The Silver Spring Penguin

Here’s the straight dope about Thai Flavor, the latest restaurant to set up shop on Colesville Road’s north side: It’s a hole in the wall without being a hole in the wall.

The place, planted next to the future Fillmore venue, is small. I’m talking shoebox small, with barely enough space for nine patrons. There’s a granite counter that seats three on a quiet day, another counter along the large window that seats two, and then two tall tables with bar stools that can manage a total of four. It’s a freakin’ hole in the wall.

But it’s not one of those holes in the wall, the kind with twitchy fluorescent lighting, mirrored walls to make the place look bigger, and a greasy veneer on everything. In fact, Thai Flavor’s bare, bright yellow walls, granite countertop and round-the-clock CNN coverage on its plasma-screen TV make the place utilitarian without being dull or depressing.

But how’s the damned food? It’s okay.

Filed under appetizer, the conspicuous shrimp bikini ($5, above) hits with four pieces of taut shrimp and soft, sweet ginger, all wrapped in rice paper then deep fried until crisp. The ginger adds a nice accent to the shrimp, which can lose its intrinsic sweetness in the deep fryer. But beyond the ginger, there isn’t much more flavor. At least it’s not greasy, like the deep-fried disasters offered elsewhere.

The summer rolls (two pieces for $4) are a lighter option. Shrimp makes another guest appearance in this cold appetizer, along with lots of shredded iceberg lettuce, scallions, mint and cilantro bundled in a translucent rice wrapper. Iceberg lettuce really has a way of sucking the life out of any dish, as it does here. It erases the shrimp’s texture and the herbs’ brightness.

On top of that, individual ingredients have a lopsided distribution inside the wrapper. During one visit, I got a mouthful of oniony scallions, while Penguin ninja Wombat got a wallop of mint. Balance and harmony in the universe are not maintained with this dish.

As for the entrees, diners have a bunch to choose from and the ability to mix and match protein sources. The penang curry with chicken ($8, above left) is a little on the sweet side, which may turn off some Thai food purists. However, I find that sweet coconut milk sauce plays well against the light chili heat and slight zing of tart lemongrass. The chicken itself is sliced thin and is tender.

The chicken ka prow ($8, above right) hits with thin, tender slices of chicken sauteed with a couple slivers of bell pepper and basil. The brown sauce is the dish’s undoing, amounting to a salty soup of soy sauce and nam pla (fish sauce). There’s a little bit of chili heat when ordered medium, but the sodium takes its toll on everything.

For a carbo fix, there are the drunken noodles ($8, above). It’s a straightforward dish — broad, flat rice noodles with meat (in this case, shrimp for an extra $1.50), scallions, basil — no big whoop. But the rich brown sauce adds a robust flavor to the dish, showing the sweet, caramel side of soy sauce and a balanced hit of garlic. There isn’t much heat to this one, but it’s still good eats.

This hole in the wall’s future depends on how the owner plays his or her hand. The place opens at the ungodly hour of 8:30 a.m., though croissants in a small countertop display suggest that breakfast isn’t a traditional Thai one.

Instead, the place might do better as a late-night haunt, a place to quell that curry craving at 3:00 a.m. (You know what I’m talking about.) In that way, the restaurant embraces its true hole-in-the-wall nature.

Thai Flavor’s service can be a little slow during the lunch rush, when office workers inundate the sole food server with orders and questions. However, she’ll never push you out, and the service improves once the lunch hour is over. It’s worth a try.

Thai Flavor, 8650 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, (301) 495-1234.

Photos by J. Deseo and R. Pace for The Penguin.