Nava Thai - searching for great Thai food

In my search for great Thai food it was suggested I check out Nava Thai. I stood of the in the lobby darkly wooded restaurant and waited for a member of the staff to appear. I could see a couple with a baby at a nearby table eating and talking. A few minutes later a man who  had been standing smoking outside the restaurant as I entered came through the doors. He walked silently past me and into the restaurant. Shortly after another man appeared and hurriedly showed me to a table near the bar.

I ordered:

Small tom yum soup with chicken (lemongrass soup)

Shrimp in garlic and pepper sauce

Jasmine tea

The soup was mildly spicy as indicated on the menu, but the straw mushrooms did not taste fresh,  more. Lots of cilantro and lemongrass.   

Overripe cucumber (the cucumber flesh was translucent) was used to garnish the shrimp  entrée- it should have been thrown out.  The shrimp dish was served country style. Medium spicy, but the cucumber garnish error made me think twice about ordering additional dishes. 

Service was uneven and slow.  I wondered if  was it because it was time of day (around 230pm in the afternoon) or if this is typical? The length of time between when I ordered the soup and tea and the when the soup arrived seemed very long  I suspect this was because the server assigned to my table was distracted watching a movie on the television at  the bar, chatting with friends, and on the phone.   In fact the soup and shrimp entrée arrived within seconds of each other.  When I asked the server for to go containers for my food only he acknowledged my request and walked away to get the container stopping by the bar enroute to note the latest scene of the movie still on the screen. He returned to my table empty handed. - he'd forgotten the containers.   The Matrix is one of my favorite movies, but it might have been better for the sever to take the time off and just watch the movie.

Nava Thai is located in a fairly busy area of Wheaton with lots of metered parking. If you're going to visit I recommend visiting on Sundays or on a holiday – parking is free in County parking lot at the intersection of Price and Fern Streets

I can say with certainty the debate concerning  who serves the best Thai food between  Ruan Thai and Nava Thai has been solved for me,  I choose Ruan Thai after today’s visit.



Be well,
Technicolor girl