sway thai — Restaurant in West Lake Hills

What went right: the food and the drinks that we got were ok but very overpriced What went wrong: we went to this restaurant for mother's day because of the good reviews and we took my parents. The restaurant, at the time we were there, was not full. The tables are set up as community tables so you sit with people you don't know. I actually don't have an issue with sitting with strangers, but with the size of the tables and the way they're positioned. We were a group of 5 and rather than sitting together at one table and being able to converse, my father and I were at opposite ends of a table long enough to seat 3 people for really no reason at all. Due to the restaurant design and the open kitchen, it is loud inside, so the only people who can speak to each other are the ones sitting right next to each other. Ok for a data, but we were a group people who wanted to share a meal together and ended up having to yell access a table at each other. Also, what genius thought giant benches with no padding was a good idea? The seating was beyond uncomfortable. It was explained to us at the beginning that food came out as it was ready... Ok. Fine. But to be honest I really just think that is an excuse to have a disorganized kitchen. We ordered entrees for the table and an entree off the kid's menu because our 8 year old was with us. By the time 3 of the people had finished eating their meals and we had then waited am additional 15 minutes, 3 of the entrees INCLUDING the child's meal had not arrived and there was no word on where they were. I don't understand why a restaurant wouldn't see a child's order and make sure to cook that first. Do they really want hungry children wandering around making it even louder in there? We gave them an additional 10 MINUTES after everyone was finished before we gave up and cancelled the last of the order, got our check and left. When we asked the server about it, we got "well as I said earlier, it comes out as it's ready". Sure, but he failed to tell us that several people would be finished with their meal for an hour while they waited for the test of the group to finish eating. The service was.... weird. Clearly they are training their staff to be quick but not attentive. At one point a drink at our table spilled right as some of our table was leaving, the bussers ran over to clear and didn't notice that 3 of us were scrambling to clean up the drink all over the table. They left without making any effort to help us mop up the spilled drink. I had to get up and tell the server what happened, so someone could bring something to help us and even then we never got our napkins replaced. The server was in snd and out again immediately and the servers would only speak to one end of the table, which is a problem because, as mentioned above, the place is loud and the other half of your party could be seated 8 feet away. I don't recommend this place and it looked like the staff didn't like it...

Very good Thai food that's reasonably priced at a beautiful communal space.

Recommendations: baby bok choy: The leaves were tender yet crisp in a great amount of sauce. You can choose on bites when to go green and when to go saucy. When I go back I'd order one for myself.. son in law. The texture medley was balanced well between the creamy egg, the tender meat, and the melty rice. I would call the flavor strong yet basic, focusing on the meat's spices. The rest of the dish props up those Thai flavors with extra texture. One odd note: I would've thought this came out hot in a claypot. Maybe it's the look, but I was a tiny bit disappointed not to get a charred rice at the bottom. shumai dumplings: I've never had fried shumai. They were good here, popping like a normal shumai and getting extra crunch from the fry. I would like to see these not fried for comparison. I suspect what I like the most is actually the really good filling moreso than the texture of the fry. tom kha: Herbs are the star of this soup's tastes, as desired and expected by me. The chicken was melty and the coconut was appropriate, not too heavy. Very good, another dish I wouldn't mind polishing off myself.

The only dish I thought was meh was the pad thai. I know pad thai is sweet but this was a little too sweet. Also, I was surprised not to be able to have pad thai with prawns or other crustaceans.

From the dessert side, the mango sticky rice was normal and the thai tea affogato was decent with a very very good almond cookie.

From the drinks side, I think they're really balanced. The chiang mai is your classic fancy nice cocktail. I also got the phuket your troubles which was more welcoming as a drink but IMO should have been strained rather than iced.

The space is gorgeous, I wish I had taken photos. Do not shy away from the communal square tables. That's where you're supposed to enjoy your food. If you're scared about it, don't worry. Everyone is rooting for you with open arms. Get to a square table and enjoy the Thai flavors.

My other qualm is that IMO a couple of dishes could have had more heat. The curry, the brussels sprouts, the tom kha, all could've used a little more heat.

Overall, I recommend going, I'd go again, and I'm interested both in other dishes as well as categorizing the flavors of...

TLDR: Bait-and-switch on seating, meh-level service, food poisoning

First time visit, walk-in for an early dinner at 5PM on a Saturday. I was told there was a 10-15 minute wait time for seats. I let the hostess know that I'd like to be seated outside, and she asked for my phone number and said I'd get a text when my party could be seated. Fifteen minutes later, we did get a text, but we were taken to an indoor group table. I let the hostess that guided us know that I had asked for outdoor seating, so she asked us to wait, then came a back a couple of minutes later to tell us there would be an hour, hour-and-a-half wait for a table outside. So not great, but we said fine, we'll sit inside, but that was strike one.

We quickly looked over the menu and placed our orders. Food came reasonably quickly, but I had finished my appetizer and was making headway on my entrée without the drink I had ordered, just tepid table water. That's when our waiter came and told me that they had to get a new keg and tap it, and it would be out shortly. I did eventually get it, three-fourths of the way through dinner, but I'd have appreciated it more if I had been informed earlier on and offered the option of choosing a different beverage. So strike two.

Last and best - I had my child with us, who definitely did not care much for the food and had to be coaxed to eat a dozen bites. Unfortunately, at 5AM the following morning, I got woken up by my crying child, who had projectile vomited in his sleep. So we're now on day three of baby's first food poisoning - and that's pretty tricky to get with vegetable-fried rice! What fun! What colors! The only silver lining was looking at what happened on the baby cam and seeing how our little trooper spent fifteen minutes scrubbing his bed with fistfuls of Kleenex before toddling over to the my room. That was too cute but, on overall balance, not worth the subsequent missing of school - strike three for me.

Food itself was... decent? For the grown-ups with better resistance to food poisoning? Good presentation, interesting textures, but a bit too single-note on flavor. Not great value for money. I guess the incense burning by the entry door was a nice touch? Don't think we'll be back, even disregarding the...