Rien Tong Thai Cuisine, Arlington, Va.

Rien Tong Thai Cuisine has an inexpensive lunch special that includes an entree and a choice of soup. I tried the tom yum soup, a typical Thai broth with mushrooms and chicken flavored with lemongrass, lime, and hot pepper spice. It was nice without setting my mouth on fire. My main course was "drunken noodles," a rice noodle and pork combination with an assortment of vegetables and things thrown in for good measure. Despite the name, there is no alcohol in the dish; at another Thai restaurant, I was told the anecdotal story that there once was a cook in Thailand who created the dish when he was drunk and just threw a little of everything into the pot.