Sawasdee Thai Cuisine — Restaurant in Castle Hills

The WORST Thai food I have ever paid for. Take reviews and ratings with a grain of salt. I'd like to say that I'm generally thoughtful in leaving holistic reviews and leaving anything less than 4-stars is uncommon for me but this one is deserved.

We went in on a Friday evening. It was moderately busy, about 5-6 tables seated. There were two servers, one of which was doubling as host. He slowly greeted us with a nonchalant approach and then were seated. After looking through the menu we ordered three dishes and one side including:

papaya salad (off menu) drunken noodles with tofu (called "Spicy Noodles" on the menu) laab/larb with chicken sticky rice

When ordering the papaya salad the server asked if we wanted Thai or American style. The Thai version is typically made with dried shrimp and crab paste/sauce, which adds a more robust flavor. My wife doesn't like the funkiness of it so we went with the American style, just fish sauce. It was overly salty and unbalanced. The sugar was still in chunks.

The drunken noodles were al dente and nearly room temperature. The tofu in the noodles was not fresh and tasted as if they had been prepared earlier and left to sit in the kitchen for some time. I felt as though we might have gotten a dish that was wrongly ordered by another table and then reheated in the microwave. The sauce on the noodles was sweet, almost bbq-like. Hardly any spice or resemblance of drunken noodles. I could not take more than one bite.

The laab/larb only tasted of salt. Two of the key ingredients in this dish include toasted rice powder and lime and those seemed to be absent. They use boiled ground chicken as a shortcut, which makes the dish dry and flaky. A total miss.

Lastly, the sticky rice was wrapped in tinfoil and served in a ceramic bowl. If you know, you know that sticky rice is traditionally served in a woven bamboo basket called a "thip khao" to retain its freshness. When I saw this I nearly gasped and knew then and there that this place is far from anything authentic. The rice was not fresh, nearly hard.

We left after a few bites. The dishes stayed on the table almost the same way they arrived. The best tasting items were the orange and grapefruit garnishes, which they top on each entree, a pairing I find odd. I didn't want to send anything back because we likely would've only gotten more unsavory food.

Overall, I do NOT RECOMMEND this place. The only Thai people I spotted were the staff, who seem to not have any enthusiasm. The patrons are mostly white, who the restaurant apparently has successfully catered to, as they have "American-style" versions of dishes. Read the signs and accolades at surface level. I question the food critics and patrons of this establishment. The high ratings are not justified. Who knows, I may be missing something but for a first experience it was a HUGE MISS. Maybe it was an off night. Maybe we ordered the wrong things. Whatever the case, a restaurant should always strive to deliver the best food and customer experience. Especially one that hangs their accolades with such pride. Any Southeast Asian person paying for this food would not approve. We paid (even tipped cause I've worked as a server before and know how hard it can be to earn tips) and then went down the street to eat elsewhere.

My goal is not to slander, just sharing personal experience. If you are the restaurant owner and read this, please consider making...

My wife and I have frequented this restaurant for many years, but our visits have become fewer and farther in between, because the quality of the food and service has markedly declined. The visit today, which will be our last, was the last straw. We ordered the house special combination fried rice, which arrived slimy in consistency and offensive in taste, as if the ingredients have spoiled. When we complained to our waiter and asked for a replacement, we were told that it's restaurant policy that all food orders are final and "as is." The incredibly rude waiter told us that replacing dishes would cost them money, so we shouldn't have this attitude, as others have ordered the same dish before without issues. When told that we would not give them favorable online reviews because of their rudeness, we were told that the restaurant had been there for 13 years, and the many bad reviews that they have received in the past did not seem to negatively affect their business, so "go ahead." My wife and I are both doctorate level medical professionals, and we were not asking for a handout. Needless to say, we paid for the nasty food and left it on the table. We simply wanted our unpalatable food to be replaced, something that any reputable eating establishment wouldn't hesitate to oblige. Take our advice and stay away, or be ready to accept disgusting,...

Not quite sure what to think of this place. The fact that it is only about 4 minutes from my office is certainly a plus. I went around 1230 and it wasn't too packed. This made a for a quiter atmosphere which I certainly appreciated. I was seated right away and my server wasn't far behind. One definite plus I will give them is that I have been trying a lot of different Thai restaurants in San Antonio area and all have been seriously lacking when I order "Thai hot". My server was concerned and recommend going down one notch, which I did. It was decent and I probably could have handled Thai hot. But at least I found a place that can ratchet up the spiciness level. I ordered the pad king(ginger chicken) and this is where thing fell apart. First bite of chicken didn't taste right, but eveything was OK after that. Biggest complaint was there was NO flavor to the sauce it was in. I ate my salad, soup, a little little bit of rice and tiny bit of my entree, then asked for a to-go container. Next day I added some fish sauce, oyster sauce and soy sauce and changed everything. It was pretty close to being spot on. With that being said, I don't know if I just got a one off based on the abundant good reviews. We'll see I off go back...