Little Serow is everything it is cracked up to be. Not only that, but I think it’s one of the best values–for what you get–in the DC dining scene. I can’t wait to go again, and I’m sad it took us this long to get there!
One word of warning–if you don’t like spicy food–this is not the place for you.
We headed over to Little Serow on a Wednesday night, right before Christmas, for dear husband’s (DH) birthday. We both love all things Thai-food (and pretty much Asian food in general) and don’t mind a little heat either! My mom was also visiting for Christmas and is game to try anything. Little Serow does not take reservations, and is super small–we arrived about 15 minutes before they opened and were probably 12th or so in line. Fortunately, we were one of the last tables to be seated and didn’t have to wait for the second seating.
(As a side note, if you do have to wait, there are lots of great nearby places to grab a drink. Duke’s, which is right next door, is a great option. Just don’t fill up on their truffle mac & cheese before dinner. Highly recommend.)
Anyhow, we devoured all of the seven courses with a delicious Christmas beer and a complimentary glass of sparkling wine that was graciously delivered by the server to match one of the spicier dishes. Service is casual–helpful explanations were always provided, but there was no tone of condescension in the dish descriptions. Each of the seven dishes is served with as much sticky rice and as many vegetables as you can eat. These both come in very handy, whether to put things on a cabbage leaf, cool your mouth with a cucumber, or just eat sticky rice with your fingers because that is fun to do. Very fun.
This was the first course, the salted fish with the amazing friend pork rinds. Spicy. Wonderful. It was followed by a soup with snakehead fish, and then by a dried shrimp/sour fruit and chili dish that was pretty spicy but kept you wanting more. This was followed by duck offal and a tofu dish (yes, I still don’t eat tofu…just can’t deal with the taste), a mushroom and egg dish, and finished by the most delectable pork ribs with a whiskey basting sauce.
While video and flash are not allowed, I won’t overly bore you with too many bad food photos. The menu at Little Serow does get posted weekly (so take a look before you go), and it is prix fixe with no modifications or substitutions. The cost is $49 + beverages. For seven course. I told you it was a good deal. At first you wonder if you will get enough food, but by the end of the 7th course, you are comfortably full and just thinking about all the delicious things you just ate.
As a side-note for picky eaters…there were things on the menu that I absolutely thought I was going to “skip” on. We had duck offal. I would never, ever, order duck offal in any restaurant. But you know what? This dish was absolutely delicious. I initially tried just a tiny bit and realized I was missing out. So don’t judge any dish before you try it–a good reminder for any restaurant, and certainly important for Little Serow.
You can find their website at www.littleserow.com, and at 1511 17th Street NW in Washington DC.
