The Best Thai Food. Period.

So when I first got my job in the Courthouse area of Arlington, a few of my coworkers took me to Sawatdee in Courthouse Plaza (2250 Clarendon Blvd. Arlington, VA). I fell in love. Its the single best Thai restaurant I've ever had. I eat here close to once a week and in my years coming I have yet to have a disappointing meal. If they do a dish, they do it well. Period. I could order anything on the menu, and have never had it, and would expect it to be perfect. It encouraged me to try some new things I maybe wouldn't have tried, because I knew they never half-ass anything. But I've also developed my favorites that I love, so expect to hear me talk about this place multiple times.

I will warn you though, this will ruin mediocre Thai food for you. Lots of places have decent Thai that you maybe order because its close or cheap or whatever. After regularly eating at this place, the others seem less than adequate. I converted several skeptics and I've taken multiple people who have never had Thai food to this place and have gotten them hooked on the cuisine.

They quite recently closed down for a month to do a complete interior remodel, attempting to modernize the look and feel of the interior. Overall I like the new look (still not sure about some of the light fixtures), but did miss them while they were closed. On this, my most recent visit, I discovered that they have shrunk their menu down - in physical size rather than in selection. This is most welcome! The old menus were clumsy because they were so huge, they looked about 36" tall by 18" wide (I suck at eyeballing measurements as my construction contractor father is fond of pointing out, so suffice it to say they were big). 

My current favorite dish that they do is the Pad-Pew Waan with Chicken (you get your choice of chicken, pork, veggie, or tofu - beef, shrimp, seafood, or combos cost extra). It's crispy chicken with pineapple and vegetables with an extremely tasty red sauce that is their version of sweet and sour. And I wish I didn't even have to describe it like that because that likens this to bad chinese takeout which this is not. Those sauces have more red dye than flavor and are frequently a lot more sweet than sour. This is subtle and complex. Its the perfect introduction to Thai cuisine if you've never tried it (yes it beats out Pad Thai in my opinion)

The thin chicken strips are golden fried and accompanied by pineapple, red and green bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumber slices, and green onions. It is served with a white rice accompaniment.

Its tough to beat. It's easy, not really spicy - which I've found is the main concern of people new to the cuisine - and always good. It's my go to dish here. There are tons of great ones, but you'll have to wait for future posts from me for those - highlights will likely include the mango chicken, pad-si-ew, kao-pad-ga-pow, summer rolls, and sun dried beef. Until next time!

http://www.vyut.com/sawatdee/