Springfield: Rice & Noodles Thai Gourmet

I enjoyed a very pleasant weekend lunch at Rice & Noodles Thai Gourmet (6111 Franconia Road, Springfield, just west of Beaulah Road).

The little blue building shares its space with the Burrito Joynt, which is what drew me there for a Saturday-between-jobs lunch - the Burrito place might be the only thing you notice as you pass by (given the prominence of its sign and the absence of a sign for Rice & Noodles).

The only Asians there were the staff, but there were a healthy number of patrons from the neighborhood enjoying a remarkably broad menu. You can see it ... well, the front half anyway ... at http://coupons3.hotcoupons.com/coupon... - the online version starts with "number 60", but you'll find the first 59 posted in the window when you visit.

I had the "spicy rice and noodles", which featured a mound of (fried?) rice on a lettuce leaf, accompanied by a mound of gently-fried (crisp but still white) rice threads with a sweet tamarind sauce on the rice threads. The menu gives it "2 hot peppers" and I asked for it "hot" but it was pretty tame. Nonetheless, the waitress did ask if it was hot enough and offered me some hot sauce. Despite the lack of enough heat to match my recent taste adventures, I wasn't in a complaining mood (is it possible to go out for a good time and be in a complaining mood?) and found it a very pleasant meal.

Is this the big new exciting Thai discovery? No. Is it a VERY welcome alternative to the Franconia fast-food wasteland? You bet!