Ruan Thai is one of six Thai restaurants named on Washingtonian’s Cheap Eats list. This small, dull looking eatery, located in yet another strip mall in Wheaton, Maryland, has a stellar reputation among foodies and professional critics. Everyone on chowhound.com raves about the place. If you visit the boards, you will find an interesting cyber conversation that has a little bite. Giving Ruan Thai a mediocre or bad review? Be prepared for some major push back that includes ad hominem attacks. Ruan Thai’s defenders won’t disagree with your assessment of how the pad thai tastes, they will tell you that you are not “ordering like a chowhound” or that ordering pad thai is not for “serious eaters.” How absurd is that? What has the foodie world come to? Shouldn’t we give all food (and peace) a chance?
With that said, let us get to the important stuff…my two cents.
I really liked my entrée at Ruan Thai, but was disappointed with the appetizers.
My main was pad se ew. The dish had a lot of flavor, the beef was tender, and the chef cooked the noodles perfectly. I would return to Ruan Thai for this dish, if I happen to be in Wheaton. I tasted a few bites of my friends pad thai, which was quite good. She also ordered the coconut soup, and reported that it was slurpolicious (well…okay, she actually said delicious).
For appetizers, we ordered yum nuea (beef salad), crispy calamari, and kanom jeeb (steamed dumplings). I would not order any of these dishes again. Ever. The salad lacked kick, the calamari tasted previously frozen, and the steamed dumplings were hard, as if they were re-heated in the oven.
Let me end on a positive note. The bill, not including tip, for four people (four dinners, four appetizers, two alcoholic drinks, and three sodas) was $86.14.