Swaddee Thai is not exactly the type of restaurant that comes to mind when I think of Thai food, a cuisine I associate with casual street vendors, family-style meals and tropical, sticky weather.
Swaddee — a traditional Thai greeting — lives up to its name, as servers welcome guests with warm smiles upon arrival. Still, the restaurant feels far more poised and buttoned-up than any Thai spot I’ve visited. Tables are neatly arranged, napkins crisply folded into elegant glassware, and not a crumb or uncleared table is in sight. It knows its audience, surrounded by ritzy hotels and out of towners looking for a luxurious getaway.
Upon entering, the room is filled with gorgeous light. If there’s any food I want to see in all its glory, it’s Thai food, often carrying radiant pigments of red and orange spices and vibrant shades of green herbs. The large windows allow the natural light to showcase these dishes. The navy blue chairs add contrast to the tidiness, but Buddha sculptures ground the restaurant in its cultural roots.
According to Poom the busser, Swaddee is owned by Tasna Carlquist who is originally from Thailand and her husband, Richard Carlquist, an ex-Navy SEAL. The couple splits their time between Poway and Hawaii which is where they were that day. When I walked in for lunch, a few tables were already filled just before noon.
The server took my order quickly, not rushing me but, typical of Asian restaurants, getting to the point and skipping the small talk. The menu is typical, though a bit more extensive:, including spring rolls, summer rolls, chicken skewers with peanut sauce, noodle and curry options, coconut soups and duck dishes, to name a few.
I ordered Thai tea, summer rolls as an appetizer, followed by a Massaman curry recommended by the server. The clanking of pots and pans and the mumbles from a kitchen behind a central wall with two openings on either side suggested a measured operation. Which explained why my order came out one after the other in a carefully timed succession of flavors.
First, my guilty pleasure: Thai tea. I especially love when it comes out as it did, with the ice crushed and poured into a glass cup. The thickness of the creamy evaporated milk paired with the syrupy black tea — notes of star anise, cardamom and cinnamon whispered throughout — is underrated. It’s my sneaky way to fit in dessert before the meal.
After I slurped that sugar bomb down, out came the summer rolls, filled with julienned carrots, cucumbers, rectangles of tofu, lettuce and specks of mint peering through translucent steamed rice paper. They were served neatly with a creamy peanut sauce on one side and a spicy-sweet sauce on the other which I dunked the rolls into. I bit into one and was relieved to find a crisp bite. The vegetables were fresh and firm, as if just picked. Even the lettuce, notoriously perishable — I know because I have some wilting in my fridge right now — was crunchy. I oscillated between the two sauces and finished my tofu summer roll quicker than it arrived. I do wish the spices were louder, however, as both sauces felt muted and, when I expected a slow build in heat, I was disappointed to find that the spices end where they begin.
Next was the Massaman curry, which at first left me disappointed that it wasn’t punchy and sharp enough. I came to find that this type of curry is known for its subtle sweetness from spices such as cardamom, nutmeg and cloves folded into a coconut milk and a curry base. It is an earthy, almost autumnal concoction of gentle flavors rather than the spicy profile I know Thai cuisine to be.
As much as restaurants have a job, on this day I found that I, as a diner, had a job, too — to know my own preferences. Apart from the ordering mishap, I enjoyed the chunks of crinkle-cut potatoes and tender chicken that I poured onto the pile of rice.
Swaddee Thai in Coronado is open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. The restaurant is closed Sunday and Monday.
