Esaan Northeastern Thai Cuisine

I LOVE Thai food and picked Esaan on Yelp, it did NOT disappoint! I can't wait to come back and try more dishes. We had the chicken pad Thai, crispy rice salad, and the sticky rice with Thai custard. SO SO GOOD. We left with happy bellies and can't wait to come back.

Our meal was spectacular-- I would order it all again. It is definitely some of the best Thai spots in the area. We split the whole rock fish, fried whole squid, shrimp pad Thai, shrimp tom yum soup, cornish hen, and nam tuk. Most people in my party loved the fish the most, but I really liked the pad thai and surprisingly the cornish hen. -not many places have green thai tea so I had to try it. I liked it, but not the best I've had

Esaan is one of our favorite eateries in NOVA. We would show up more often if we lived closer. Esaan specializes in tasty Northern Thai cuisine that reminds me of the late great Pok Pok in Portland, OR.On our most recent visit, we ordered the Crispy Spring Rolls and Golden Crispy Fried Tofu as appetizers. For entrees we ordered Yum Woon Sen and the Kao Soi.Esaan's spring rolls are the best spring rolls I've ever eaten. The delicate and flaky roll wrappers are indescribably good! Love 'em! The dipping sauce is delicious too.The peanut sauce that comes with the fried tofu is amazingly good. However, even though the tofu cubes' texture was great, it seemed that Esaan forgot to salt the tofu. The dipping sauce does not fully compensate for the missing salt.The Yum Woon Sen was a handsomely prepared dish, very easy on the eyes. Esaan's Woon Sen comes with bean curd (glass) noodles, shrimp, minced pork, onion and chilis. The Woon Sen was good but could have stood a little more seasoning.The Kao Soi, as always, was excellent and delicious. It's a coconut yellow curry soup with egg noodles, served with a chicken drumstick. Accompanying the kao soi was a little side dish with fresh red onion and pickled vegetable. Unfortunately, for me, the side dish also contained cilantro, even though I asked that they keep cilantro the hell away from me. But the mistake was quickly rectified. Kao Soi also has crispy fried noodles, and at Esaan they bring the crispy noodles out on a separate plate in an almost theatrical move. This will always be my favorite dish at Esaan.Service is responsive and orders are filled quickly. And yesterday evening, we loved the music being played. It was kind of a chill dance beat selection.

Stopped by for a late Sunday lunch and it was empty! That's crazy because the food is absolutely fire. My husband and I love northern Thai food and Esaan absolutely delivered. We tried the iced Thai green tea latte, the crispy rice salad special, the Khao Soi, and the Khao Mun gai Tod. Everything was fantastic. I particularly loved the crispy rice salad.I hope to return to try more of the northern Thai specialties like their som tum or their meats with sticky rice.

Solid 3.75. The fresh rolls had a sauce that was THE BEST DIPPING SAUCE EVER!! Papaya salad was fresh and we asked them to kick it up a notch and they obliged. The Penang curry and pad Thai were way too sweet (for us). I didn't taste much other than sugary ness which is a shame as it was obvious there was so much other complexity in jt. Cute tiny interior and fantastic service!!!

4.5 stars for really solid Thai spot.My wife and I were looking to grab a bite to eat one evening somewhere in the McLean area. I fired up the Yelp app, looked at my Washingtonian Top 100 bookmarks, and saw that Esaan was located nearby. We drove over to a rather unsuspecting plaza (which has another Thai place located about 100 feet away) and walked inside.We encountered a fairly small venue with a register up front (seems like this place does a lot of take out) and tables that were pretty close together. The hostess/waitress took us over to a table and handed us the menu. She was actually one of my favorite type of servers were she was attentive and answered questions, but not overly talkative and friendly aka providing just the right amount of service.After ordering some drinks from the menu, my wife and I put in our food orders. After looking over the Washingtonian's review, I decided to order the Somtum Muor, which is essentially a papaya salad on steroids, and the pla tod rock fish, which is $60 but is over 3 pounds! The Somtum Muor came out first and, while my wife was not a fan due to the fermented fish taste, I thought the dish was absolutely fantastic. All of the different flavors and ingredients seem a little random, but they actually work together to make a really tasty dish. My rock fish came out a little while after and, as you can see in pictures and other reviews, the presentation is definitely a show-stopper. Fortunately, the taste lives up to the hype as the lime dressing and cashews again present a combination that would seem random, but actually really works together to again make a tasty dish.Overall, you would see a place like Esaan from the outside and not think much. However, the excellent service and outstanding food revealed this spot to be one of Northern Virginia's hidden Thai gems. Definitely consider checking this place out next time you are in the area or ordering some takeout/delivery.

Cornish hen is was well seasoned with Thai herbs but that also made us come off bit too salty. Especially when you put the spicy sour sauce on top it becomes extra salty. Definitely needed the rice to counter it, would be helpful if there were side veggies with the chicken to help refresh/cleanse the palate. Pad Thai has a more sweet and soy sauce flavor compared to the common orange-colored tamarind variety. Portion size was a bit small and noodles came out already clumped together, but it was decent to satiate a pad thai craving.Seating is pretty small/limited as well as parking, so better to visit at a non-peak time.

Wow. Essan really was delicious. I was the mood for Thai and my friend recommended them. I did take out and ordered the Panang chicken, Tom yum soup, pad Thai, massaman chicken. All was so flavorful and delicious. The pad thai was good but didn't have the flavors of the Panang or massaman. It's a lighter dish I find. Overall I would absolutely recommend if you're looking for traditional Thai with different flavors. Will def done again.

While in the area one night, I was craving Thai food but wanted to try something different. I decided to stop into Esaan. I had seen the menu here before and was intrigued. I enjoyed my meal and was not disappointed. For appetizer, I tried the Hoy Jor. It was delicious, fresh-made, and I was happy with it. I also tried the Kai Kluk Ka Pi and Nam Tok Nue entrees. The Kao Kluk Ka Pi was a flavorful and thoughtfully made dish. It was a little small portion-wise and I would have appreciated a handful more meat and shrimp paste fried rice. The Nam Tok Nue was a classic Thai dish done well.  I like that the menu here strays away from typical Thai restaurants and offers more unique and authentic dishes. I would like to come back and try other options on the menu.

About a 3.5: Esaan serves northeastern Thai cuisine, known for their usage of strong fish sauces and chili peppers.Their menu is pretty extensive, offering seasonal menus/specials, appetizers, salads, rice and noodle dishes, pork/chicken/beef/seafood/fish/veggie options, sides, and drinks.We came here for an early dinner, and I ordered:+the Esaan Pad Thai - stir-fried noodles with bean sprouts, chives, and tamarind sauce, topped with fried garlic; you have the following protein choices: tofu, chicken, or shrimp, which I opted for the shrimp; this was not as sweet as other pad thai dishes I've had, but I still liked how they cooked the noodles perfectly al dente and made the dish super saucy (which I like!); there were large shrimp as well. I also liked that they served the crushed peanuts and chili flakes on the side to top to your heart's contentI also tried one of their appetizer specials, which was a crispy white sand whiting fish dish - these came as two, marinated in turmeric and topped with a salt fried garlic; note that this is bone-in. These were okay, and any fish lovers would enjoy it. A tangy sauce is provided, but you could also ask for just regular vinegar to dip it in.On the next visit, I'd like to give their Esaan Panang Curry Chicken, Kao Soi, Yum Khanom Jeen Pra Too, and Pia Koong a try.I do wish that they had better ventilation or the air on correctly, since I could smell some of the musty-ness, and it was kind of uncomfortably humid inside.Service was friendly, and the place itself is small and cute - part of a strip plaza, you may miss it - it's located around the corner from the Pulcinella Italian Kitchen.Plenty of parking in the shared plaza lot, but the lot fills up quickly!+Esaan Pad Thai with shrimp+friendly service+plenty of parking in the strip plaza lot