There’s a new Thai place in Solomons, Thai 99. It’s in the blue roof shopping center at 13958 Solomons Island Road, the one with the library, Capt. Smith’s, and the post office, right where MD 4 and Truman split just before the Patuxent bridge to St. Mary’s County. Thai 99 occupies the space that used to be another Thai restaurant, Sawatdee, which still has a location in Lexington Park. I hated to see Sawatdee close, but very happy when Thai 99 opened up, and happier still when Nancy and I had a chance to try it.
The interior is largely unchanged. There’s still soft jazz in the background, and the interior remains sleek, clean, and attractive. Here’s the bar area (the tv was muted).
Nancy and I went on a slow Sunday night, and had our choice of tables, and presently menus and water.
Nancy chose the House Salad ($8.95) to start.
Some house! That salad was huge! You could finish after that starter. It had a good variety, with a mix of greens, green peppers, tomatoes, red onion, cashews, and cilantro. The cup in the upper right contains a peanut dressing that Nancy enjoyed. And that’s an entree-sized serving of well seasoned chicken.
I started with some spring rolls ($7.95).
Again, that’s a generous serving, with twice as many rolls as I expected. They were good and I enjoyed them both with and without the sweetish sauce.
As usual in a Thai restaurant, I ordered the Pad Ka Prao with pork ($14.95).
This was delicious. Although it didn’t have the Thai green chiles on which I dote, it was both thoughtfully and assertively seasoned. The flavor was just right and it deserved the two chiles on the menu. I spooned the meat and sauce over the ample serving of rice and loved it.
Nancy chose the shrimp red curry.
This dish was much milder than the two chiles on the menu suggested. Nancy enjoyed both the vegetables and the shrimp, but after polishing off that salad, she really didn’t need anything else. I pitched in with a taste or three, which I enjoyed, and she ended up getting a go box.
In addition to good food and service, Thai 99 offers a very pleasant place for a meal, a good place to relax and enjoy some of the better Thai food in the area — better than in town. Know that the portions are generous, and I ended up eating more than I should have. If you give Thai 99 a try, it’ll end up on your restaurant rotation.
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