H.A.I." stands for:

Tasty Thai Cuisine
Hospitality and Warmth
Architectural Elegance
Innovative Seasonal Menus

Their emblem is a little sinister. It looks a bit like a sneering Buddha or Buddhist saint (arhat).

The restaurant's got a 25 Zagat rating. No idea how good that is.

Charles said...

Ah, so the name should actually be TTCHWAEISM. Not quite as catchy.

Wiki says that the highest Zagat rating is 30, so I guess 25 isn't bad.