I first got introduced to this hidden spot by one of my friends who said that this was the best place in Kuching selling authentic, delicious Thai cuisine with a reasonable price. And indeed, after we got to try what Sawasdee had to offer, this place is a must try for Thai cuisine lovers.
Sawasdee Thai restaurant is located at the top floor of Summer Mall, right at the food court area. It can be seen upon entering the food court, as it is just at the right corner.
Sawasdee offers Thai Boat Noodles as well, and they have a small boat noodle stall set up just next to the kitchen, where all the orders for boat noodles will be sent to and made.
They also offer one of their specialty, Thai Iced Green Tea. In fact, it is quite hard to find this in any other Thai restaurants in town. The owner of Sawasdee also mentioned that the thai green tea leaves were imported from Thailand, from a specific factory producing them. She says she prefers their produce compared to other factories.
The thai iced green tea was smooth and rich, filled with the vanillary aroma from the thai tea leaves. It wasn't bitter but it tasted really fragrant, it's almost like a rosy fresh scent. Really tasty, do try this drink.
Another authentic Thai delicacy you wouldn't be able to find in any other Thai restaurants in town is the Miang Kham. Miang Kham is a Thai snack, consumed before a meal, or during tea.
It is made up of a few components. The sour, sweet, spicy, bitter and salty. Actually, these 5 components are actually what makes any good Thai dish. Here we have onions, lime (skin still in tact),
chilli and ginger, peanuts for texture, dried shrimp and cuttlefish and a sweet herby thick sauce in the middle. These are diced up into small pieces, and served with bai cha plu known as wild pepper leaves, which has a bit of a bitter after taste to it. Eaten together, you would be able to taste the sweet, salty, spicy, bitter and sour.
Here the owner is showing us how to eat this dish.
First, you fold the bai cha plu into a bowl-like shape, then you take about 2 to 3 small pieces of each item and place them inside the bai cha plu bowl. Last, you top them off with the sweet sauce in the middle, wrap it up and eat it in one mouthful.
There were so many things going on in my mouth, I could taste the tanginess and strong citrus flavour from the lime skin, the crunchy textures from the peanuts and dried shrimp, the pungent aroma from the onions, then the spiciness from the chilli and ginger began to kick in, all rounded off in a nice sweet sauce. The bai cha plu gave the bite a nice refreshing taste as well. A wonderful snack indeed.
Now for the boat noodles.
The broth, which was the most important component of this dish, had a very strong and flavourful beef taste to it. The meatball was soft and chewy but not rubbery. It had a bit of peppery taste to it as well.
For boat noodle lovers you would want to give this a try too.
Next was the som tam which was the papaya salad.
It was very spicy, but the it was full of flavour and texture from the peanuts and vegetables. I do think that the dish would have been even better if it was more sour.
Pineapple fried rice, the usual order in any Thai restaurant.
It was delicious, and had a generous amount of chicken, prawns, squid and vegetables in it. The pineapples were still juicy and sweet.
One interesting dish they sell here was the lemongrass chicken. It was fried chicken marinated in lemongrass and spices, topped with a generous amount of deep fried lemongrass. Chunks of deep fried garlic were also sprinkled on top.
This was the deep fried lemongrass.
The lemongrass had a crispy layer on the outside. It was soft on the inside, packed with it's aromatic fragrance and juices. The chicken was good as well. It was crispy and juicy, and was marinated really well. You could taste lemongrass in each bite.
They have many desserts here as well such as the famous mango sticky rice. Here, they have a special edition of sticky rice which is the seasonal jackfruit sticky rice. Today we tried red ruby, which were sweetened chestnuts topped with coconut milk and ice.
It was a nice dessert to end the meal, although I think that it was too rich and thick, could be from too much coconut milk used. Other than that, the chestnuts were crisp and good, and the whole dish wasn't too sweet as well.
For all you Thai cuisine lovers out there, this is one Thai restaurant you would definitely want to try. Real good food, authentic, delicious, yummy and comes with a reasonable price.
Opening hours:
Everyday from 10am to 10pm except Tuesday
Sawasdee Thai Restaurant,
2nd floor, Verano Food Court,
Summer Mall,
Jalan Datuk Mohammad Musa,
94300 Kota Samarahan,
Sarawak.
This is Jolynn signing off this week's episode on The Makan Post. Stay tuned for more.
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