It's been several years since I've been to Sawatdee, and I had fond memories, so I was excited to be in the area during their lunch buffet. I don't know if I've been spoiled living in Los Angeles and the SF Bay area the last few years, but I was unimpressed. Keep in mind these comments are only for their lunch buffet:
- Flavors were okay
- selection was sub-par (definitely would have liked more curry options than just beef massaman)
- the veggies were on the soggy side
- pad thai was too sweet
- the best item: the chicken/veggie/rice soup. LOVED the strong ginger flavor.
- the price was right at 8.95/person
Overall we left our meal feeling kind of gross/unsatisfied, and that's not just because I stuffed my face (it is a buffet, afterall =).
finally, it would be nice to see more asian restaurants using gluten-free soy sauce. It is often the only gluten-containing ingredient in many dishes, and this simple substitution would attract a large segment of customers. Sawatdee would be smart to go this route.
At the surface, at or sub-average.
A buffet to be sure, of limited selections and more tofu dishes than this carnivore cares for.
Very good spring rolls, I'm Happy to report. Adequate for $8.95.
Not the variety or flavor of Joy's Pattaya Thai dishes which are $1 more and cooked to order--with beer & wine available, unlike here (they don't even ask you if you want a coke--just water).
Just saying...
This has been a staple of my team since our Helpdesk guy brought us here. Â The flavor is magnificent. Â I've only joined them for lunch (like most of my reviews), but the Pad Thai is excellent and the people are very friendly and happy to have you there. Â The prices are spot on what I'd expect from a Thai Restaurant. Â The only reason its not 5 stars is typically I'm needing more water/soda refills than I receive and often leave thirsty. Â However, the great service, food, and price keeps me and my team coming back.
Review Source:Fans of Sawatdee know what to expect: GREAT authentic Thai food. It's hard to try new things when you find a favorite. Today, I went outside of my comfort zone and tried two new things. The tofu soup is a must for starters! Very flavorful (the broth as tofu has no flavor!) and a great way to start the meal. Don't worry, Spring Rolls. I haven't given you up completely!
Avoiding my usual choices of Pad Thai or fried rice, today I opted for the Lob Esan with sticky rice. Wow, this was a treat to the taste buds! Fresh flavors, and so many flavors. They make this with coconut milk and peanut paste, along with cilantro, cucumbers, and other ingredients, I really am happy I tried something new.
I love spicy food, but for some reason, I chose three peppers instead of four. I should have done that to really make this dish pop. Â The sticky rice was extra, but I'm glad I ordered that too.
And at this location, the server is so kind and friendly. I should get her name, but she's there all the time. The entire dining experience makes me come back for more!
I am obsessed with spicy food and have tried about a dozen Thai places around the twin cities and about a dozen random other places due to business travel. Â At pretty much every place I get a moderately spiced Pad Thai and HANDS DOWN Sawatdee in Bloomington is my favorite. Â I even like the food here more than the downtown location.
Service, quality and food temp has always been great whether I dine in or take out. Â I am really quite amazed that they have such a low rating on here...I've frequented a few other places that rated a bit higher on yelp and I just flat out disagree.
So, as far as Pad Thai is concerned, I would recommend this place without any hesitation. Â Yes, it is in a strip mall and no, the atmosphere is nothing comparable to places like Kincaid's but this is a Thai restaurant in Bloomington MN folks. Â I can tell you that the atmosphere and cleanliness blow the socks off of 98% of the Chinese places I've ever been to.
Bottom line: Â It's clean, fast, convenient and absolutely the best Thai I've found in the Twin Cities metro.
Love love love . Love the service te prices the food the portions it's all just so yummy . I have not had one dish I don't like . My favorite is the spinach with the chicken and its like a curry and perfectly spicy . I love the fresh spring rolls && peanut sauce . If I could eat one thig for the rest of my life I would choose that (and my mother in laws pea && ham soup) !
Review Source:Midwest or not, this is NOT Thai food. Â I had the holy basil beef and it was so incredibly salty that I almost sent it back. Absolutely awful. The decor is old and tired with a definite strip mall feel. Save yourself the disappointment and head over to the Sawatdee on Washington Ave. or up in Maple Grove.
Review Source:do not eat @ sawatdee thai restaurant in bloomington located on 86th in lyndale. my hungry wife and i waited for 5 minutes where 3 staff members who were not busy at all didn't even have the decency to welcome us to the restaurant and seat us. 5 minutes is a long time if you're hungry. these ditzy dumb high school asian girls want to be lazy and not acknowledge that we're waiting to be served. my wife walked out of the restaurant, but i refused to let that slide. please people take your business elsewhere, where there is better service. the manager kept telling me "i'm sorry" repeatedly, in response i told her, that she "better be!!" telling me that they have a new girl and its her first day, i told her "all you are giving me are excuses, i want results, however you have failed!" the manager then told me "i'm sorry, it will never happen again!!!!" in response i said "you're damn right that it will not happen again, because i will never come back to your restaurant, and i will tell all of my friends about your severe lack of customer service, and i will write adverse reports about sawatdee thai restaurant bloomington in yelp!!!!" to all of my friends and fellow consumers, please take your business elsewhere, these people are not worth your money!!!!
Review Source:I love Sawatdee! It's in my top 5 favorite restaurants. Â The food is delicious and their prices are reasonable, especially considering the substantial portions they give you.
The service is always prompt and the waiters/waitresses are always very nice to me.
My personal favorite dish is the Holy Basil Supreme. Â I always order it with beef, but I've been told by my friends that the pork, shrimp, and tofu versions are delicious as well. Â I'm not the best at describing food, but I can assure you it smells delicious, and tastes foodgasmic. Â Yes, you heard me, foodgasmic.
Also, a great thing about this place is that they are not light-handed on the spice. Â Upon ordering they will warn you that a level 3 is hotter than "most people" can handle. Â Which is probably the truth. Â But I always order a level 5 (their highest option) and the people there know that I can handle my spice. Â They always serve me up an incredibly spicy, yet still absolutely delicious dish!
My favorite appetizers: Fried Spring Rolls, Paradise Chicken Wings, Thai Style Beef Jerky
My favorite entrees: Holy Basil Supreme, Green/Red Chicken Curry, Tod Gratiam Prig Thai, Beef with Oyster Sauce, and Supreme Shrimp
My two negatives about this place are that I didn't enjoy their Pad Thai (although I did only try it once, it may have been an off day) and that their desserts are less than satisfying.
The is not a real Thai restaurant. It is an Americanized Thai restaurant.
All the food is flavorless and lacking any key elements of good tasting Thai food. If you are Asian, just skip this place because you will be disappointed. I ordered duck, papaya salad and soup. All of it was plain. It need more fish sauce, salt, lime, pepper and any ingredient used for Thai food. The service was polite, but super slow. Over all I don't have much to say because Sawatdee does not have much to offer.
If you are not from the Midwest or have had Thai food outside of the Midwest, you will not like this food. Â Sawatdee does make food spicier than your average Minnesotan restaurant. Â The staff is very nice. Â But the food is tasteless and out of the four dishes my friends and I ordered, only the satay chicken tasted as it should.
Review Source:My family and I stopped by this place for an early dinner (3pm) before we headed off to the airport back home to Chi-town, IL. Â
We love thai food and this place was not what we expected. Â We were not happy that they ran out of some of the food available in their menu that we were trying to order, like fresh papaya salad and beef jerky. Â
The place was a bit stuffy/warm and we were the only ones in the place so how could they have ran out of those type of foods? Â
When we ordered pad see wu (sp?) instead of wide flat noodles, we got "pad thai" looking noodles. Â The pad thai noodle dish was a bit soupy. And the chicken laup was spicy but too much lettuce not enough chicken.
The service was good, the Thai ice coffee was ok. Â We liked the fried spring rolls and chicken wing as well. Â
But overall, we had way better thai food and it was a bit expensive. Â We spent $90 buck for 4 ppl (4 dishes, two drinks, and two apps). Â Not planning on going back to this place again, too bad...
Not bad but not brilliant. Went for lunch. We were going to try the buffet but there wasn't much choice on it so we decided to order a few items and share them. Highlights were the Massamun Beef Curry  which had huge chunks of beef and potatoes and the fresh spring rolls. Didn't like the pad thai which was a bit mushy. Finally try the jasmine tea which really compliments the food.
Review Source:My co-workers like to come here, but truthfully I am not a huge fan. It is basically the Thai version of sub-par Chinese takeout, including a lunch buffet that is equally uninspiring (fried chicken, cream cheese wontons, maple cookies, you know the deal). Their stirfrys scream of MSG. It isn't totally horrible, but there must be better places for Thai.
The one up point is that it is frequented by buddhist monks in full garb, who do this cool chanting before eating.
I enjoy Thai food in general, so I was happy to find this place near to where I work. Â The service is very good with very nice and engaging staff. Â The curries here are tasty but they love hot peppers, so a medium in my book translates to "low-medium" to them. Â And their Thai iced tea is super yummy too.
Review Source:
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