Restaurant Review: Sawaddee Thai Cuisine

SAWADDEE THAI CUISINE 664 Wye Road, Sherwood Park | sawaddeethaicuisine.ca Co-Diners: The E.A.T Crew

I used to think that I had Thai food in Edmonton all figured out. In the past I really enjoyed The King & I for Thai dining until they closed down during the pandemic. Since then, I can't say that I've been especially impressed or enamoured by any other Thai restaurants in the city... But I hadn't tried Sawaddee yet. Owned by a Thai family from Bangkok and open since 2015, Sawaddee was named Best Restaurant Outside City Limits in CBC Edmonton's Best Restaurants 2019 list (and by "outside city limits" they mean Sherwood Park). I absolutely did not mind the 20 minute drive in the name of delicious Thai food. Sawaddee means "hello" in Thai and I was really looking forward to saying hello to this restaurant and getting acquainted with everything that they have to offer. You will locate Sawaddee in a strip mall type of area with pictures of their food emblazoned on the windows - it's pretty difficult to miss. Entering the space on a Sunday evening, I was pleasantly surprised! This place is super cute!! (I'm not sure why I would have expected otherwise.) The decor inside is full of bright jewel-toned colours - namely a joyful magenta that feels quintessentially Thai somehow. Swirling white tiles are a striking accent while gorgeous pieces of Thai art and placemats adorned with golden-thread elephants finishes the atmosphere. It's like a little slice of Thailand condensed into one room. On top of this, the wonderful staff are incredibly friendly, embodying the land of smiles. Once settled into a cozy booth, I was excited for my forever Thai drink order; Thai Iced Tea ($4.50). This Thai beverage lives in my heart and I pretty much can't order anything else. However, we were incredibly amazed to learn that Sawaddee serves Chang beer!! Our server casually mentioned that they carry Thai beer to which we immediately responded "do you have Chang?!" and were delighted by his response that they did. We have many fond memories of enjoying this beer while we traveled through Thailand in 2016 and haven't been able to find it anywhere since (even in well-established Thai restaurants in Toronto and Vancouver). It turns out that Sawaddee is the place!

My Thai iced tea arrived in all of it's orange glory, a strong black tea mixed with sweetened condensed milk. This tea is unlike anything else because of how milky and sweet it is. Actually, it does remind me a bit of Hong Kong–style milk tea, which is another milky tea preparation. But the Thai version is certainly something all its own. No visit to a Thai restaurant is complete without it! (Although now that Chang is an option I may sometimes choose a boozier route.) The colourful menu boasts many dishes from salads, soups, curries, noodles, and plenty of seafood. I liked that there was a photo of every single dish so that if you are unfamiliar with what something is you can see it. (I remember this being common in Thailand as well.) Although one thing that I couldn't help but notice is that many of the items in the appetizer and dessert sections have been blocked out. It seems that they have decided to stop selling many of the items that were originally printed on the menu (or maybe the ingredients are challenging to source?) and that makes me wonder what I'm missing out on! I know that one of these items is the Curry Puff - a pastry that I love and was hoping to try! As an alternate appetizer we ordered the Kanom Pang Na Moo ($10.00) instead.

Minced pork toast, cilantro, egg, cucumber salad with onion.

This fried bread and pork served with cucumber relish was tasty and addictive. Eaten as a finger food snack, we couldn't get enough of it. The bread was crispy with wonderfully crunchy edges and the pork and egg mixture on top was some kind of magic. The cucumber salad does a great job of adding acidity to the dish and balancing the fried heaviness. I'd love to eat these all day! Thai food involves complex layers of flavour and sophisticated balances; spicy, sour, a little bitter, salty, herby. Colour and texture are important; crispy, soft, cold, hot. This interplay between elements is what makes Thai food so thrilling and compelling. Expect to eat your food with only a fork and spoon - such is the Thai way! Our next dish was a salad, the Som Tum ($14.00), one of my favourites. I had a version of this at a night market in Krabi that has stuck with me and I have been chasing the spicy papaya dreams ever since.

Spicy papaya mixed with tomato, green bean, carrot & peanut.

The version at Sawaddee is very good. A green papaya salad is supposed to include tomato and I was happy to see that this one did. Bathed in a zesty dressing, the medium spice level was just right and the crisp freshness of this savoury salad was able to shine. The peanuts added a desirable crunch texture. A very good som tum! Since this was our first visit Pad Thai ($19.00) was going to be a must. This noodle dish is everywhere in Thailand, from high-end restaurants to street food stalls.

Stir fried thin rice noodle or vermicelli with tofu, egg, peanut and tamarind sauce. Choice of chicken or prawn.

I was very happy with this version because the tamarind flavour was at the forefront. In some (less good) restaurants pad thai will be made with a tomato-based sauce which is just wrong. The noodles were cooked well and positively coated in the sweet-sour sauce. We chose shrimp as the protein and each one was plump and satisfying. There weren't any fancy bells or whistles with this pad thai as it was quite straight forward, however it was done well. We ate every last bite. I was also very, very excited to find Khao Soi on the menu, a famous egg noodle chicken curry dish from Northern Thailand. This was the best dish that I ate in Thailand when I visited and I'm so thrilled to find it on more and more menus in Canada these days (it's like everyone realized all at once how amazing it is). I didn't order it this time but I will be returning very soon to do so!

Thai food is probably best known for its gorgeous curries, dishes that are synonymous with Thai cuisine. Sawaddee boasts five types on their menu, ranging from green to red to yellow. My personal favourite has grown to be massaman, a hearty curry that you will absolutely find on Sawaddee's menu. On this visit I was interested to try the Chu Chee ($19.00) from the seafood part of the menu because I'd heard good things about it. We also made sure to get an order of Coconut Rice ($4.00) to use as a base.

Red curry with coconut milk, finger root, kaffir lime leaves, bell pepper & basil. Choice of prawn or salmon.

This luscious and colourful curry was perfection. Delicate and fragrant flavours were in balance with each and every ingredient, creating a lovely harmony of sweetness and spice. I was so happy to find coconut rice on the menu (my favourite!) and this sticky version was the most ideal base layer to scoop curry onto because it mirrored the sweetness. Again, the plump shrimp (which we chose over salmon) were plentiful and cooked well. (Upon learning more, I believe that this dish is meant to be a fish curry. So maybe ordering the salmon would have been a more authentic choice.) Nonetheless, this creamy curry was rich in flavour and depth. Expertly prepared! Last but not least, we found Mango Sticky Rice ($12.00) on the dessert menu, another of our favourites.

What a simple pleasure! This dessert is full of freshness from the ripe and juicy mango and characterizes the flavours of Thailand so well. Each bite of sticky rice, mango, and condensed milk drizzle is like a mini vacation to the other side of the world. I loved my meal and experience at Sawaddee very much. The flavours felt authentic and the food was made with love and care. They've literally got all of my favourite Thai dishes on the menu! I already cannot wait to return so that I can taste their massaman curry and khao soi. Edmonton is extremely lucky to have this little Thai gem so close by! ขอบคุณค่ะ!