the tall tale of the mango sticky rice and other laotian legends

moak, steamed banana leaf wrapped sea bass, with sticky rice. photo by: cherry donut.

laos. lao people's democratic republic. laos.

*sigh. *dream. *sigh.

*theme music start, "i wish i was a millionaire ...so fricken bad..."
yes, i wish i was rich and had all the money and the time in the world to travel.
if i was a millionaire, laos would be my go-to destination.

i heard through several coconut wireless routes that a new laotian restaurant opened up in columbia heights, dc, and i HAD to check it out.

one word- WOW.
thip khao did not disappoint at all. it was worth all the hype.

c, j, and i ordered one appetizer, three large dishes (family style) and a dessert.
everything we ordered was full of flavor. i would take a bite and the flavors danced around in my mouth. all the flavors were swing dancing in my mouth!
poor c. i would grab her arm every time i took a bite, squeeze her arms, and squeel with happiness. it was THAT good folks. no joke. not being a drama queen.

we started our meal with nam khao, crispy rice lettuce wraps. WOW. WHAT IS THIS? DELISH!

then we digged right into our first main dish, moak, banana wrapped steamed sea bass with curry paste, and sticky rice. HOLY MOLY WOW. WHAT IS THIS? DELISH AGAIN!

second main dish- kua khao, a spicy fried rice with sweet sausage. AGAIN?! DELISH! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?! THREE IN A ROW!

third main dish- gang dang, seafood red coconut curry. OMG HEAVEN. FLY ME TO LAOS NOW!!!

by the third main dish, we were crying with happiness. our bellies were happy but we were still very curious about dessert. we heard that their mango sticky rice actually came in a real whole mango. c validated this tall tale, by searching instagram pictures. *confirmed! we saw strangers posting the picture of the legendary mango sticky rice in an actual mango.

we were excited. we ordered and waited patiently for this legendary thing to arrive. excited to end our fabulous dinner with a....... BAAAAAAMMmmmmmmm!!!!

*server brings mango sticky rice.
c, j, and i - "..........???........."

our facial expressions went from huge corny grins to a very confused look.

mango sticky rice not in a whole mango

the mango sticky rice wasn't in an actual mango. it didn't look like the pictures we saw on instagram.
hmmm. what?

after questioning interrogating our waiter, it was revealed that they did actually serve mango sticky rice in an actual mango once upon a time. however, due to their increasing fame and increased business, they rarely serve the dish in that form because it is time consuming to make.

c, j, and i empathetically nodded our head.
though we were clearly disappointed, the rest of the meal did not fall short and we ended our night still in AWE. HOW WAS EVERYTHING SOOO OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD DELICIOUS?!

i can't wait to take my fiance here.
thip khao has two different menus. regular, and a more "adventurous" menu called "in the jungle." the jungle menu has a bunch of "exotic" eats like snakehead fish, beef tongue, pig ear, etc.

you know us. we will be ordering from that menu next time. stay tuned for part two blog soon.

in the meantime, try thip khao. trust me. soOOOOOoooo worth it.

-mai

mishka rating:

AMAZING! JUST AMAZING! if i had to choose two favorites out of the dishes we ordered, it would have to be nam khao, crispy rice lettuce wraps, and gang dang, red coconut curry. COMFORT FOOD!!!

mango sticky rice- i won't lie. i was disappointed in the presentation but not the taste.