Heritage Asia Thai Bistro

Worst dismal service ever!
Food not memorable at best.
Will not be going back.

I love Thai and thought I’d finally check out this place up the street from me. I’ve stayed away because the reviews haven’t been great. But after reading the reviews carefully, I get the sense the food is great but the service is not so much. I can only review the food since I did take out and it looks like the Thai part of the restaurant is out of commission temporarily because of a leak.
I ordered the spring rolls and drunken noodles with chicken. There were three pieces with the spring rolls which was nice since most places give you only 2. While they tasted relatively fresh (or at least not soggy), they were bland. The drunken noodles had a good spicy sauce on them. I think the noodles were a little overcooked since they were a little too soft. The chicken was a good cut and well seasoned. I think they are average drunken noodles for what you get around town. And I agree, the price is a little high given others around town. But I like the convenience so I would go back again.

Just had dinner from here again, and the food was good. However, I think it’s worth noting that the restaurant is not handicapped-​accessible. There is no elevator or ramp, and there are a ton of stairs to get into the restaurant, and more stairs to get to the main dining room. There is also nothing on their website to let patrons know this ahead of time. (Speaking of which, handicapped-​accessibility should be included in the info on Unilocal business pages, too.) So I’m docking the restaurant’s rating, not because the building is not handicapped accessible (that’s not the fault of the restaurant), but rather because they were unwilling to bend their rules at all to accommodate our party. One person in our party had a physical disability, but would have been able to make it up the first flight of stairs to get to the lower-​level dining room in the restaurant. But the restaurant was not serving people in that level (again — seems like they never are — why do they even keep it?). They refused to let us sit on the lower level, and instead had us get carryout. We would have gone to eat somewhere else entirely, if it weren’t for having to use an imminently expiring Groupon. On top of that, they packed the food so carelessly that they didn’t notice that one of the containers with curry in it was broken, and the curry sauce spilled out of the container into the bottom of the thankfully-​plastic carryout bag. When we got home, we had to pour all the curry sauce from the bottom of the bag back into the dish, as every drop had spilled out.
There are plenty of other Thai restaurants nearby that are accessible, provide good service, and have just as good or better food. I won’t be back to Heritage Asia.

We tried this place out because of Groupon and my boyfriend wanted to impress me with Thai food. I’m Thai and cook myself so I’m always picky with Thai restaurants in the DC area and only order the basic dishes because they can’t go wrong with my order! Just to be safe, I never order curry in DC area Thai restaurants.
We went there around 4pm and they’re closed! Of course we didn’t know that ahead of time, but saw the sign in the window. Hours: Mon-​Fri 11:30 am — 2:30 pm, Mon-​Sun 5:30 pm — 10 pm, Sat 12 pm — 3 pm. We were a little disappointed, but what could we do about it?!
So we found something to do within the area and time we had to kill so we could try this place out. We came back; the restaurant was open and got our table. The decoration is decent in there, the staff hardly smile and we didn’t know what was wrong with them… we tried to make eye contact and smile a couple of times, but nothing in return. I think that’s very rude! We just didn’t feel welcome in there.
We order our food and I had their Fish balls, Green Papaya Salad and Drunken Noodles. I still remember the taste of the Fish Balls till this day! It was sooooo good! The best Fish balls I’ve ever had! The rest of the food we had was good as well. Yes I made my bf happy because I liked their food and he still proud till this day, although I don’t know if I want to go back because of their SERVICE and the way they made us feel. We just hope they can treat us better than the way they did that day!

I am surprised at all the negative reviews about their food. I am very familiar with Thai food, by the way. Been there on handsful of occasions since I live nearby.
Pro:
— Food. Their mango salad was one of the best I’ve ever had. I have tried most noodle dishes and vegetable dishes, and they are fine. I don’t know about other dishes that contain meat, since I am a vegetarian. Maybe meat dish is not so nice.
_​You have the option to eat Indian food, too, if you wish so.
— Décor and seating arrangement
Con:
— Service. Whenever we go there, there are only one or two waiters. They are either overly friendly or couldn’t care less about customers. On a so-​so day, it takes a long time to bring a check. Another thing that is awkward is that I have never seen this restaurant being filled at dinner time.
— Price. I felt it is a bit pricey, comparing to other Thai restaurants.

I decided to try this place out because I live nearby and there was a groupon for the place.
The décor of the place is pretty nice, but when my friends and I walked in, we were honestly the only people in the place for at least half an hour until one other couple walked. That whole time we were the only ones there, I try to give all restaurants a chance, but not having anyone in a restaurant is never a good sign.
Once we were seated, we ordered our food fairly quickly and it all came fairly quickly which was a plus. I got the shrimp drunken noodles, my friends each got penang curry and the green curry. We tend to share our food so I tasted each dish and it was fairly standard, it didn’t taste amazing and it wasn’t inedible, but there are definitely places along wisconsin that are cheaper and better for thai food.
In conclusion, food isn’t terrible, but their are much better and cheaper places to go on wisconsin ave.

Being one of the few Asian food places in the Glover Park/​Georgetown area, I was inclined to give this place a try. I’ve tried this place for both takeout and dine-​in.
For dine-​in, this place seems to never have more than 2 – 3 tables filled. However, service is always lacking despite no one being there. My housemate and I ate in here a couple of times and it seems like the only person working down here is chilling at the bar and rarely stop by the table to refill the waters. The food is below average-​average for thai food and in my opinion, overpriced for what is it. I had the drunken noodles and the pad thai here before and while the portion size is good enough to fill you up, it isn’t any good.
What knocks this place down another star is the people that work here isn’t very friendly. I had an unfortunate incident here once where the waiter said he was unable to split our check (even though it has been done before here) and pretty much lectured us on why we should bring cash so we didn’t have to split our check (huh?). To top that all off, he added a couple of extra bucks to the tip that wrote down on the receipt which I didn’t find out until I checked my bank statement.
The incident pretty much soured me to this place and it was a big hassle to get that whole incident sorted out. It’s in a pretty convenient location and the food is passable, but the people working here sucks. I haven’t been back since.

I can only agree with the assessment «lousy service, lousy food». We had 3 waiters for a table of 2, only one meal was served and we were then told we never ordered the second entrée, and I was left with utensils in my hand after the plates for the appetizer were removed.
Also, this is the only place in town I know where rice or bread is not included in entrees that clearly are not meant to be eaten without it; with entrée prices between $ 10 and $ 18 and small portion sizes it seems excessive to expect customers to pay another $ 4 to get a small «side» of rice or one Naan (which reminded me of Trader Joe’s Pita bread). All together, this place is a cheat.

The food is not so good and the service is slow.
I advise if you are hungry don’t go there unless you have a long discussion so you can waste your time until feed yourself.
I’m not going again.

Lousy service, lousy food. Would be one star, except they were nice while being incompetent.
1. First two items we ordered they didn’t have. THEN, the waiter came back and told us, 25 MINUTES AFTER WE ORDERED, that a third item was not available either. Ended up being served dinner more than ONE HOUR after we arrived.
2. A total of five people from the restaurant ended up visiting us at our table during the meal, but when we first walked in there was no floor manager /​greeter, and the bartender took us to a table after we got her attention. Apparently other reviewers are right, there is one staff working two or three restaurants and they jump back and forth and do a sloppy job at all three places.
3. My wife’s salad was limp and looked three days old. My lamb was definitely three days old, very dry.
AVOID THIS TRASH BIN.

Let me start off by saying that in all my reviews, I have only given one other restaurant 5 stars. I have to wonder if these other reviewers were at the wrong restaurant. For starters:
— Other reviewers complained about their water glasses not being filled. How is that possible since they leave a water pitcher on each table? Yet they still fill the glasses for you as they get low .
–Other complaints were about a 20% gratuity being added to the bill. That did not happen on my visit.
–Complaints about a poor waiter were nullifed since our waitress said she had just started working there on Monday (I ate there on Saturday night). She did a great job.
I have come up with 2 possible reasons for all of the bad reviews:
1. The restaurant went through some growing pains and has since worked them out.
2. The other reviewers thought Thai food was akin to Chinese food. Don’t laugh – many people have barfed up their dinner because they assumed that Asian food is Asian food. This can be verified by another review that said the place was «pan-​asian» or «asian fusion». Nope. This is pretty much straight-​up Thai. Lots of people don’t like Thai. Especially curry. So if you are a meat & potatoes American who eats «Asian» food at the mall food court, you will give this place a 1 star. You have to know what you are getting into.
Now let’s get to the nitty gritty:
— Appetizers: I had the Gado Gado ($ 6.50 for starter size). Ususally this is called the House Salad at Thai restaurants. Lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, tofu, with a warm peanut sauce. Excellent, and huge; I was pretty full by the time my entrée came. My dining companion, who is not adventurous when it comes to international cuisine, took a gamble on the Fish Balls (reasoning: «They’re only five bucks»). He enjoyed them.
— Entrees: There are 4 categories: the restaurant’s own concoctions (no veg options on these), curries (4 types), fried rice & noodle dishes (about 5), and stir fry (4 or 5). All of the entrees on the back side of the menu – the last 3 categories – have a choice of chicken, beef, shrimp, or tofu & vegetables. All of the veg items are $ 9.99. I had the Thai Basil Stir fry with tofu & veggies. Perfect, and I could only eat half. My dining partner had the beef fried rice, and raved about it. We split the sticky rice and mango (I will always order this dessert no matter how full I am, its pretty much the point of going to a Thai restaurant). Tasted just like I’m used to. No suprises throughout the meal, just a good Thai meal from start to finish.
The only complaint I can think of is that a lot of people like their Thai death-​defiaingly spicy. I have eaten at plenty of places that have a star or «chili pepper» system. Didn’t see that here. I’m not sure if you can ask to have heat added to the food, or if some dishes are just naturally spicier than others. Doesn’t matter to me either way, but some people may want a more authentic experience.
I came here because I had a Groupon. After buying it, I read the reviews on Unilocal and was sorry I purchased it. I almost didn’t use it; I figured I’d rather lose the $ 15 than have a horrible experience. Thank God I used it. Now I have a «go-​to» Thai restaurant, something I haven’t had since Tamarind Thai near Twinbrook closed.

WORST. RESTAURANT. EVER. Bad food, worse service, long wait for service, no courtesy, automatic gratuity for party of 4, refusal to split check among 2 couples. Etc etc

2.5 stars– here are the bullet points:
–One waiter/​bartender for the entire restaurant + 8 tables full of guests = 15 minute wait to put in our order + 15 minute wait for the check.
–We would have had more sympathy, but he was kind of a schmuck.
–Food included fried tofu (pretty great), eggplant/​basil/​beef (very good, but not spicy enough), Panang curry (incredibly bland).
–Décor was fine, prices were reasonable for the area.
–In conclusion? I plan never to return as long as I live. Not because it was terrible, but because there are at least 40 Thai restaurants in the area where I can get 50% better food and 1000% better service. Even I can do that math.

We wondered into this place because the sushi place across the street was closed for lunch.
The Korean sesame steak was pretty good but the pad Thai tasted like they way livestock feed smells like. I’ve never been to the place next door, but I’d say hit there instead.

3.5 stars for the food (pretty tasty eggplant and basil tofu dish)
3.0 stars for the service (they kept our water glasses full, but may have been too attentive b/​c he came to our table every chance he got… LET US EAT PLEASE IN PEACE!!, or else i’ll choke on the eggplant pieces)
2.0 stars for the fact that they used a «coupon» and they automatically tacked-​on the tip (20% and not 15% of the bill).
if they hadn’t done the 2.0 star bit, i would’ve given them a higher rating. i’m not a believer (exception: a group of 6 or more eating at your establishment) that you tack on the tip. DISLIKE.

1.5 stars
The food was tasty and the décor was decent. Other than that, though, I want nothing more to do with this place. The prices are a few bucks higher than they should be and the service is subpar if not bad.
I could elaborate to great lengths, but allow me to share a brief anecdote. The last time we were here, the waiter didn’t like the tip we had given him ($ 5 on a $ 30 check… a smidge above 15% which we felt was generous) so he RECALCULATED the bill to include an 20% tip on a TWO PERSON table, essentially forcing me to give him a few bucks extra.
The only reason I felt to adequately tip him at all was because the food was good in spite of the poor service. We sat at our table for nearly 20 minutes before anyone had even brought us water. The place wasn’t even half full and it was a Monday night, so it’s not as if they could use the «we’re terribly busy» excuse. They just forgot we were even there or, worse, completely ignored us while we sat there staring off into space and trying, in vain, to get somebody’s attention.
If you must suffer through the onus of being a burden on the employees of Heritage Asia, order the ginger duck. It’s very good, to their credit.

Hostess/​waitress/​mgr Modesta is fantastic.
Dined here on a Monday night with a friend. We were the only table in the restaurant, so service was attentive.
½ priced wine night — nice surprise bonus.
Food was average — had the beef drunken noodles, which my friend thought were top notch, and i had the yellow curry with chicken. I’m not a fan of cheap, tendony thigh meat in my dishes, so that’s my only criticism.
Prices are really reasonable.

I was at the National Cathedral for a performance and figured I’d drag the crew to my old stomping grounds in Glover Park. We were in the mood for Thai, and Busara on Wisconsin was pretty decent. Lo and behold Busara no longer exists (nor do nearly all the other places I remember), but we see Heritage Thai Bistro and decided to give it a try.
First, it’s not Thai, it’s sort of pan-​Asian. Second, it was pretty bad.
The proprietors were soooo friendly and nice, but it’s not working.
First, the water: Your tapwater is gross. Buy a filter. No, I’m not buying bottled either. I drink DC tapwater all the time, it’s normally fine. It even ruined the taste of the green tea.
For an app., I ordered Tom Yum Talay soup (veggie). I wanted soup, not a pile of large tofu cubes with some broth. I like tofu in tom yum soup, but just a little and in small pieces.
Friend’s app: Gado Gado. You might want to re-​describe this and say it’s a salad with some cucumber and a light peanut dressing. Nothing special about this at all. And, it showed up after the entrees.
Thai basil eggplant/​chicken entrée: Best dish of the night.
Seafood Satay: Shrimp and scallops were cooked perfectly, but the sauce was a bit off.
Heritage, stick with Indian.

There was one server there tonight (Sunday) in a fancy tux and bow tie, which was quite funny since the restaurant has a very casual décor.
We ordered the fried calamari and fried tofu as appetizers. They were good. I was a bit disappointed that the fried tofu came with sweet chili sauce since I was expecting something a little different like a peanut sauce Although, I didn’t request any different sauces, so maybe they could have done it if I asked. The calamari also came with just a sweet chili sauce. The breading wasn’t anything special. Not much flavor. The calamari was cooked perfectly and not greasy.
All of our food came out with perfect timing. Our waters were empty for the last half of the entrées, although we didn’t ask for more. We had to wave him over whenever our beers were empty for too long or to order anything. He forgot about my beer but remembered when I waved at him 10 minutes later.
The green papaya salad had the authentic fish-​sauce/​shrimp and chili flavor, but it was missing the bit of sweet, and had no carrots or tomatoes as I remembered from Thailand.
The Panang curry was really good according to one of my dining partners. It was served in an unusual way; poured on top of a layer of rice that was spread across a platter.
The other dining partner said the mushroom duck was good as well, though a bit too sweet to finish. The portions of the duck were huge.
The check was split and we kept miscalculating tip. (Honest mistake! We’re good tippers even with mediocre service!) We accidentally ended up tipping 8 cents less than 15%. Our server had no shame in coming back up to us and informing us that we didn’t tip him enough and requested that we tip 20%. He was very polite and nonchalant about it, but it still surprised me.
I won’t return because there are plenty of better alternatives. I wouldn’t recommend against trying it though.

Two and a half stars, to be fair. Maybe even a solid three for the takeout. I went with my family about a week ago. The place is nicely decorated, although I could do without the TV on. We got the table that backs up to a pillow-​covered divan, which my daughter loved.
My vegetable green curry was delicious, as was the green papaya salad. Nice mix of veg, really good spice, good rice; great presentation and seasoning on the salad. I’ve had good takeout, too. Notwithstanding, that night I was the only one at my table of three that enjoyed the food (husband had a pad thai, daughter shrimp and pineapple fried rice). And, though it was slow in the restaurant, the service was inattentive at best. First courses and first drinks arrived pretty quickly, but main courses were at least 20 minutes. It also took almost 15 minutes to get the check. It was like our waiter was /​trying/​not to make eye contact.
So I’ll try it again, and will definitely consider the takeout. My expectations for dine-​in are pretty low, though.