What does Thai food mean to you? I remember as a child of the ’90s that I was excited to see restaurants filled with wall hangings that reminded me of The King and I beginning to pop up in my native New York City suburbs. At that time, the cuisine of the country formerly known as Siam was a novelty. Thirty years later, Thai is one of America’s takeout staples. If it’s not Drunken Noodles being delivered to your door, perhaps it’s a vegetable-filled curry.
But Burapa Thai and Bar in Vienna is looking beyond the dishes already beloved by westerners. Burapa is a collaboration between chef San Pach and co-owner Bo Boonyaket. This is Pach’s eighth Virginia Thai restaurant, including the now-shuttered Burapa Asian Bistro in Lovettsville. Boonyaket was most recently at I-Thai’s Side Street & Sushi Bar in Tysons. The pair were part of the opening team at Tara Thai, a restaurant that formerly filled the space that Burapa now occupies, even before it became Tom Yum Thai.
And while diners can order the noodles and curries that already set their hearts and palates aflame, Burapa’s raison d’être is to allow Pach to share his native Esaan cuisine. “I’ve always cooked Esaan food,” he says. “It’s in my blood.”
While Burapa isn’t the only restaurant to serve Esaan dishes in NoVA (Esaan Northeastern Thai Cuisine in McLean and E-Saan Thai Sushi in Herndon, both have the region right in their name), it is the only place to find a number of dishes worth seeking out.
The most notable of these is the rich larb ped udon. Duck is my favorite of what I call the “everyday meats.” That means I’m not counting, say, bear, another of my gustatory obsessions. And for enthusiasts like me, the spicy minced duck salad is a revelation.
The crumbles of mallard meat are served in a tangy, prickly spiced dressing not unlike what one would find in a more typical larb or even that Thai classic, som tum. But matters only improve from there. Bites of iron-redolent, creamy chicken liver and crunchy cracklings combine for a symphony of textures worthy of the complex sauce that brightens the plate. Spirals of carrot and shaved red cabbage and onion add color, and there’s a scalding portion of Thai sticky rice ready for those in need of a respite from the fiery flavors.
That’s not the only way to enjoy duck at Burapa, either. The crispy duck is disarmingly tender and coated in what is accurately referred to on the menu as a “dazzling sweet chili (sic) sauce.” Onions and red peppers contribute a vegetal crunch and another layer of sweetness alongside fried basil leaves. While the dish tastes more like Thai dishes from other regions than much of Burapa’s menu, it’s no less worthy of a bite.
You’re less likely to find something like pla pao elsewhere. The market-price plate features a fish roasted in a wrapping of banana leaves, meaning that the flavor of the fresh lemongrass placed between slashes is steamed deep into the flesh. The fish is a delight on its own, but chile-spiked, onion-sweetened sauce is a banger that will have you finishing the oversized platter on your own. For those who can’t handle the heat, like my dining companion, Pach will whip up sweet chile sauce that’s on the milder side.
Diners who shrink from the more incendiary Thai dishes can always order pad Thai, but after trying it for the first time at Burapa, I will be more likely to crave a similar Esaan dish called mee kolaat. It’s often transliterated as mee korat. However you write it, the sweet soy sauce base is all but destined to seize your mind. I am salivating thinking of it right now. Despite the sugar in the sauce, it is still less sweet than most pad Thais. In fact, the combination of fluffy scrambled egg, crunchy scallion and thin slices of pork (you can also choose chicken, shrimp, or beef) somehow takes on a slightly smoky flavor that makes it all the more compelling.
Not enough carbs? I recommend the Burapa Noodle, named, like the restaurant, for the Thai word meaning “east.” As he serves it, Pach jokes that there is nothing healthy about the eastern Thai dish. Comprising a tangle of deep-fried egg noodles, it’s clear at first bite that he’s right. The crispy noodles slowly soak up a thin but disarmingly spicy curry sauce. A choice of meat, along with broccoli, onions, and red pepper on top, also serve to soften the crispy nest enough to twirl it around a fork.
Boonyaket, who is bar manager as well as co-owner, accompanies the spicy dishes with cocktails informed by fresh Thai flavors of their own. And from the lychee-lavender mimosa to the honey-sweetened ginger-thyme lemonade, Boonyaket says that she can make mocktail versions of most of her drinks.
In our region’s sea of excellent Thai options, Burapa stands out for its easy, friendly service and menu of unusual specialties. Yes, the bill of fare features the Nuclear Challenge, intended to test the tastebuds of brave souls in search of optimum heat, but Burapa’s cuisine is no stunt food. This is a restaurant that will turn your head from the Thai flavors you already know and love. Perhaps in 30 years, mee kolaat will be just as popular in the U.S. as pad Thai.
See This: A lush floral mural captures the eye, while matching chandeliers brighten the surrounding brick walls.
Eat This: Larb ped udon, mee kolaat, pla pao
Appetizers: $5.95-$9.95
Entrées: $14.95-$35
Dessert: $8.95-$9.95
Open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Sunday
226 Maple Ave. W. #100, Vienna
Rating: ★★★1/2
★ Fair ★★ Good ★★★ Great ★★★★ Excellent ★★★★★ Superior
Feature image by Alice Levitt
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