The Essential Guide to Twin Cities Restaurants

Crystal Grobe is a local food writer who loves trying out new restaurants to gain inspiration for cooking in her own kitchen. She loves Minnesota and is always on the go in search of new foods, events, music, and friends with her husband, Ryan. Find more of her work on Café Cyan and Bite of Minnesota, where she blogs for WCCO.

After learning that Sawatdee was the first Thai restaurant in Minnesota, I became even more excited to try owner Supenn Harrison's traditional Thai cuisine. Considering Supenn opened Sawatdee over twenty years ago and has since opened five more locations, the food had to be delicious.

Luckily, we arrived in time for happy hour at the Washington Avenue location and quickly ordered a couple drinks that absolutely hit the spot. Both the Zombie (Sawatdee Supreme) and the Monkey Lover came with fruity and fresh pineapple flavors and real bits of coconut. If you like your drinks strong, go for the Zombie. If you like them a bit fruitier, go for the Monkey Lover or any of the other refreshing cocktails on the menu.

Not only does Sawatdee have happy hour drink specials, they have appetizer specials as well. For less than ten dollars, we scored a sampler platter of little bites. We started with a favorite: cream cheese wontons filled to the brim with cream cheese and fried until just golden. Then we moved onto something pretty neat, Sarong Sawatdee Special which is seasoned pork and chicken wrapped in crispy noodles all fried up into a little package. While difficult to eat in a dainty fashion, the texture contrast between tender meat and crispy noodles was very enjoyable. Last but not least, we gobbled up the fresh and healthy spring rolls stuffed with carrots, herbs, noodles, and a mix of shrimp and barbecued pork..

As if that wasn't enough food, I had to try Sue's Famous State Fair Egg Rolls and I'm glad I did. It was exactly what I like in an egg roll: slightly wilted cabbage, a fair about of simple seasonings (in this case black pepper and perhaps cinnamon), and a little bit of tender meat. Come state fair time, I will definitely be lining up to get these egg rolls again.

The table next to us ordered a dish that came in a halved pineapple and we all watched in envy. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I did know I had to have it for dinner. Turns out it is a fun way to serve tropical fried rice. Think traditional fried rice, but with spicy chilies and chunks of pineapple making it sweet and spicy at the same time.

Also ordered was the Pad Thai, stir-fried with perfectly cooked noodles. It was rich in peanuts and fresh bean sprouts to add a bit of crunch. Did you know that Pad Thai is the national dish of Thailand? It is usually served with a lemon or lime wedge so you can add your own acidity to the dish.

Years ago, I tried a few bites of the Rama Thai Delight and loved the richness from the peanut sauce and the abundance of healthy spinach. It was just as I remembered it with the velvety sauce smothering tender spinach with just a hint of sweetness. Chock-full of protein, this would be a great meal after a tough workout.

Another dining partner wanted a more traditional curry, so we ordered the Pattaya Shrimp Curry. Onions, large chunks of mushrooms and shrimp were coated in curry spice, stir-fried and served in a light and savory broth. It makes an excellent dish spooned over rice.

Let me mention that all entrees can be spiced up to your liking. I was fine with a spice level 2 which added just the right amount of flavor to my dish but felt the spice level 3 in other dishes made me a little uncomfortable.

After all that food, we did not have room for a rich dessert such as Mango Sticky Rice or Thai Custard so instead we decided to order a bit of cut up mango to end our meal on a lighter note.

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