Unrated during the pandemic
Thirteen months of steady takeout have taught me plenty. As in, Ethiopian, Indian and sushi tend to travel well; steak frites and angel-hair pasta not so much. Few restaurants listen when you tell them you don’t need napkins and utensils. Also, maybe I should wallpaper my dining room? Staring at the same, sage-colored walls night after night is a case of familiarity breeding discontent. And therein lies the most obvious lesson of the pandemic, at least for those of us who order out a lot: We miss the pleasure of eating away from home, and not simply because food consumed where it’s made presents better than out of a box.
Let me be clear. Since the pandemic, I’ve had hundreds of good-to-great meals delivered to my door or picked up outside restaurants. I’m grateful for the bounty. Pick a spot on the map and, chances are, there’s a kitchen in the area dishing out its cuisine. Whenever I actually book a reservation, however, even if only for a table outside, it hits home that restaurants also offer ambiance and hospitality — and that meals that include design and people are infinitely richer.
Which brings us to Sisters Thai in Potomac, owned by Bangkok natives Sumontita “Tammy” Disayawathana and her husband, Jaturon Srirote. My initial taste of their business, which includes four other Thai restaurants and a dessert cafe in Northern Virginia, was delivery. The cartons I opened suggested that someone knew their way around a Thai kitchen. Steamed dumplings translated to pretty green purses stuffed with ground pork and shrimp, morsels that blossomed after a dip in soy sauce, garlic and chiles. Springy little shrimp, shredded green papaya, peanuts and green beans tossed in a spicy lime dressing sent the tongue on a roller-coaster ride. Boat noodle soup came in two delicious parts: thin white noodles and crisp Chinese broccoli alongside another carton of pork broth mixed with ribbons of pork, spongy beef meatballs and a splash of soy sauce (rather than the blood that flavors and thickens the soup served on its home turf). What’s more, Sisters Thai paid attention to online requests. When I asked for dishes to be made “spicy,” the food came out punching.
Delivery was followed by several in-person visits and more than a few revelations. For openers, Sisters Thai, part of the Cabin John Village shopping complex, is a big black box fronted with tall planters doubling as a “fence” and backed by an attractive patio set off with a half-roof and a water element. Nothing about the facade, which spells the name of the restaurant with an inverted “s” on the end of Sisters, signals Thai food inside.
Nor does much of the inside. The front dining room, staged with a faux fireplace and lined with leather banquettes, is a mash-up of a library, a toy store and a Georgetown yard sale. A sweep of the space takes in a copy of “Philosophy of Nietzsche,” Batman and Robin action figures, random trophies and a miniature sailboat in the window.
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Srirote is the prop master for this show, the finds for which he picks up at antique stores and elsewhere, says his wife. There’s a lot to absorb, but not so much that scouts from “Hoarders” would be interested. Srirote has a good eye for what looks nice. As for the many books, regulars are encouraged to borrow what interests them and to donate to the lot if they want.
The menu is designed like a newspaper. The banner reads “The Sisters Daily,” and what follows on the front page are tidbits of information that explain the restaurant. The name, we learn, underscores the familial bonds between Disayawathana and her sister, but also between the co-owner’s young niece and daughter. The design springs from Disayawathana’s desire to create a homey, welcoming ambiance. “I did not want the decor to feel commercial,” she is quoted in a brief. “We want people to feel like they’re in their living room.”
It might be time for Sisters Daily to print some fresh papers. “Coming soon,” teases the caption on a picture of Sisters Thai in Alexandria, which opened with the same menu — last September.
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Only when you turn the page do you see what’s for lunch or dinner. Chef “Moo” — Prasert Limsumang, a former youth soccer coach — is pictured inside. The uncle of Disayawathana, he’s the executive chef overseeing the owners’ collection of eateries.
Some of his creations, like the “Donald rolls,” are inspired. Slices of roasted duck and scallions, bundled in the Indian-inspired flatbread roti canai and striped with hoisin and oyster sauce, bring to mind good Peking duck rolls.
A section devoted to Thai street food includes sliced beef, crusty from the grill and presented with chile sauce, and an even better khao soi, among the kitchen’s best soups. Its golden curry is thick with slippery noodles and pieces of chicken, both of which swell with the flavor of the curry. Nearby are reinforcements of scallions, purple onion and a red hot sauce, one or all of which transform the bowl into something more complex.
The most consistent, and reliably delicious, category features curries. They include a creamy green curry, pulsing with heat and arranged with velvety chicken, soft-crisp bamboo shoots and strips of red pepper, and a Penang curry you can identify as it hits the table by its Thai basil fragrance. I ordered the latter with fried tofu, which sponges up the red curry and contrasts nicely with the crisp broccoli in the bowl.
Inside or outside involves some lovely visuals, attention to detail (love the cloth napkins) and service with a smile. “Would you like to move tables?” a server helpfully inquired when our tiny two-top on the patio was threatened with overcrowding. But ambiance and attention don’t mask a few flaws at Sisters Thai, the most persistent of which is an overreliance on sweeteners. Pad Thai, for instance, could use less palm sugar. And one of the restaurant’s signatures — battered, deep-fried duck served with a chile-garlic sauce — is better eaten at the source than at home, where the duck ends up dry and it’s easy to miss the topping. (Labeling the containers would have helped.) The restaurant’s fine points tend to balance everything out, however, including cocktails as distinctive as you might find in the District. One blood orange margarita easily leads to another here.
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With the taste of chiles, garlic and ginger lingering in my mouth, the dessert I most crave from the adjoining Magnolia dessert bar is sticky rice and sliced mangoes. Sisters Thai puts its own spin on the traditional Thai sweet by tinting the rice blue. Disayawathana says she knows people take pictures of her food and she wants everything to be pretty as possible, or, as she says, “Instagrammable.”
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SistersThai 7995 Tuckerman Lane, Potomac, Md. 301-299-4157.sisterscabinjohn.com. Open for takeout, delivery, indoor and outdoor dining 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Prices: appetizers $6 to $14, main courses $14 to $22. Free delivery by the restaurant within three miles with a minimum order of $25. Accessibility: Double doors at the entrance. The easier arrival is via the patio to the side. Restrooms are ADA-compliant.
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