AT FIVE O’CLOCK ON A WEDNESDAY EVENING, we are the first dinner guests at Sawadee, the excellent downtown Thai eatery on Newark Avenue. Sawadee, which opened in June 2007, is spacious with traditional Asian décor and subdued colors. Local art fills the salmon-colored walls, brightening the large space, with its dramatic, indirect lighting.
I order Singha, traditional Thai beer—when in Rome, I think to myself. Singha is a blond beer with a crisp, bright flavor. Cold and refreshing, it’s the perfect match for the sumptuous Thai food we are about to enjoy. My dinner companion is former Hudson Reporter staff writer Mary Paul. If we were architecture, she would be Baroque, I would be Shaker. She orders—get this—a key lime pie martini. An obvious martini maven (she admits to having consumed an oatmeal cookie martini), she says it’s sweet and fruity with a touch of Irish Crème. Next round she orders a cherry martini, which also gets a good review.
Our waitress—who has no idea we are here “on assignment”—couldn’t be more helpful and accommodating. Because we are unfashionably early, she brings the happy hour menu, with fewer selections but with appetizers discounted up to 40 percent and drinks half price. She steers me toward the chicken wing appetizer over the squid, and gets the bartender to parse the martini ingredients for Mary.
The chicken is like a small entrée with six fairly large drumsticks, hot and spicy with onions, garlic, and peppers. Mary’s curry puff has an airy, flaky crust with a sweet, light filling of ground chicken and potato. Together, they provide a great contrast for a table that wants to share.
On to the entrées. I really have my sights set on a fantastic whole fried flounder with garlic and ginger sauce. The problem? It’s two pounds and Mary doesn’t want to help out. Our waitress to the rescue, suggesting the fried flounder fillet with the same delicious ginger sauce but without the lumberjack portion. Served with white rice and vegetables, it turns out to be a superb choice.
Again, Mary goes for the gusto with a chicken tomato curry spiked with onion and coconut milk. A bit too rich for me, it perfectly suits Mary’s sweet tooth.
By now, the dining room has started to fill up. Our fellow diners give the place a nice, warm feel, and it looks as if locals frequent the bar for happy hour. I sit facing the large windows. The streetscape is lively with neighboring storefronts lit up and folks strolling down the sidewalk on this unusually warm winter night. The windows are hung with tiny blue lights and Valentine’s decorations. It’s a few days before that holiday, which may explain the medley of wonderful, tear-jerking oldies coming from the CD player behind the bar. “First Love,” “Take My Breath Away,” “Angel of the Morning,” “Never Going to Dance Again,” and “Dancing Queen” set the mood for the loved and the lovelorn who may very well choose Sawadee for their romantic evening.
The desserts are a welcome combination of Thai and traditional—mango sticky rice, fried banana, and pumpkin custard representing the former, with a selection of cakes including tiramisu, chocolate fudge, and toasted almond crème representing the latter. Mary gives the thumbs up to the almond cake, especially happy that its concoction of whipped cream and almond paste is “cold, not melting.” She orders Thai iced coffee to go with it. Our waitress warns against adding more sugar to the already sweet drink but Mary does it anyway and is thrilled with the results.
For me, chocolate fudge cake with black decaf perfectly caps a terrific Thai experience.

Sawadee
137 Newark Ave.
(201) 433-0888 (9)