Do a search below using the city or postal code search box if your city is not listed above.
Get dining news including restaurant closures and qualify for giveaways.
Vancouver's oldest Thai Restaurant
My girlfriend and I decided to go for Thai food and decided on Sawasdee, because it had some solid reviews. We called in at 7:00 pm for a 7:30 reservation for 2 people and got it! I was really glad I called in, because the place was pretty packed. All of the servers were very nice and we were promptly seated even though it was so busy. I think it's authentically run by Thai people, which is always a plus.
We ordered the fried prawn cakes for our appetizer. They were deep fried to a golden brown with tangy cucumber sauce on the side. I liked it.
For our main course we ordered the tamarind pad thai and roast duck curry (hot spicy) with rice. The pad thai was better than others, but not the best that I've had - still enjoyable nevertheless. The roast duck curry really did come out spicy as we ordered it. I loved it. It's always a good sign when the restaurant lets you choose how spicy you want your curry.
For dessert we ordered the deep fried banana with one scoop of mango ice cream. It was okay.
Our water glasses were filled regularly and there were many servers walking around to help us out.
With 15% tip the bill ended up being $50.
I would come here again.
We went in for some Thai, we have never been to this restaurant, but i am not sure if they are busy because it was new years day or because it is always this busy. We were warmly greeted and service was quick and efficient. Waters were always filled, and there is a plate change between appies and entree.
Our order was taken with care and patience, the staff here really seem to like being here. We were seated close to the front of the restaurant were the bar/reception area is. In walked what looked like a regular customer ordering take out, the staff gave him a new years hug and gave him a free beer while waiting for his food. Talk about great service!
Food: the food was a lot salty for us, not sure if this is just our taste, or the chef was heavy with the salt on this night. If i had to guess, i would say the food is geared for a more robust palate. meaning it is always this salty.
Other thoughts, we ordered a green curry, usually green curry comes with eggplant, my favorite, theirs did not come with eggplant, a major disappointment.
Overall it was a good meal, the food is not to our taste, but it was well done.
We came here Wednesday night around 6:30 and there were about half a dozen tables already occupied, throughout the night the tables were taken mostly by small families like ours with a few couples thrown in. The room was quite darkly lit and the candles on the tables offered an intimate feel when first entering through the front door. There's a large mirror on the back wall separating the kitchen area from the dining tables giving the room a larger feel, there's about 16-20 tables in the restaurant.
You're greeted warmly when you go in, and they give you a warm farewell as you exit. Nice.
The staff are very efficient when it comes to taking, serving and packing-up your food. The food came out very hot and fresh, the water glasses were never empty for very long, and the plates were changed for clean ones right after our appetizers were done. Nicely done.
The food was very nice, the presentation had nice touches of contrasting colours e.g. we had the Thai Springrolls and the Cho Muang. The springrolls had a nut sauce, which discreetly gave it a different flavour, and carrot flower to brighten up the plate. The Cho Muang by itself was a purple coloured flower dumpling with simple orange slices to make for a more visually appetizing platter. Add in Pad Thai and a Green Chicken Curry and I think we had all the colours of the food rainbow covered. Seriously the Pad Thai was very good ( about 5-6 prawns in the dish ) , the noodles weren't overcooked and the spiciness was just right ( for us anyways ), the curry had a nice abundance of crispiness because of the bamboo shoots, a smidge of green peppers and a smoothness to the palate from the coconut milk. Simple food made very well.
If you like Thai food, you'll like Sawasdee.
Went there on a weeknight and they were fairly busy. Nice interior and warm greetings by the hostess. Tried the duck in red curry - good but I'm sure they use chinese BBQ duck as the color on the skin is just like it; yellow pork curry - very good with bamboo shoots, quite a large portion; pad Thai - very good with raw sprouts on the side. The papaya salad was good but a bit weak on the spice but I guess you can order to you liking. Overall a very good dinner with farily good value. Speedy service.
I have been going to Sawasdee for many years, and haven't been there for over 5 yrs. I truly forgotten how good their food was, how my taste buds dance, and it was delight to eat something that brought you to your knee's. No I don't eat spicy, but how well it was prepared & lots of flaour.
I had order the chef pick's with Chicken in peanut sauce, served with spinach, Thai spring roll, Chicken satay that my dish came with rice. I also ordered their spinach that was prepared in garlic. This was experience, I quickly remembered how flavourful, delicious and all the dishes complimented one another. At first I didn't think I would finish my plate, other than my order of spinach, which I took home. When I finished my meal, I wanted to lick the bottom of my plate, but that would be rude..lol.
This lunch experience wasn't over, and I continue to grin in how my meal truly made my day.
There's only 1 place I will eat coconut ice cream, and its a dessert that doesn't overwhelm you in coconut, but the ice cream has lots of flavour. I did order Ice Thai with my dessert, and It was excellent, and next time I will have to try the Thai ice coffee that they didn't have anymore, oh well next time.
My server was friendly, knowledgeable, a delight to have serving me, and gave great recommendations. Its truly nice to see someone in the industry that cares, and his personality definately added to my lunch time experience.
I promise It won't be 5 yrs for my next lunch, this is a spot everyone should try, and they cater to all taste buds from the non spicy to bring on the fire dept.
Highly, Highly Recommend.
We ordered the pad thai and a seafood combo red curry with rice. The pad thai was very good as usual, just enough sweetness and spicyness to it. The seafood curry was a bit disappointing because the seafood came from a frozen package but the curry sauce had the right mix of spices.
Co-workers and I have been here several times for lunches and they are usually very quick, friendly, and serve up great selection of lunch menus. For about $8.95 you can choose from a variety of standard dinner menu items, except in smaller portion size with a side skewer of chicken satay and 1 vermicelli-filled spring roll. For lunch, I find the portion size more than sufficient and actually easily shareable with table mates. We ordered the green curry with beef, chicken cashew nuts & veggies, and one other noodle dish whose name I can't recall. All the dishes were served within 15 minutes of ordering and the quality and taste were great. Curry was not as spicy and aromatic as I had hoped but that could be the presumption that we couldn't handle the spiciness. Service is consistently friendly and professional on every visit. Our server gave us good suggestion when we were indecisive about our selection and came by several times to refill our water. For lunch, the entire meal took about an hour. The value is fairly good for set lunch menus although other places may charge about $1 less per set, but factoring in the convenience and comfort of going to a known entity, I much prefer sticking to what I know. Ambiance has improved with new paint, chairs, and tables. The layout of the restaurant is still much in tact with a seating area in the front under the skylights, and another dining area in a darker area towards the back. Service is equally good in either area so it doesn't matter where you sit.
Recommended.
We've been hurt by a long string of failures in Vancouver. Oh the unfulfilled promises of what could be! So we entered this place, despite the raft of good reviews, with a fair bit of scepticism.
Well, at least it was packed and busy! Always a good sign. And the interior decor was reasonably done. Maybe the dark made it looked cleaner than it was, but a short trip to the w.c. didn't cause any cause for concerns.
Servers were okay friendly, definitely helpful enough and dishes came out in good time, so no complaints there, especially given how busy they were. Help was appreciated as the menu was relatively sizeable (though to be fair, many are variations on the same thing).
Now the food. Hmm.... actually not bad! We had the tom yum soup. For $10, it was enough for 4 people and unlike any other place we've been too, it was loaded with big, plump straw mushrooms and prawns. The tasty was pretty good, though not the best I've had (and perhaps I'm being overly critical now). It lacked a bit of that "bite" I like from either the lemongrass or lime leaves. The green papaya salad, also quite decent. We also ordered a pineapple fried rice and a chicken curry. The currey was very fragrant and quite satisfied with that.
If there was one complaint about the meal, it's that both the soup and rice semed overly salty (and maybe it's just our sensitive taste buds). And maybe I'm being a bit picky here because there's not much else to grumble about.
Total price including everything was about $25 per person, but we also ordered too much. Compared with other Thai places in town, the portion sizes were quite decent for the price.
Is there a better Thai place in town? Maybe. Cheaper place? Probably. But a place with food this competent, and such reasonable portions and still manages good service? Maybe not. There's a reason they're so busy and have such good reviews. I'd say it's worth your patronage at least once to see if their cooking is to your liking.
Food here is pretty good, I wouldn't say it was the best I've had. Their green papaya salad was really good, but their duck curry tasted gamey though. The restaurant gets really busy especially during the weekends so go early or go prepared to be tightly packed in with the other diners.
Service was ok, not bad but not great. I would probably give this place another try, but I wouldn't go out of my way to.
Stopped in for dinner on the weekend, curiously enough, it went from nearly empty to packed-house in all of 30 minutes.
Ordered the pad thai noodles, the pad spinach, the flowered dumplings stuffed with chicken and gai yang. Of the four dishes, the pad thai was my favorite (a little on the wet side, but I like that way) but the spinach seemed to be the favorite among my dining compatriots. The gai yang was decent, and the dumplings we ordered just for curiosity's sake. They were purple steamed dumplings shaped like a carnation, stuffed with minced garlicky peppery chicken.
Servers were quite prompt, attentive and efficient, but I found it odd that the dumplings (which were on the appetizer part of the menu) arrived last.
This is one of the older and better thai restaurants in the city. I've been coming here years ago. The curries are very good, as are the noodle and rice dishes. Service is friendly and attentive. Very good and traditional thai cuisine. The ambiance is nice, nothing fancy or over the top. It is also very good value for your money.
I would consider this my first time. I haven’t been here for so long, now I know why.
As a trial, my friend ordered the Chicken Green Curry with coconut rice. The portion was a nice size and had plenty of chicken breast meat with julienne bamboo shots. The sauce could have been a bit thicker. But it was all right.
My spring roll order was very disappointing. Four rolls for $6.95 was definite over priced and not very tasty. The rolls were made up with just green bean vermicelli and flecks of mushroom (quoting my server) rolled in wonton wrap and deep-fried. I asked the other server where the vegetables are in the spring roll? “He replied that’s how we make them.”
Let me see… 10 cents of vermicelli, 2 cents of chop mushrooms (appears like black sesame seed and as plentiful as sprinkle black pepper), and 4 pieces of wonton wrap. The dipping sauce is not from a Thai receipt! They’ve even cheapen out on the chop peanuts and the palm sugar, making the sauce too sour. What is there to recommend? This restaurant is only a shadow of it’s former self. I will not be returning soon.
Now that I no longer live in Vancouver, I don't get to Sawasdee very often. When I do, I realize how much I love their intense flavours. Thai spices are my favourite: I love basil, galangal, lime, lemongrass and chili especially. Tom yum soup and beef with basil are wonderful! And don't even get me started about their home made coconut ice cream!! I am such an addict that a friend who lives in Vancouver has to bring a huge container of it out to me in Surrey from time to time!
Went here for fiancee birthday dinner. She wanted Thai. Almost 30yrs aga this place was started. We enjoyed their cuisine in our youth. Well I can say today in my mid 50's the taste is recallable and very familiar. The consisancy of flavours have remained the same. So too has the selection available. Was very pleased to see this passed onto a younger generation. Was very good and could recommend for another 30 years/
After reading the review below I had to put in my thoughts. I frequent this restaurant often and always find it to be a wonderful experience. The staff, which is all family, are always accomodating and go above and beyond. I appreciate this site for the food critiques. With so many different personalities, everyones experience will never be exactly the same at any restaurant. Judging by all the other 23 reviews, with most being super positive, please don't rely nor boycott this place because of one persons bad experience.
Came here for my 2nd or 3rd time and I have to say fantastic! We had brought along a friend from out of town (who was craving Thai food) and everyone enjoyed everything. Fantastic Thai food and great service and we had enough left overs for the next day! Lots of variety in thier dishes, and the staff was very helpful and kind. Unfortantly we were too full with main meals that we didn't have room for dessert but will try another time. Great stuff! Will be back soon!
My husband and I LOVE Thai food and area always searching for good Thai. After trying out many thai restaurants we always keep coming back to Swasadee. I'm surprised to read some of the bad reviews on this site, perhaps it was just one bad experience they had.
We like our thai food spicy, and they definitely don't compromise on the spice here. The food is full of amazing thai flavors with lots of basil and chili. Our favorite dishes are the chili stir-fry beef with basil, the cashew chicken and the kang panang.
The service is great. It's a family run place and everyone is very welcoming and always accommodating. What I like about this place versus the other chain thai restaurants is that the food here is fresh. At other thai places it tastes like the curry has been sitting around for a while and the vegetables are limp and over cooked. Not here. Also, it's not overly greasy like other thai places. I love Swasadee and it's one of those few restaurants I will keep going back to.
I was visiting from the US,and my pal said let's try this Thai place he knows.
We went there 4 times in 2 weeks, we had the yellow,red,and green curry,(yellow is my fav) the coconut rice is yummy,and the pad thai was yummy too.
The stuffed chicken wings,were interesting,I bet time consuming to prepare,with the dipping sauce they were nice too.
If I visit again I'll definatly go back!
I really wonder why are there so many people raving about this restaurant as if they know what they are talking about?
We went there for dinner after reading the reviews and ordered a satay, pad thai, and cashew chicken. Someone forgot to put the dressing on the salad that came with the satay, and we had to contend with tasteless cucumbers with our satay chicken. The satay sauce was a slightly thinned palm sugar syrup, which was kind of difficult to swallow.
Then came the cashew chicken. It appeared that they could only scrape bits and pieces of chicken from a stock pot and threw it into a vegetable stir fry. The pieces of vegs and onions were cut so big and sloppy, finding and meat became a treasure hunt. The whole dish looked and tasted like watered-down soy sauce.
The pad thai was not pad thai. It was soggy, and the sauce was made from the same palm sugar syrup as the satay, and a little tomato sauce to make it look authentic. We only found three (3) tiny shrimps, when they proudly advertised prawns in their rendition.
On the service, the waitress kept taking our food away when we were obviously still working on them. Maybe she was ashamed of what was being served, in which case she might have done the right thing.
The chap taking our order was, however, very friendly.
It was not even a case of us setting too high an expectation. With our dining experience, we could only conclude that the cook just didn't have any clue what to do. How this place received so many glowing reviews was beyond my understanding.
First of all, the lunch specials here are quite pricey for what you get...like $8.95 for a little bit of stir-fried starch (really greasy), a chicken satay and a spring roll. I ordered the pad thai, and it was really sweet and oily...I had to fling the noodles around prior to eating it and the portion was quite small. Also, the spring roll is big, but it wasnt that appetizing b/c it was filled w/ tons of vermicelli noodles, which had no flavour whatsoever, and yes, it did come w/ dipping sauce (2 kinds)..but it was WAY too sweet. It was difficult to decifer whether I was eating lunch or dessert. The chicken satay was pan-fried in some yellow powder, kinda oily and not that tasty.
I would not come here again, I can't stand savoury dishes that are sweet. Also, the dishes that claim to be authentic Thai, which is totallly not, it tastes like a bad rendition of Chinese-canadian food. I would rather go to any HK style cafe for a more tastier meal, less sweet, less oily and cheaper, so I can still have money left over for real dessert.
By the way, the number of good reviews for this place is suspicious, probably the owner was writing reviews for this place...lol.
| 1. | Splitz Grill (4 m) |  |
| 2. | Salt Spring Coffee Company (27 m) |  |
| 3. | Honolulu Cafe (38 m) | |
| 4. | Choi Kee (38 m) | |
| 5. | Cafe TrafiQ (40 m) | |
| 6. | Fresh Slice (43 m) | |
| 7. | Accord Seafood Restaurant (48 m) |  |
| 8. | Mui Garden Restaurant (48 m) | |
| 9. | Main, The (49 m) | |
| 10. | Blenz Coffee (52 m) | |
