Neisha Thai, Tyson's Corner (Vienna), VA

8027 Leesburg Pike Suite 110
Vienna, VA 22182
(703) 883-3588

Num Tok and Tempura

After many years at the Tysons Corner Center Shopping Mall, Neisha Thai relocated across Leesburg Pike (Rt. 7) to the converted office building containing a Nordstrom Rack and a DXL Men’s Fashion store. The fancy dining hall at Neisha Thai is decorated with wood-carved lanterns, cave-like walls dotted with gemstones and impressive water sculptures. This restaurant is definitely not an ethnic dive.

We came to Neisha Thai for a "linner," finding the restaurant completely empty of customers. We were told that their grand opening was the previous week and was packed wall-to-wall with their old loyal customers from their years at the Tysons mall. They had no specials in terms of discounts or dishes, but we were hungry, so we decided to try it.

Drunken Noodles

The dining experience was quite underwhelming. Although the waiter explained the dishes to us, particularly how their Drunken Noodles were different from those in other Thai restaurants, after he brought us the food he sat at the bar with his back to us giving us very sporadic service. Our water and lemonade went unfilled almost until we finished our meal. Getting his attention was rather difficult, especially over the relatively high volume of music, but since we were literally the only customers in the restaurant, it should not be that difficult to get the waiters attention.

Now for the meal. For the good: The (what appeared to be homemade) lemonade was refreshing on the hot afternoon and tempura appetizer was good. In addition to the typical veggies found in the typical tempura appetizer, Neisha Thai’s contained an unusual sampling of asparagus and baby corn and was fresh and good with no oily texture. That's about all the good we can muster for this entry. For the bad: The Num Tok appetizer had a strange sweetness to it, which is unusual, since Num Tok, in our experience, is typically salty and spicy. This one was bland. Although we were warned that they make their

Pineapple Fried Rice

Drunken Noodles in a broth, not dry, this one could be more accurately described as "soupy." But worse than just soupy, despite having 2 peppers next to it on the menu, it was tasteless and bland, again with a strange sweetness like the Num Tok. Their Pineapple Fried Rice dish was served in a half-pineapple, which looked unique and interesting, but unfortunately it looked a lot better than it tasted. We took it home for leftovers and it lingered in our fridge for days, underscoring the unappealing taste.  We have never had Thai leftovers linger in our fridge.

If it was for décor only, we’d return; however, the measure of success for a good restaurant goes far beyond waterfalls and cave-like walls. For good Thai food, we are not likely to return to Neisha Thai. The great tastes and great service of neighborhood places like SweetRice, Tara Thai and i-Thai are definitely a better choice.