sawasdee thai cuisine

i am staying in the area on business and decided to give sawasdee a try for dinner tonight, based on some favorable online ratings. the service was very prompt and friendly. i started with an order of shrimp fresh rolls. they were average, served with a hoisin based sauce (i prefer peanut sauce, but have had them served with hoisin before). next was the tom kha gai soup with chicken. unfortunately, the soup lacked any flavor and was mostly onion! i must admit it was the worst i've had in any thai restaurant, and i've been to many. the mangocurrychicken had some good heat, but like the soup, really lacked flavor. so i unfortunately have to give sawasdee a thumbs down. maybe i caught them on an off night?

entrees were pretty good. we got thecurryduck and cashew chicken. we would come back a million times to have some more dumplings and coconut chicken soup.

good thai!. i came across this place via groupon (currently a deal for $20 worth of food for $10). first, i'll say this place is not in the prettiest of areas but as someone who has moved to the area within the last two years, i felt pretty safe.

this restaurant has only been open for a couple of months. there were no other customers there when my friend and i arrived for dinner one weeknight. the inside is tastefully decorated with seating available at the bar, square tables w/ chairs or in booths. there's a flat screen tv on one of the walls but the volume was low. they had an old norah jones cd playing quietly in the background while we were there. the bathrooms are super clean. the waitstaff were very courteous and helpful, providing additional clarification of menu items when asked.

we ordered the sampler platter which includes 2currypuffs,2 skewer chicken satay, 2 egg rolls,3 pot stickers, 2 chicken fingers. i wasn't too thrilled by the chicken fingers but it's an acceptable item if you're dining with folks who aren't used to thai food.
we substituted thai dumplings for thecurrypuffs since they were out that night. my friend ordered the mas sa muncurry(the most popular thaicurryspices with coconut milk, onions, potatoes, carrots, peanuts) which is a nice mildcurryfor those who aren't too keen on things with a kick. however, there was a note in the menu indicating customers can specify the level of heat they want in their curry. i can't remember what i ordered but i'll post the picture above. we finished our dinner with the thai custard for dessert. i wasn't sure what to expect with the custard since i'd had the same dish at a different restaurant the week before. totally different but still enjoyable. this one was very similar to flan.

all of our food was delicious and the service was great, but that's probably because we were the only customers. :) i ordered takeout on my 2nd visit (got the mas sa mun curry) and received great service then as well. staff are extremely gracious and asked for feedback on both my visits.

if you're in the area of military circle, please give this place a try. i'd hate to see them close their doors before the public has a chance to discover them. and if you're reading this during the month of november check out groupon for a deal.