Todd Kliman, food critic at the Washingtonian, has been talking up Nava Thai for the last year. At his insistence we stopped at Nava for lunch the other day, and, after having eaten there, my gut instinct is cover Kliman’s mouth with heavy masking tape to prevent him from telling anyone else about the place; it’s that good. Nava Thai is a deserving newcomer to the Washingtonian's cheap eats list.
For an appetizer, I had the hot and sour squid. This is no frozen squid; it was tender and the sauce—THE SAUCE WAS AMAZING. Lemongrass, hot sauce, lime, cilantro were key ingredients. Just thinking about this sauce makes me unconsciously lick my lips. For lunch, I had the Pad Thai, which was also quite good, and Marcus’ Pad Gra Pow pork was the best I have ever tasted. We will definitely go back to try other dishes.
Nava Thai is located in Wheaton behind an Asian supermarket at 11315 Fern Street, which is a few short blocks from the Wheaton Metro. If you are unfamiliar with this area of Maryland—it is a wonderful Mecca for ethnic food and shopping.
