West Auckland’s Popular Thai Spot – SA-ON ⭐️ 5/10

SA-ON Thai Restaurant in Henderson has been around for over 20 years, though its style has evolved noticeably in recent times. We started with stir-fried instant noodles with beef ribs — the presentation was creative, complete with an instant noodle cup in the middle. It tasted like a “gourmet version of Indomie” — playful and nostalgic. 🍜 The deep-fried pork belly was well-executed — crispy skin with a balanced sweet-sour glaze. Soft-shell crab with papaya salad was fresh and refreshing. Sadly, the Thai-style fried fish (usually a favorite of mine) fell short — made with frozen fish, it lacked freshness and the texture was too soft. 🐟 The restaurant is spacious — about 25 diners were there that evening, nearly full. Unfortunately, only one server was handling the entire floor. She was friendly and hardworking, but clearly understaffed, which affected the overall dining flow. 💼 SA-ON clearly puts creativity and fun into its dishes, but seems to compromise a bit on ingredient quality and freshness — perhaps due to current economic pressures. I genuinely like this place and hope to see improvements in those areas, because the potential is truly there. 🌟 #BearzNRabbit #FoodReview #NZEats #AucklandEats #NZLife #AucklandFood #ThaiCuisine #WestAucklandEats #DiningExperience #RestaurantReview