Date Visited: 24 August 2008Meal: Lunch
Diners: 3 - Me, Wendy, & Andy
Experience: Leesburg has had it's ups and downs in regard to Thai food. In the beginning, you could find a few Thai dishes at places like Orient Kitchen (now J&W Asian Bistro). Then in 2007 we got Tup Tim Thai, and it was good, but only lasted about a year (they had two locations - Leesburg and Sterling - and both closed). But now Leesburg has a real Thai restaurant, run by a real Thai person, serving real Thai food - Thai Royal!
Thai Royal is one of Leesburg's hidden gems, and I mean hidden in the literal sense. By their own description, it is "conveniently located at Liberty Gas Station" on Harrison Street, between Market and Loudoun Streets. It's actually part of the Liberty gas station; in fact, there's just one door between the restaurant and the gas station's mini-mart. Thai Royal also houses a Blimpie sub shop, but they don't make it very obvious when you're inside the restaurant, which is a good thing; we're here for Thai food, not generic sub sandwiches.
This blog post is my "official" write-up on Thai Royal, but I've already been there several times. Despite the odd location, Thai Royal is just about my favorite restaurant in all of Leesburg - really, it's the greatest! We always get friendly, helpful service, and the food is outstanding.
On this visit, Andy and I got the Chicken Lava, a Thai Royal signature dish, described in the menu as "Exotic dish! Sizzling battered crispy chicken with sweet chili sauce served with cabbage on a hot sizzling plate." I've had it a couple of times before, and it never fails to please me - a perfect mixture of sweet, savory, and crunchy. It comes with either a soup or a spring roll appetizer; Andy got the spring roll, and I got the Tom Yum soup, and well, it was yum! Wendy got the Chicken Tamarind, described as "Sizzling crispy chicken with sweet and sour tamarind sauce served with mixed vegetables on a hot Sizzling plate." She also got the spring roll appetizer.
On previous visits, I've also had the Taro Spring Rolls and the Panang Curry, which is rich and just spicy enough for me. This is what I usually get when I'm out on my own for dinner.
Thai Royal seems to be doing well business-wise, as they are now issuing several kinds of coupons, and have a Frequent Customer Card (one free entree after seven orders). Now all they need is a web site.Support Thai food in Leesburg and visit Thai Royal!
Location: 2 Harrison St. SE, Leesburg, VA, 20175
Web site: none
Total bill: $25.87 + $7.00 tip = $32.87
UPDATE, 19 April 2009:
Apparently, Thai Royal has very recently changed their name to Thai Pan Leesburg Restaurant, and they have a new web site: http://www.thaipanleesburg.com/ - we'll have to check it out!
UPDATE, 2 May 2009:
Andy and I visited Thai Pan to get some takeout, and happened to talk to one of the employees about the recent changes. He said everything is the same (like the cook) except the name. He went on to explain that they had to change the name because there is a local laundromat of the same name! They also couldn't register the thairoyal.com domain because it's taken (by a restaurant in Germany), and there are lots of other businesses with the same name. So they just decided to change the name.
11 comments:
NO, NO, NO! You weren't supposed to review this one! I wanted to keep it a secret, it is too good for it to get so busy I can't get in the door!
This place is the BOMB! If you like REAL Thai, you have to go. My wife and I have eaten there every single week since they have opened 4-5 moths ago. I travel 3-4 days a week for work and have eaten a lot of Thai food. Thai Royal is by far the best, most authentic Thai restraunt in Northern VA and in the US.
You know its good when you walk in and all the customer are Thai/Asian.
Joyce:
Sorry, if they don't get *enough* business, they won't stay in business, like so many others.
Don:
I couldn't agree more! Thai Royal is my favorite restaurant in all of Leesburg. It's such a wonderful contradiction - a truly great restaurant located in a gas station!
J.A.W.
not just the place there food is actually BOMB. service is bomb. I cann't believe a small hidden place has that much nice tasty food. awesome food and fresh.
Life is full of culinary experiences. This evening, I stumbled across “Thai Royal Restaurant”, a hidden gem in Leesburg, VA. This quaint Thai eatery, attached to the Liberty Gas Station, gets my top nomination for Thai culinary excellence. I know that
it might be tough getting past the notion of pumping your gas and enjoying a wonderful
Thai meal… However, this restaurant will blow your expectations out of the water!
This 25 seat bistro has a very modest “Asianesque / Tropical” décor with dark hardwood flooring and beautiful vases filled with faux birds of paradise. The incredibly witty hostess named “Lucky” will make your dining experience come to life! Miss “Lucky” started my table off with an appetizer of some sumptuously flavored / chilled / vegetarian Fresh Royal Rolls stuffed with shredded carrot, mint, lettuce, cucumber and cellophane noodles – served with a phenomenal peanut dipping sauce along with crushed roasted peanuts. A very refreshing experience! Our next sampled dishes were their Beef Salad and Drunken Noodles. A+ on all dishes!
I guarantee you won’t be disappointed with “Thai Royal”. Be sure to as for Miss “Lucky”, she does a terrific job of explaining the dishes and their ingredients!
“Thai Royal” is located at 2 Harrison St. SE Leesburg, VA 20175 at the Liberty Gas Station. 703-777-9487/9. Enjoy!!
Life is full of culinary experiences. This evening, I stumbled across “Thai Royal Restaurant”, a hidden gem in Leesburg, VA. This quaint Thai eatery, attached to the Liberty Gas Station, gets my top nomination for Thai culinary excellence. I know that
it might be tough getting past the notion of pumping your gas and enjoying a wonderful
Thai meal… However, this restaurant will blow your expectations out of the water!
This 25 seat bistro has a very modest “Asianesque / Tropical” décor with dark hardwood flooring and beautiful vases filled with faux birds of paradise. The incredibly witty hostess named “Lucky” will make your dining experience come to life! Miss “Lucky” started my table off with an appetizer of some sumptuously flavored / chilled / vegetarian Fresh Royal Rolls stuffed with shredded carrot, mint, lettuce, cucumber and cellophane noodles – served with a phenomenal peanut dipping sauce along with crushed roasted peanuts. A very refreshing experience! Our next sampled dishes were their Beef Salad and Drunken Noodles. A+ on all dishes!
I guarantee you won’t be disappointed with “Thai Royal”. Be sure to as for Miss “Lucky”, she does a terrific job of explaining the dishes and their ingredients!
“Thai Royal” is located at 2 Harrison St. SE Leesburg, VA 20175 at the Liberty Gas Station. 703-777-9487/9. Enjoy!!
Responding @ "...run by a real Thai person, serving real Thai food..."
Please. Are you saying that the owner of Tup Tim Thai is not owned by a person who wasn't born in Thailand?
I have met the owner in-person and she has been living and was born in Thailand over 20 years.
Her name is Ngamta Krachangsai, fyi. And her Thai nickname is Lek.
Responding to Anonymous' comment about "...run by a real Thai person, serving real Thai food..."
Sorry if I wasn't clear. I did not mean to imply that the owner of Tup Tim Thai was not a Thai person. In fact, I met Lek too, and had no doubt that she was Thai.
I guess what I really meant to say is that after Tup Tim Thai closed, we finally got *another* real Thai restaurant, run by real Thai people.
We just discovered this wonderful place a few months ago and it is so delicious! The best thai food we have had since moving here 5 years ago!
Apparently you guys have not visited recently. I went last month during lunch. Thai entire "Thai" staff has been replaced with the exception of 1 Thai cook- I think she is even going to leave. They have 2 Indonesian managers/servers. (because they do not trust anyone with their money). They have a Spanish dishwasher and a Spanish table cleaner- I suppose cleaning tables is above the Indonesian manager/server. Neither of the Spaniards can understand or speak English and are getting paid cash money under the table, or so I heard. Maybe someone should alert the US Department of Labor. Anyways, the food has fallen in taste and I inquired to the Employees as to why. I was told ever since the Thai lady, named "Luck" left, the Indonesians care more about profit and less about customers and quality. (maybe a call to the US Department of Health would not be a bad idea either). Anyways, we miss the good manager, Luck, wherever you are!
@ Anonymous:
I still think the food at Thai Pan is OK-to-good, but it certainly is not what it used to be. It's sad to see the quality go down like this. On the other hand, if you want a better Thai experience in Leesburg, go to Aiyara Thai. As far as I know, it's still a Thai-owned family business with great food and great service.
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