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Corey Miller
Nam Tok
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Corey Miller
Tony McDaniel
When you’re craving Thai food, there are plenty of ways to get it safely in Kilmarnock. Chao Phraya Thai & Sushi Grill’s dining room is open at 50% capacity with sanitizing stations front and back to ensure server and customer safety. Even better, their patio is open at 100% capacity. Takeout, as always, is available, as are gift certificates. Tables are disinfected before layering on fresh sheets of the butcher paper they’ve always used instead of tablecloths.
OUR STORY
When Tusnee McDaniel, owner of Bangkok Noi in Gloucester, decided to open a second Thai restaurant on the other side of the river, she asked her son Tony to come back from school and help her run it. He’s been running Chao Phraya Thai & Sushi Grill ever since it opened on Main Street three years ago. The restaurant was a hit right out of the gate, garnering a Virginia Living magazine Best of Award as recently as last month.
And while it’s a sister restaurant to Bangkok Noi, Chao Phraya has more of a fine dining feel and focuses more on farm to table, using asparagus from Dug In Farms and Chesapeake Bay softshell crabs. “We try to support local fisherman and farmers by incorporating their products into Thai cuisine,” says Tony McDaniel. A cleverly named dish called “Shrimp and grits, it’s no jok” plays on the Thai dish jok, a rice porridge breakfast dish commonly served with pork meatballs. At Chao Phraya, it’s made with sea bass stock, seared vegetables, local shrimp, jasmine rice, and fried local Kellum Farm’s oysters. He says the kitchen is inspired by Chef Sean Brock of Husk, a longtime advocate of using local ingredients to define his cuisine.
Sushi is made in house, sometimes from locally caught fish such as mackerel, which is then brined in vinegar Japanese-style. McDaniel says they’re also working on securing a vendor for deliveries of fresh fish from Japan.
Since the day they opened, the restaurant has been busy, originally because of a devoted following from Bangkok Noi. “But now, we’ve got our own following,” he says proudly. “A couple came in and said their daughter who lives in Manhattan told them about us. The word has gotten out.”
Nam Tok is a Thai beef salad with a fresh citrus dressing that allows the savory beef to shine through. Jasmine rice toasted and crushed helps bring out that true Thai traditional flavor.
Original Recipe
Nam Tok
Ingredients:
- 1 petite filet
- romaine, chopped
- 1/8 cup sliced red onion
- shredded carrots
- half to full bunch mint, depending on taste
- 1 tsp. fish sauce
- 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp. fresh lime juice
- 1 tsp. toasted and crushed jasmine rice
Directions:
Step 1: Marinate beef in 1 tablespoon black pepper and 1½ tablespoon soy sauce. Grill to medium rare or medium.
Step 2: Once cooked, let meat rest for a short time, then slice against the grain into thin bite-sized slices.
Step 3: Mix all other ingredients except Romaine and add meat. Mix well.
Step 4: Toss with romaine, sprinkle with toasted rice and arrange on a plate.
Serve with jasmine rice.
Download Printable Recipe Here
43 South Main Street | Kilmarnock, Virginia 22482
804-577-4261 | chaophrayathaiandsushigrille.com
