Whether it’s date-night, dinner with the girls or take-out, Tara Thai in Hyattsville’s updated Arts District is worth visiting for a change of taste.
The restaurant, which opened on Sept. 20, is dimly lit with cool blue walls, has about 20 tables and a small bar. Located about five minutes from campus, south down route 1 next to other new eateries like Elevation Burger, Bus Boys and Poets and Yogi Castle, Tara Thai brings upscale Asian cuisine to the area.
The extensive menu offers a wide variety of appetizers, soups, salads, traditional Thai entrees, curries, noodle and rice dishes, a vegetarian menu, desserts and drinks, with prices ranging between $5.00 and $20.00.
Highlights include hoi obb, “fresh mussles steamed with fresh lemongrass, galanga, and basil served with chili dipping sauce;” thai curried fish cakes; an array of entrees with beef, chicken, pork, fish, and seafood; pad see eaw, “choices of beef, chicken, pork or shrimp stir-fried with wide rice noodles, egg and broccoli and Thai sweet soy sauce;” various tofu dishes; coconut ice cream; and a substantial list of cocktail coffee drinks to top off your meal.
Arial Kreisler, University of Maryland junior psychology major, has been to the restaurant twice since its opening. “It is one of the nicer restaurants in the area, with actual waiters and waitresses, so it felt like we were going out to a real meal,” she said. Kreisler tried the cashew chicken and the pad Thai. “It wasn’t greasy like some other Thai restaurants, I really liked it,” she said.
A feature of the menu that Tara Thai customer Miriam Thorne enjoyed was the vegetarian section. “It was helpful that they had a section dedicated to vegetarian dishes on the menu,” Thorne, a junior nursing student at the University of Maryland Shady Grove campus, said. “It can be hard to find pad Thai that doesn’t use shellfish in the recipe, so I really liked that.” She also found the spice level indicators on the menu helpful.
Thorne was impressed with the fast service and reasonable prices, but doesn’t have plans to go back soon, “I’m not so into ethnic food or dark restaurants – I like to be able to see my menu and food – so I would probably only go back if I had a friend visiting; it’s a nice place to take someone to.”
Sara Zalcgendler, junior economics major, recently tried Tara Thai. She thought the portions were on the smaller side and thinks it would be a good place for family-style eating and sharing different dishes. “Usually I’m wary of eating spicy food, but I decided to try it and it was the perfect level of hotness,” she said. She plans to eat at the new restaurant again soon.
Tara Thai’s other locations include Bethesda, Rockville and Gaithersburg in Maryland; Spring Valley in Washington D.C.; and Vienna, Falls Church, Richmond, Charlottesville and Hemdon in Virginia. Hyattsville is the chain’s newest location. The menus differ only slightly at each location.