Sanphan

Their pad-​Thai is perfect. Meat never fatty or overcooked. Fabulous service, cozy, great drink prices. Husband loves their curry options. It’s a gem hidden among two streets of trendier restaurants. I see a lot of politicians eat here. Their lunch deal is a steal. 11 bucks for a spring roll and any entrée. Their portions are HUGE so I had dinner for the night, too.

I went to this Thai restaurant because they had a big section on thier menu titled «Vegan Dishes» and that was very exciting. I asked a few questions when ordering, and discovered that almost everything in the vegan section had egg or fish sauce in the ingredients and couldn’t be offered vegan. I was able to one tofu dish, thankfully, but the mislabeled vegan menu was very concerning.
When I tried to raise this concern, they sent out waitress after waitress, none of whom seemed to understand the problem. Vegetarians beware, they will not change the menu and probably won’t warn you that the dishes they label as «vegan» are actually full of egg and fish products.

Yet another place that I can’t recommend across the board, but is good for certain things. Fresh spring rolls and Penang curry were excellent… But the pad see ew was tasteless.
It’s cool that we received free crab rangoons, but they weren’t anything I’d want to eat.
I’d go back for some Penang, but only if I were out and about and close to the place. As a side note, I ordered takeout. I don’t think that eating in would fix the pad see ew, but the rangoons might have been more fresh.

I thought that this was a very good Thai food place. Service was fine, my dish was extremely good. I had the window seat, nice spot. Great sit down place with a great choices on the menu for vegetarians and meat eaters alike.

This is my favorite Thai food restaurant in DC. The food is so delicious and fresh. Although there is table seating, I rarely see anyone in there which isn’t surprising as the interior is dark and drab. They are super fast to deliver but sadly don’t deliver to SW (even for a fee). And they offer free wontons when you get order delivery over a certain amount, which I don’t get to enjoy anymore now that we moved to SW and have to order for pick up. But the food is good enough to keep me coming back, even without free wontons!

Great food and good prices wine! My husband got the chicken pad Thai and loved it. I got the chicken pad see ew and it was outstanding! I was worried about trying a random place but we were very pleasantly surprised!

Definitely the worst Thai, I’ve had in the area. I chose this place based on reviews and was highly disappointed. The spring rolls tasted out of a box and had no meat. The pad Thai was mediocre at best. Too many noodles, very little chicken and peanuts. I love Thai food and usually satisfied by most Thai places but his place didn’t even come close.

The food was delish and everything came out hot. Chicken pad thai cooked well. They had the sauce tray which I love to add more heat.
But the service sucks!!! The waitresses are not attentive to the tables. One guy has to «go get her». I tipped anyway but very disappointed with the «experience».
I would go back again because of the food and hope for a better experience…

Food was so-​so. Service (checking back at table) was non-​existent. I’ve had better Thai food. The food was bland especially the beef and the fried rice had shrimp with tail on. They were also bland. Not a fan of this restaurant.

This is easily a 4-​star restaurant.
$ 3 beers during HH (that goes until 8pm), affordable prices for DC, and solid food. I’ve been here at least half a dozen times and I have never had a bad experience.
The journey to the bathroom is interesting if you’re above 5 feet 4 inches and get lost easily.

Pretty good Thai for a local joint. The atmosphere is quite pleasant and the dishes were tasty (although needed extra salt). The menu is surprisingly extensive and the Happy Hour is a very good deal at $ 5 for mixed drinks. Moderately priced but not inexpensive,

Cant understand why this place wasn’t packed. Great Panang Curry with Tofu. Attentive staff. Great lunch spot near Eastern Market metro.

I live in Calitol a Hill NE by Lincoln park. This is our go-​to takeout place.
A few reasons why:
— their pad Thai, curry, and pad see ew are delicious. I’ve tried three others in the area and this place is my favorite.
— they are the quickest to deliver. Usually there within 30 minutes. The other day they were there in 20!
— they often throw in a free drink or free appetizer.
— they have my number on file so I don’t have to give them my address each time.
— it’s affordable
I have never been in person so can’t speak to that. But all in all, this is a delicious, solid place for Thai.

The server didn’t speak much English, but not to worry, I’m from California where we’re used to conveying our ideas through body language. Sanphan didn’t leave a deep impression on me, to be honest. Although I strive to say something positive about every restaurant on Pennsylvania Ave, Sanphan only reaffirmed what I already knew, Asian food in DC just aren’t held to the same standard as it is on the West Coast. I had to look at the Unilocal pictures of the menu to remember what I ordered; the Penang Curry with Beef. The rice came in a separate bowl, and I drizzled the curry over the rice and ate it perfunctorily. Afterwards, the memory of me eating it went into the «memory dump,» never to resurface again. (allusion to Pixar’s «Inside Out,» which you should go watch) My one positive reaction to Sanphan is that I tried my friend’s Spicy Eggplant, and the eggplant was really tender.

Sanphan was quite the surprise. I didn’t know this place existed until I was out with the family and my sister was craving Thai. Quick Unilocal search and I was walking through the doors. The outside isn’t much to look at but they did a good job with the décor. The only real issue with the inside is the bathroom is a maze to find down in the basement.
Staff was friendly and efficient and the food for the most part was a real hit.
The calamari was great, the breading thick without being too heavily breaded. The flavor was excellent and the pieces were fried perfectly. I was also able to try the chicken wings for an appetizer, they too were cooked well and the flavor was decent, not as good as the calamari but good for a quick bite.
For an entrée, I went with the sweet and sour pork, nice flavor profile, pork portion was a decent size and the vegetables were fresh and crisp. The sweet and sour sauce was nice, excellent flavor and nice combination of sweetness with a decent sour kick.
Definitely worth a visit if you want some good Thai food with friendly staff.

What a pleasant surprise this turned out to be. Our plane from DFW landed earlier that morning and we were wandering the neighborhood for a spot to eat. This place isn’t much to look at outside but we love Thai so in we went. It’s a clean, attractive little place with pleasant service. We ordered off the lunch menu so they started us with the crispy spring roll. Absolutely average except for the really good sauce that came with it. A little citrusy with a bit of ginger. I would’ve loved a bottle of that to enjoy at home.
Hubby ordered the Yum Ped Yang salad, which he loved. The two bites I had were pretty tasty with really good duck.
I ordered the Panang Curry with beef which was fantastic. Simple, yet with full and gorgeous flavor.
Wish this was in my neighborhood so I could try more of their menu.

Unexpected awesomeness… the kind of thing that will just hit you out of no where!
This place really surprised me. With such a modest, unappealing or noticeable storefront… I got more than what my eyes and money bargained for lunch.
Sanphan brought the heat, the spice and flavor all at the same! Not sure what I had the craving for and since I had been to several of the eating spots lined up on this block of Capital Hill already, I settled on this place. At first, when I entered, I looked around and noticed the entire place was empty… for lunch at that?! I thought to myself…“Oh sh!%…what have I gotten myself into?! This can’t be a good sign!” And before I could turn around and walk out, I was cornered at the door by the waitress and sucked into going for one of their lunch specials suggestions. She was definitely in ninga, stealth mode and I totally did not see her coming. She was tiny, pleasant and made sure I could not reach for the the door handle to exit! LOL
So, since I really wanted Thai for lunch… paid the parking meter already… and didn’t have time to ride around looking elsewhere… I took a seat and began to ponder over their lunch menu.
I settled on a seafood soup and stir-​fry eggplant dish that… would knock your socks off!
* TOM TALAY — SEAFOOD SOUP — Very bright, with great tang and flavor. There is a mild heat and tasty, bowl-​licking worthy broth filled with seafood (shrimp, calamari, scallops, tomatoes, & mushrooms)…that put this soup in the «Campbell’s…Umm…Ummm Good» category that’s for sure! Very appealing to the eye too.
* THAI VIOLET — Spicy Goodness! Your choice of meat stir-​fried with eggplant, basil, onions, bell peppers, and fresh chili in a bean sauce. I choose chicken as the meat. Simply put… this dish was BANGIN’!! «Off the hinge»…in flavor, freshness, and overall complexity of such a foodie combination. The taste alone, along with the spicy, rich bean sauce sauce and crunch of the vegetables deserves 5 Stars alone! My mouth is watering from just visioning this dish as I write this review. The dish appeal (see pic) and taste was totally «unexpected awesomeness.» From the presentation of the dish, to each bite the eggplant put me into spicy Thai nirvana. Now, I must qualify here that I have never been a big eggplant fan myself… but this dish sold me on the purple veggie for life! If only I can replicate this dish at home… I would be in heaven.
OVERALL: 4 ½ Stars!
Sanphan gets the thumbs up from me! Great food, menu choices and exceptional; friendly service. The lunch specials are equally good and will run you about $ 9 bucks for the entrée including a spring roll… which is a great deal for lunch eats in Capitol Hill.
I will definitely be back to get my Eggplant fix again! :)

Ordered with a bunch of friends and wanted separate checks. This turned out to be a debacle. Finally, after a out 10 minutes on the phone, all worked out. They said it would take 45 min to an hour, but ended up getting there in 25 minutes! The drunken noodle was pretty tasty! Definitely three peppers hot! The girls that got the shrimp Penang, couldn’t stop raving about it. Said it was the best they have ever had. I would recommend it. All orders over $ 20 get 2 free drinks and orders over $ 30 come w an order of fried wontons. They were ok… Not my favorite though.

Being of Thai descent, this restaurant has very authentic flavors and are reasonably priced. I recommend this to anyone looking for great Thai food.

I visited Sanphan with a friend recently and though I enjoyed the food, I didn’t find anything noteworthy about this place. I couldn’t name anything that sets it apart from the countless other Thai restaurants in the DC area. I also thought the service was extremely slow, even though my friend and I were practically the only customers on a weekday afternoon after 2pm.
I ordered the Thai beef salad (grilled flank steak with tossed cucumber, tomatoes, red onion, scallions, cilantro and spicy lime dressing). The beef was a bit on the dry side, but the salad was tasty besides that. I also ordered the Tom Kha Gai chicken coconut soup (chicken in Thai-​style creamy coconut milk soup with galangal, mushroom, cilantro and Thai herbs). This was quite tasty.
Located near Eastern Market, it’s in a convenient location. But I don’t think I’d go out of my way to visit again, since there wasn’t anything truly memorable. This place is just A-​OK.