Sawasdee Thai

Friends? Check. Date and time? Check. Restaurant...? A quick search on Urbanspoon turned up what seems to be a local favorite, winning over the hearts of 92% of voters -- Sawasdee Thai. I've read that this place was not what it used to be, but never mind that, because it was still packed on a wednesday night!

Sawasdee Fried Rice $10.50

First to arrive on our table was the Sawasdee Fried Rice. I didn't have high expectations for this dish because ultimately, it's just fried rice. However, by the end of the night, we came to a mutual agreement that this was probably the winner of all the dishes!

Cho Muang $8.95

As an appie we had the Cho Muang, which was described on the menu as a chicken and spice dumpling. Honestly, it was the intricate flower shape and its deep violet color that attracted me to order this dish. Taste wise it was mediocre...there was not much to the minced chicken filling and the outer skin lacked any sort of texture.

Pad Thai w/ Tamarind Sauce $10.50

I can never go to any Thai restaurant and resist ordering their Pad Thai, so here it is! Sawasdee Thai offers their Pad Thai in two ways -- with tomato or tamarind sauce. By the server's recommendation we went with the tamarind sauce. Often times I find that pad thai can be overly salty but still lacking the flavours. This was certainly not the case here. In fact, I found this dish to be a little more on the sweet side.

Choo-Chee Talay $13.95

To go with some rice we ordered the Choo-Chee Talay, which was a mixed seafood curry. It was a pretty standard curry, which again was a little on the sweeter side, but overall quite smooth and creamy.

Pad Thai Woon Sen w/ Soy Sauce $10.50

Every thing we ordered had a pretty decent portion but we still found ourselves quite hungry, so we picked another main, the Pad Thai Woon Sen. This dish was very similar to the Pad Thai, save for the noodles and the seasoning sauce used. The glass noodles used soaked up much more of the flavour, hence it was a bit heavier than the Pad Thai.

On top of the dishes pictured, we also had a couple of meat dishes from their recommendations which I had totally forgotten to take pictures of (stomach vs brain tug-o-war...can you tell who won?)! Overall, I found their meat dishes to be very salty. Unfortunately, I also found them to be overcooked and tough. 

Generally, we quite enjoyed our meal at Sawasdee Thai. The service was friendly, fast and attentive, despite the busy crowd. Until I've had real thai food I can't speak for the authenticity of this restaurant, but I would consider returning to try out some of their other dishes!

Taste: ★★★☆☆

Environment: ★★★★☆

Service: ★★★★★

Price: $$

Sawasdee Thai
4250 Main St
Vancouver, BC