Fodor's Expert Review Thip Khao

Chef-owner Seng Luangrath learned to cook as a young girl in a refugee camp and later brought the cuisine of Laos and Thailand to northern Virginia and then D.C. The atmosphere at her Columbia Heights outpost might be casual, but the flavors of its food are complex. Order fist-size helpings of sticky rice served in wicker baskets (which give the restaurant its name) to dip in spicy sauce alongside the addictive minced-meat salads known as laab. The drink list is short, but its options (bourbon and ginger cider) are impeccable matches for the spicy menu items.