Nana Thai

We came on a Saturday night and the restaurant was surprisingly empty. I loved the food! The chicken satay was excellent — moist and generous pieces, dipping sauces were fresh. The drunken noodles were also very good — great flavor and generous serving size. Service was great — attentive, knowledgeable and discreet. We enjoyed talking to the manager (owner?) about Thailand. I would definitely return next time I want Thai food. I would give this restaurant a 4.6.

For a long time during my youth I was in a rut with my Asian takeout, only ever ordering Chinese. Now that I’ve discovered Thai, I’m a much happier and much more well-​rounded diner. When this place was Old Siam it became my go-​to for takeout, and the name change doesn’t seem to have had any negative effect on the food. The curry puffs are still light and flaky and the pad see ew is still deliciously savory without feeling too heavy or greasy. The rest of my dinner party slicked their pad thai and drunken noodles without any complaints. Their friendly staff and new online ordering system make the whole experience pleasant, so this will stay my regular Thai takeout place in DC.

Nana Thai is my go-​to for both dine-​in and delivery in the neighborhood. I am working my way through all of the vegan options they have. The coconut and lemongrass Tom Kha soup is delicious, and so is the Drunken Noodle. The servers are great with knowing the ingredients of the vegetarian options, and they are always able to help us try something new.
Delivery is worth the wait, which can be up to 45 minutes. The delivery person is very nice and the food is always hot on arrival.
I would love to give Nana Thai 5 stars but they don’t have a vegetarian curry– all of the curries have fish sauce. It’s a total heartbreak, because I’m guessing their curry is also delicious.

I love this place! Came here for the 1^st time a few weeks ago. Te always very nice and accommodating. Excellent food and service!!!

Loved this restaurant when it was Old Siam, and still love it now that it’s Nana Thai. Everything I’ve gotten from appetizers, to drinks, to sushi, to Thai dishes, to desserts, has been delicious. Really great lunch specials and always friendly service.
The only downside would be sometimes there’s a strange moth-​ball type smell in the back, and it seems the AC is very rarely on when it definitely should be. Neither of these things deter me from returning though. Definitely my favorite Thai spot and Sushi spot on Capitol Hill.

My husband and I went here a month or two ago when we wanted to eat outside with our dog. They were very kind about the whole thing and there were definitely other dogs out on the small outdoor seating area as well.
We’re always on the lookout for good thai food near us, since it is one of my husband’s favorite cuisines. We often go to Thai Orchid Kitchen, but it was a nice night and we wanted to eat outside.
I can’t remember exactly what we ordered. I think one of them was a dish with peanut sauce. All I remember is that the food was fine. It’s your typical thai place. Nothing outstanding, but I could see us going back if we were hungry.

The Isan menu is where its at. The Isan food prepared by this restaurant is top notch for Thai food being served outside of Thailand. I lived in Thailand and have tasted Thai food all over the world. Outside of Thailand, I would put Nana Thai in my top 5. Nana Thai’s food is far better than Thai X-​ing and is within the range of Little Serow (for half the price of both places and you can pick-​up, easily make a reservation, and get it delivered) I say this after living in Thailand and eating nothing but Thai food 3 meals a day for a little over a year. If you come here and don’t try the Isan menu, its like going to Ruth Chris’s Steak house and ordering chicken. Reserve your judgement of this place until you’ve eaten off the Isan menu.
Som Tum with Sticky rice is a great dish to try if you are looking to broaden your horizons. My fiancé orderd Moo Yang which is grilled pork with chili lime sauce and sticky rice. I am a vegetarian so I didn’t eat any, but it looked delicious. I had drunken noodles, it was good as far as drunken noodles go.
If you don’t now what Isan food is, it is food from the rural country North east of Bangkok in Thailand. It is rustic food that is served with sticky rice and should be spicy. People in Bangkok go crazy for good Isan food, and after you have had dished like Nam Tok Moo (on the menu) you will understand why.
Little Serrow cashed in on how good Isan food is a couple of years ago, and to my knowledge, Nana Thai is the second restaurant in DC to offer the cuisine. You can get some Isan-​ish food if you drive out to Elephant Jumps in VA as well. I’m sure there’s actually tons of Isan places that Thai people know about, but for a farong, its not so easy to find. Back to Little Serrow: Nana Thai serves food that is a la cart and you do not have to wait in a line or give your phone number to be texted when your table is ready. They take reservations, to take-​out and delivery, something Little Serow doesn’t do. Little Serow is probably twice as expensive. I like Little Serow, but I am very glad that Nana Thai is here, as they have brought the Isan cuisine back down to earth for regular people to enjoy (Isan food for $ 50 at little Serow, owned by a white man, is kind of swagger-​jacking).
Try this restaurant if you love Thai food. Especially try this place if you love Thai food and find yourself wanting to explore the cuisine more. Go here if you know you eat Thai food with a fork and spoon (and possibly your hands) and not chop sticks. Definitely try this place if you were an expat in Thailand. I don’t know how this place stacks up within the Thai community here, so I won’t make any comments.

I’ve eaten here at least four times, and I’ve never had a bad meal. I’ve had dinner, lunch, and sushi; all were good. The lunch combos are a great way to try some different Thai dishes. The sushi happy hour is another great deal with $ 1-​$ 2 nigiri and other specials.
The staff is another great highlight. They are extremely sweet and inviting. I’ll definitely be headed back soon.

I have been looking for a good Thai take-​out spot in the capitol area. I enjoyed Nana Thai, but was not blown away by any means.
For two people we ordered the pineapple fried rice and the pad see ew with chicken. The pineapple fried rice was dry, but there was a lot of pineapple and chicken to make up for the dry rice. The pad see ew was very delicious. I planned on saving some for lunch but my husband devoured the rest of it after discovering just how delicious it really was.
The portions are not particularly large like at some of the other nearby Thai prices. Unfortunately the prices seem to be about the same as other nearby restaurants like Sanphan, but at Sanphan you get a much larger portion.
The restaurant offers online ordering from Chow Now, which made things very easy. They sent me an e-​mail with a 15 minute warning before the food was ready. When I arrived right around that time, the food was hot and ready to go which I loved.
I will be back for the Pad See Ew, and to dine-​in to try their happy hour deals!

I really enjoyed Nana Thai. If I could give them 4.5 stars, I would.
Service: The service was impeccable. Superb. Some of the best service I have encountered among East Asian and SE Asian restaurants. The servers were helpful, courteous, and thoughtful.
Ambiance: Is it a thing not to play music? Dining here was a little awkward with no background music. About 45 minutes into our experience, they put on Thai music. The décor is cute. I found my eyes drifting to take it all in. Very cozy. The bathrooms were very clean and inviting.
Food: We ordered the uncooked crab papaya salad, drunken noodles, a fish that was cooked with lemongrass in a banana leaf, and a mango coconut sweet rice dessert. Our server explained throughly that the papaya salad WAS made with uncooked crab. I am always eager to try new things, so We went ahead with the order. But, the salad had such a fishy taste and strange smell that I was not able to eat it. This is the first thing that has put me off in years (and I have had some strange foods). The drunken noodles were delectable. The sauce was spiced perfectly and the noodles perfectly al dente. I loved the cherry tomatoes and the ratio of vegetables, chicken, and noodle. The lemongrass fish in banana leaf was interesting. The flavor is laden with a lemongrass taste, but also has strong herbal undertones. I loved eating it from the banana leaf. My partner did not care for this one as much, but I preferred it over the drunken noodles. We finished our meal with mango coconut sweet rice. As the name implies, it was a sweet ending to a delicious meal. Unlike other versions that I have tried, this one did not come in a bowl, like a soup. I much prefer Nana Thai’s version. The sesame seeds added a subtle nuttiness, helping to complete a wonderful evening.
I wish this place had more reviews. I’m happy that Nana Thai is not a far walk from my apartment. I’ll be back for more!

This used to be a go-​to Thai option for me (narrowly edging out Sanphan b/​c the atmosphere is so nice. But sushi quality is noticeably worse than when it was Old Siam. The Garden Roll was terrible — one had an overwhelming amount of mint, and the carrot inside was so dry it was tasteless. Thai dish was fine, Steamed veggie side was perfect –sad that was the best part!
They forgot an item in my most recent delivery, and although very nice about it, couldn’t simply refund the cost of that item from my credit card. Given the many options, I think I’ll pick another place next time.

Four and a half stars for the food, five for service. Great first dining experience here. Hospitable as most Asian restaurants. Food was authentic and freshly made. My husband ordered the green curry and this was the closest it ever tasted to authentic Thai food (visited the country and had the pleasure eating and cooking the dishes). I ordered the duck larb with sticky rice. Again it was freshly prepared. This had a twist to the regular larb I’ve had. It had some grainy, bready ingredient but just the same, excellent in flavor. The duck was tender. Spices just right. The sticky rice was a tad dry. Could use more water in the process. This will be added to our go-​to restaurants from now own.
Update:
Hubby and I returned yesterday. We were very disappointed with the food this time. He ordered a seafood fried rice and I had their Saba bento.
We will still return but will definitely stick to their Isan dishes and curries.

The staff here are very friendly, and the menu has items that you do not see on the menu of every Thai/​sushi restaurant because their specialty is supposed to be Northern Thai cuisine, how the sushi fits into that I don’t know, BUT I do know that this place needs some help.
The menu needs to be updated and reorganized, it was a bit of a challenge to determine if what I wanted to order for dinner was available. Also, one of the beers that is listed as being only available as a 22 oz was only in stock as a 12 oz. I’m not a beer drinker but I wanted one that day, the cocktail I had instead was actually decent. A spin on a Long Island but with juice instead of tea/​coke.
We had to move to the back room of the restaurant because there was a very questionable aroma that seemed to be a chronic issue, there were several air fresheners concentrated in the front room/​bar area.
The avocado and miso salad was very fresh and well seasoned.
The California roll and tempura shrimp sushi rolls were too large, each piece was easily two or three bites, and it wasn’t rolled tight, it fell apart before either one of us could get it to our mouths.
The Pad Thai with chicken could have used a few more vegetables. I’m no chef but it seemed like the chicken, which was dry, had been cooked earlier and thrown in at the last moment, some of the pieces were significantly cooler in temperature than others.
We tried it, and now we know don’t have to go back. We will continue to stick to our usual neighborhood spot for Thai.

I’ve had Pad Thai a million times and that was definitely as good as it gets. Really amazing food. The sushi was great as well. No complaints whatsoever in regards to the food. The staff was very friendly as well. Next time I’m in the area or craving something delicious I’ll make the trip to DC for this.

Man, oh, man: What an excellent restaurant. We stopped by for brunch during a day of exploration, and were blown away. We got a tasty noodle dish that came with an decadent breakfast sandwich. Homey and comforting, it was unlike anything I have had before, and was the perfect way to start the day. Plus, it made for a swell hangover cure.
Great prices, friendly staff, and comfortable ambiance, this place would have my business all the time if I lived in the area.
Stop by, you’ll be glad you did.

This is by far one of my favorite Thai/​Sushi spots in DC.
When I come I normally get sushi. My two favorite rolls are the spicy crunchy yellowtail roll and the spicy crunchy shrimp roll. Their rolls are super filling and fresh, I usually just get one roll but if I’m starving I may get two.
They’re good whether dining in or ordering take-​out.

I’m old enough to remember when Thai restaurants were exceedingly rare in this country, at least outside of the biggest cities. Now they’re a common feature of every mid-​sized and even smaller Podunk, and, as with Chinese restaurants, the menus seem to have become more and more uniform and Americanized, and the food often quite bland.
Maybe things are starting to change for the better. Seems weird that it takes some white guy to lead this charge, at least for his fellow Caucasians – I’m talking about the Pok Pok guy out of Portland – but in the last few years Thai regional specialties appear to be creeping in, and it’s a damn good thing.
Nana has the typical Americanized-​Thai standards (called an «All Time Favorite Entrées» here, with pad thai, a basil dish, a veggie stir-​fry, etc), and it has a sushi menu (as with other Thai restaurants, I ask, «Why?»).
But it also has an Isan menu featuring items from Northeastern Thailand, and that’s what makes Nana really worthwhile. You’ve probably seen a few of these things before (like tom sabb, a version of which sometimes appears on Thai menus as Thai hot-​and-​sour soup and which was brighter and fresher tasting than what I’ve had in our town). But, as an Ohio resident for the last eight years, I wasn’t familiar with others: Som tam pu was a terrific appetizer – a refreshing green papaya salad with cherry tomatoes that a nice balance of big hot-​and-​spicy, sour, and salty (largely from chunks of salted crab – watch those shells) flavors. (I think that one is common throughout Thailand.) Hor mok was like nothing I’ve had in a Thai restaurant, or really anywhere – fish steamed in a banana leaf wrap with shrimp-​paste; it looked a bit like, and was not texturally unlike, a tamale. It was hugely herbaceous (lemongrass, scallions, cilantro, shallot), and I’d order it again in a second. (It’s not that big a portion, though.) All entrees are served with sticky white rice, which comes in a little basket, is apparently is common in Isan, and is similar in consistency to the sticky rice you get at dim sum.
FWIW, the standard stir-​fry thing my picky brother-​in-​law ordered looked pretty bland.

What’s the deal with sushi at Thai restaurants in DC? If you want sushi go to a Japanese restaurant. If you want Thai, Nana isn’t a bad bet.
This is the old Old Siam. I’m not sure if it had an ownership change or just rebranded, but Nana does seem like a legitimate attempt to do better than Old Siam did. Most of the old menu is still there, as well as a few new Northeast Thai dishes. Overall good food and solid takeout option.
It’s not Little Serow or Thai X-​ing but that’s OK. It works to satisfy your occasional Thai craving.

Solia frecuentar old siam pero solo iba por los tragos, esta nueva imagen esta mucho mejor que antes el lugar esta fantástico y la decoración es increible, ahora solo voy por la comida nana beff como lo pedi esta delicioso, moo yang que será un deleite para los carnivoros como yo, tambien probe pla ma y definitivamente volvere a pedirlo, continua el sushi de lo que era old siam y esa ya es mi tradicion cualquier dia después de la oficina, ahora sera mi punto de encuetro favorito y no solo por los tragos ahora tambien para saborear un buen plato!

Old Siam has rebranded itself as Nana Thai. They still serve sushi, they still have most of the old menu and the inside still looks exactly the same. The big difference is that they are also serving Isan style food from Northeastern Thailand on their menu too.
I decided to try it out tonight for takeout. I ordered the papaya salad, Larb pork and the Isan sausage. The best part of the whole meal was the sticky rice, but it was definitely nice to be able to get sticky rice.
Mostly the flavors were just kind of muted. The Larb wasn’t nearly as spicy or as flavorful as I hoped. Same with the papaya salad (and the tomatoes were kind of mealy). The Isan sausage was ok, but not great.
I’m excited that this is here and I’m going to give it another try. I’ll definitely keep ordering off the Isan menu and I think it is an improvement over what Old Siam used to be. This moves it above Sanphan for me (though I’d still go to Sanphan for my more standard Thai food) but it sure isn’t the same as having Bangkok Golden move in down the street — which is what I really dream about.

So the décor leaves a little to be desired, but oh my stars, the food!
We had a coconut milk seafood soup hot pot which was amazing, and pad Thai, which was perfectly prepared. We finished the meal with a delicious coconut sticky rice… service was friendly and fast. This place is a real hidden gem!