A note on the words: khao kaphrao is Thai holy-basil stir-fry served over rice, often topped with khai dao, a fried egg with a runny yolk. Kaeng khiao wan is green curry stewed with coconut milk and bamboo shoots, while kaeng phet gai is red chicken curry. Kuay teow refers to Thai noodle soup, pad thai is the classic stir-fried rice noodle dish, and khao soi is a coconut curry noodle soup. Here, kaphrao and green curry are served together in a combo lunch set.
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Suan Sawan Akasaka on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. I was wandering around Akasaka wondering what to do for lunch when the Thai restaurant “Suan Sawan” caught my eye! I remembered it being pretty good when I went before, but that was back in 2018, ha — five years ago! So I decided to head in to see how it tastes these days. Up the stairs to the second floor.
Inside the shop, there was a whole pile of motorcycle parts? by the window, ha.
Hmm, was it like this five years ago? ha. There are lots of parts on display for wildly customizing mopeds.
Khao kaphrao khai dao — 920 yen
Kaeng khiao wan gai — 920 yen
Kuay teow gai — 900 yen
Pad thai — 950 yen
Khao soi — 950 yen
Kuay teow tom yum — 950 yen
Kaphrao & kaeng khiao wan — 970 yen
Kaphrao & kaeng phet gai — 990 yen
I wonder if the menu has changed?
After agonizing over the choices, I went with kaphrao after all. Wanting curry too, I chose the kaphrao & kaeng khiao wan combo.
Oh, that looks good! Khao kaphrao with khai dao, a fried egg with a runny yolk, sitting on top.
The spoon has that proper local feel to it too, ha.
One bite in, and the kaphrao is delicious!
A spicy, rich sauce, and the scent of basil wafts up through your nose.
It is a pretty bold flavor, but eaten with rice it is just right.
Breaking the egg and mixing the yolk in mellows out the whole dish. It really tastes like the real deal, delicious.
But this time it wasn’t just kaphrao!
Packed with bamboo shoots.
The flavor of coconut milk and a deep richness. Add a solid heat to that, and it is really good!
It goes great eaten together with the rice alongside the kaphrao. At 970 yen for this, it feels like quite a bargain. Cheap!
No wonder it’s good. They say it is certified by Thai SELECT (restaurants certified by the Thai Ministry of Commerce where you can savor authentic Thai cuisine). Being able to enjoy proper flavors comes with Thailand’s official seal of approval, ha. Sometime in the future, it might be nice to drop by at night for a drink and chat with the staff about those motorcycle parts on display.
Suan Sawan Akasaka (Thai / Akasaka-mitsuke Station, Akasaka Station, Tameike-sanno Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.5
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
