DC Chowhounder: Help with Thai in Center City and Reading Terminal

[bougouni]

Hi--quick questions for all of you here:

Can you suggest a Thai place for dinner in or close to Center City?
Taking the kids to Reading Terminal--where should we eat?

Thanks in advance--I lived here years ago, but everything seems different!

[zovig123]

you could do a twofer and go for some thai food at reading terminal market.. little thai is a new restaurant in the market that serves up excellent, inexpensive, tasty thai food.. it's not the most extensive menu, but heartily recommended.. i wrote about it on my blog.. here's a snippet:
"We found an island in the storm, a tiny table, the last one available it seemed, to eat our lunch from Little Thai: shrimp lemongrass soup, cabbage salad, a vegetable curry and a salmon curry. At worst Thai food can also be blooming buzzing confusion, as the four flavors of Asian cuisine (sour, sweet, salty and spicy) vie for place of prominence. But Little Thai mostly kept them all in correct proportions."

definitely recommended..

[Philly Ray]

Little Thai is new??? We've been getting stuff from them for a couple of years now.

[zovig123]

maybe i misspoke.. i think little thai must have closed and then reopened in the last few months.. it was definitely a new opening of the restaurant..

[Bigley9]

no - they have been there for years, originally located closer to Arch st but that was probably 10 years ago.

[Chefpaulo]

bougouni, I'll second the vote for Rangoon without reservation. The selections combine several regional cuisines (Thai, Indian, Chinese and Cambodian influences) and, if not familiar with Burmese, do give it a try.
CP

[bougouni]

We did and it was delicious! Thanks.

[bluehensfan]

If it's not too late the best bets at Reading Terminal IMO are pancakes at the Dutch Eating Place, pastrami at Hershel's, roast pork sandwiches with provolone and greens/rabe at DiNic's, and even the salmon at the thai place and gyro's at Olympic. For dessert, get chocolate chip cookies at 4th Street and pretzels at Miller's Twist for the kids while you might like the cannoli at Termini's or chocolate peanut butter covered pretzels at Muellers. Also the brownies are good at Flying Monkey and the cinnamon buns and fritters are good at Beiler's.

[PattiCakes]

Are you looking for Thai close to RTM, or just within the city? There a few decent (but not fabulous) Thai places in the vicinity of Rittenhouse Square, but I am familiar with them only in the context of lunch. Just curious about why the focus on Thai -- as Hungry said, it ain't exactly Philly's strong suit.

[bougouni]

Thanks to both of you for replying. I was focusing on Thai because my kids love it, but we went to Rangoon as per Hungry's rec. 3/4 of us were delighted and one whined; not a bad ratio. I also loved the sandwich from Dinics. Thanks again and post on the DC board if you come down.

[Hungryin theBurbs]

Thai is not one of Philly's strong suits, especially compared to D.C. Are you sure you wouldn't rather experience something we do well? One thought is that you might like Rangoon in Chinatown. It's Burmese, not Thai, but Burmese has some similarities to Thai food (also a lot of Indian influences). The "Jungle" preparations are basically a thai green curry with lime leaves and coconut milk.

For RTM, I suggest just wandering around and letting everyone get what they like, then sit at a table in the middle. That's what we do. My son always wants pastrami from Hershel's deli. My daughter (a picky eater) usually gets a turkey sandwich from Hatfield Deli, I get roast pork from Dinic's, and hubby gets barbecue from the PA Dutch place (Rib Stand, maybe? I can't think of the name), then we're all happy.