Stick to the Specials: Sawatdee Thai Cuisine

I visited my local Thai restaurant again yesterday. The only one in the town of Sherwood, the one where I haven't had the best luck overall, but where I've tried a couple very good dishes.

Today, I picked the first item on the specials board, Yum Apple, and got it to go (as you can see in the photo). This salad is not on their regular menu, so it's a real special, not just on special. It was made of tart green apple slices, lettuce, shredded carrots, shallots, mint leaves, cilantro, toasted coconut, and a nice lime dressing with, I'd guess, a little fish sauce. It was quite delicious!

I've had good luck with other specials at this place too. The one that comes to mind is some sort of crispy papaya salad I tried over the summer. It was great! Because their specials seem to be better than their regular menu items, and because it'll keep me trying new things, I think my strategy with this place, from now on, will be to stick to the items featured on the specials board.

In case your wondering, the place is Sawatdee Thai Cuisine. The people are friendly and polite, and they seem to really care about the food – presentation is always lovely. Be sure to try something from the specials board outside the front door. I think you'll find the best selections there.

Thai In The Suburbs: Sawatdee Thai in Sherwood

The suburbs have always kind of turned me off. I like the diversity found in cities, the liberal thinking, the unique neighborhoods, and the independent businesses. Nonetheless, we moved last year, out of the city and into the land of strip malls and soccer moms.

Although there are certainly things I miss about Portland, I actually like it here a lot. And yes, it's exactly the stuff you'd expect: more house for the money, better schools, great parks, and peace & quiet. But in addition, there's a quaint little downtown with a handful of independent businesses, an outdoor Saturday market in the summertime, and a nice library. Overall, I'm really happy here and it was a great move for our family.

That said, one thing I do miss are the great restaurants of Portland. Of course, they're not out of reach; the city isn't that far away. But the selection of places that are nearby and handy – that don't require at least a brief road trip – is quickly getting boring. I've especially missed Thai food, which I love to eat, but am not very good at cooking. There is a Thai place here, but I've been pretty disappointed with their food. Even so, I've gone back on several occasions, trying something different each time in hopes of finding a dish they're really good at. It's certainly far from terrible, but the curries are unexciting, the pad Thai is a bit sad, and the stir-fries are over-seasoned. I gave up.

But then, my husband suggested we go there for lunch the other day, and I thought, why not? I'll give it one more chance. I picked something I hadn't yet tried, the tom yum noodle soup from the lunch specials menu, and finally, I was not disappointed. In fact, I loved, loved, loved it! I expected it to be similar to tom yum, the hot & sour soup I've had at many Thai restaurants. But it was really quite different – not just because of the addition of rice noodles, but also ground chicken and crushed peanuts. I requested a spicy version and it was just the right amount of heat for me. Two days later, I was back for another bowl. I told myself it was to get a photo for the blog, but actually, I was just craving that soup! Maybe eventually, I'll try something else, and I'll let you know if I find another dish I like, but I'll be sticking with that delicious soup for awhile.

So here's the deal, if you ever find yourself down in Sherwood, and feel like Thai for lunch, it's the Tom Yum Noodle Soup at Sawatdee Thai Cuisine. Fantastic!