Ronnarong Thai Tapas Bar: Tasty Thai Tapas in Somerville's Union Square
Somerville is the new Cambridge, according to locals, and Ronnarong Thai Tapas Bar in Somerville’s Union Square is the new and tasty Thai tapas bar there. Ronnarong Thai Tapas Bar at 255 Washington St. used to be called Great Thai Chef restaurant. A small, devoted following kept chef Ronnarong Saksua going for more than 10 years.
But in 2009, aided by friend and landlord Henry Patterson and others, the chef redesigned the restaurant. He kept old favorites, such as pad Thai, but added tapas with a distinct Thai flavor.
“Ronnie related our request (for small plates) to the Thai idea of gup gla-em or ‘drinking food’; small portions of fried foods and other snacks served in Bangkok’s bars,” Patterson said.
Bostonians were familiar with tapas; small dishes from Spain. They’re small-plate treats, with smaller prices, providing a taste variety.
Ronnarong shines with tapas dishes such as paradise beef. The menu calls it “an ancient recipe, marinated then dried, deep-fried upon order (Nua sawan).” It’s mildly spicy and flavor-filled. Diners say the beef strips look like candied jerky, but are tender inside and are delicious.
The most-popular tapas are the paradise beef and shrimp curry cake, a restaurant staffer said. One local reviewer called Ronnarong a “cute little place,” with comfy cushions and friendly service.
Some Thai restaurants seem tired and predictable. Ronnarong has energy and freshness – like once-gritty, once-industrial Somerville. The city of 76,000 is adjacent to Cambridge and 10 minutes west of Boston.
And there are other, important personnel touches.
“In 2008, Ronnarong went home to Thailand for the first time in many years, concerned about his mother’s health. He met Anong, a friend of his sister, who was helping care for his mother. Anong had been a family friend and is the sister of the monk at their temple,” says the restaurant website.
“Long story short: They got married in Thailand before Ronnie returned [to the U.S.].”
Anong waited in Thailand for a visa until, in 2010, the paperwork came through and she joined Ronnarong in Union Square. Now they’re in the small, busy kitchen.
Ronarong is smallish and moderately priced, with a bar-like area that solo diners often use. On a recent afternoon, a mail carrier fresh from his rounds was there with a bowl of warming Tom Yum. The menu calls this “an entrée-sized bowl of Ronnie's spicy soup with chicken and egg noodles. $9.50.”
Union Square is an up-and-coming center of local activity only blocks from I-93 and busy McGrath Highway (Route 28). There’s a weekly famers’ market on summer Saturdays, and Ronnarong is next to The Independent, an American-cuisine restaurant and pub popular with young professionals.
Where Somerville’s thriving Davis Square, a mile away, has almost become an extension of now-expensive Cambridge, Union Square is more hipster friendly, with an alternate energy. Davis Square is in the gravitational pull of Tufts University. Union Square has more MIT/ethnic vibe.
Locals might say there’s more Somerville there.
Posted by Dan Sheridan
