Erawan — Restaurant in City of Syracuse

Short version: With all the Thai food options in Syracuse, you should AVOID THIS ONE. Food was terribly cooked – we got food that was both over/undercooked. This was my first time here, and also the last.

Long version: I was very disappointed to say the least. I’m not sure how Erawan has anything more than 2 stars on Google, but definitely over-rated. Being dinner time on a Friday, we were expecting the food to be very well cooked, but it was the complete opposite. Not sure if they had new cooks or if this is the standard. In the appetizer platter, the tofu cubes were like croutons. I took a bite and didn’t know I was supposed to be eating tofu. It all turned to dust in my mouth. The fried spring rolls were drenched in oil. When you took a bite of them, oil just oozed all over. I forgot to take a picture of the Chicken Satay, but you can see it included in one of the other pictures. You can see how little that was cooked. Phad Thai had very little flavor and was NOT authentic. The pictures provided actually make it look better than it was. It tasted like one you’d make from a package in the Asian section of a supermarket. My wife got the Veggie Phad Thai, and the broccoli was close to raw. In Phad Thai, veggies like that should be steamed and nice and soft to bite into. To me the authentic Phad Thai is the darker brown because it caramelizes in the Wok. Maybe I’m just used to authentic Thai restaurants from NYC, but this was not it. Thai Flavor across the road is WAY better. Although they are pricey (not much more than Erawan though) the food is phenomenal, always hot and fresh, and wait times are less. I still have to try the other Thai restaurants in Downtown area. Will post...

I spent a month in Thailand once and I saw a street vendor making this dish that had some kind of meat (turned out to be chicken, but in Southeast Asia you never know) and cashews. It looked delicious so I ordered one. It was even more delicious than it looked. It was also so hot that by the time I got half way through the plate, it felt like I was chewing glass because my mouth was on fire. I couldn't stop eating though, because it was just too good. I'd been in search of Thai cashew chicken of that quality ever since and had all but given up hope until I stopped at Erawan one day and saw it on the menu. #41, Gai Pad Ma Moung, is so ridiculously good, and the most authentic I've found anywhere I've looked on the east coast. The Thai spring rolls are so fresh and perfectly balanced. This is my favorite place to eat Thai outside of Thailand.

EDIT: to assuage fears of the spice sensitive, the benefit of ordering at Erawan vs in Thailand is that you get to choose your spice level when ordering. This dish will always have a little heat due to the nature of the base ingredients, but you can get it anywhere from medium buffalo level of heat, to a melt-your-face-off...

excellent food. parking lot is very spacious with bright lighting and very safe. menu is very large and huge variety. i was with family and we had a large spread of dishes. green curry, yellow curry, shrimp, chicken, duck, pork, tofu, etc. every dish was excellent and my favorite is the green curry. our server was also very aware and wrote down that one of our party is vegetarian and made sure her dish was specially attended. MUST order the corn tapioca unless you have an allergy, aversion, PTSD, etc. I know, it sounds weird but the corn tapioca is a must try. ice cream seems to be genuine - real banana is in it and it was delicious! i didn't try the other flavors. they also have thai iced tea and thai coffee! very tasty! i eat spicy food and their hot is not very spicy. they probably have spicier for the more adventurous. i'll be eating here again numerous times. the physical space itself is on the smaller side. bathrooms are clean with cleaning buckets, plunger, chemicals, etc. toilet seats are round and small so, big boys will have a um,...