A new restaurant is serving classic Thai dishes hard to find in SF

Eat Here Now is a first look at some of the newest, hottest restaurants around – the ones we think are worth visiting. We dine once, serve forth our thoughts, and let you take it from there.

When Abid Mahajun and his wife Siripitch Phanja arrived in San Francisco from Bangkok a couple of years ago, they found the Thai food here “a little off from what’s authentic.”

For one thing, there definitely weren’t “shrimp donuts” served on a wooden board with a peg stuck in the middle like a game of culinary ring toss. Made of shrimp paste that’s coated in panko and deep fried until crispy, the snack, which they dubbed a “cloud ring,” is very common in Thailand, where Mahajun and Phanja used to own a restaurant. Served with a side of nam jim seafood — the ubiquitous Thai dipping sauce made of chilies, lime, sugar, and fish sauce — the ring shape is Sawaan’s fun twist on the usual orb-shaped shrimp balls.

In May, the couple made the dish a signature starter at Sawaan Thai Kitchen, their newly opened restaurant on a quiet block of the Mission.

Like the clever presentation of the doughnuts, everything at Sawaan has clearly been considered. The plates and napkins bear the restaurant’s street-style logo. The room, complete with a counter where you can sit and watch chef-partner Sousada Singharath at work in the open kitchen, is a mix of bright blue and yellow with mosaic-tiled tables. Low-level house music keeps your head bobbing. 

The menu is full of cheeky names for each dish. Spring rolls are called “Shrimpy Hug,” while grilled beef in oyster sauce is called “Grill Me Softly.” It takes some sleuthing to confirm that, yes, pad Thai is on the menu — it’s just called “Noodle Nation,” as if to play down the fact that they did indeed include at least one crowd-pleaser from the Thai-American canon.

Because the point here is to try things you can’t find as easily at your average Thai joint in San Francisco. Like a silky, complex, rich massaman curry with chunks of potatoes and peanuts served with tender bone-in chicken — perfect sopped up with a side of sticky rice served wrapped like a gift in banana leaves.

There is an addictive appetizer of fatty-crispy strips of pork shoulder jerky with Thai chile paste. Served still skewered through bamboo “strings,” it’s a nod to the way the typically sun-dried-then-fried meat is sold on the street in Bangkok. Another crispy option comes in the form of unbattered, bone-in chicken pieces, served mouth-burning hot, and showered with fried garlic

There’s also a bubbling hot pot — or yentafo — tangy and sweet, the broth a slightly garish pink. It’s afloat with a mix of fat shrimp, cubes of duck blood, springy fish balls, tofu, morning glory greens, and rice noodles. The soup wasn’t my favorite, but then again, I didn’t grow up with it.

More to my taste was the spicy papaya salad, a classic with a million renditions in Thailand. While it might not be uncommon, I’d personally never had it served with a side of crunchy spears of veggies, cucumbers and carrots, which provide refreshingly crispy and bland respite from the salad’s heat. I also loved the lemongrass catfish with fragrant, limey makrut leaves. The next time I return, I want to try the raw blue crab with chili sauce, the grilled tongue with tamarind dipping sauce, and the avocado salad with roasted cashews, lime, honey, and lychee. 

The word sawaan means “heaven.” And as Abid puts it, “In Thai, we say something that tastes really good is like a bite of heaven.” Though Sawaan’s patrons are currently mostly Westerners, there is a growing group of Thais who have discovered that the menu offers the comfort of familiarity. In their case, a taste of heaven is home.