white elephant is one of my family’sfavoriteplaces to treat ourselves to because it’s near our home. this time we celebrated my grandma’s us naturalization (go grandma!) with dinner. i tried everyone’s dishes and some desserts. the chicken pad thai ($13.99) is a classic; it’s myfavoritethai dish. i’ve had many renditions of the dish at restaurants near home, in dc, london and elsewhere. we have pad thai at j street, our dining hall at gw and it’s way too salty. white elephant’s pad thai is consistently good. the contrast of the soft noodles with the crunchy bean sprouts is great and the chicken is always flavorful. the flower-shaped carrot garnish was a nice touch, as was the orange slice, which is refreshing after the meal.