In Hinduism, the elephant god Ganesh is worshipped as a remover of obstacles, a deity of prosperity and the lord of new beginnings. At Erawan Thai Restaurant, the elephant seems to be a common motif, as the walls, counter and hanging mobile decorations are covered in elephants.

Unfortunately I didn’t feel prosperous while eating at the restaurant. Everything — from the soft pink tablecloths and matching napkins, to the food, to the teapots lining the shelves on the counter — was beautifully presented, but each dish contained flavors insistent on overpowering all the others.

To start things off, I ordered the paw peea sod appetizer — a single rice paper roll stuffed with pork, shrimp, lettuce and coriander.

It looked like a little work of art. Placed on a rectangular flat dish, the translucent rice paper was messily spiraled around the large lettuce leaves, visible shrimp and red marinated pork. It was accompanied with a clear, sweet sauce with little chunks of peanuts and red chili seeds floating on the surface.

On biting into the paw peea sod, I could really taste only the lettuce leaves. While the lettuce was fresh and crunchy, there was so much of it that the rice roll tasted bland and watery. The dipping sauce was only subtly flavored and wasn’t enough to infuse the spicy chili taste onto the wrap.

I also asked for a Thai favorite of mine, the shrimp tom kha gai soup with a roll. This is a spicy coconut milk broth with lime juice, galanga, lemon grass, straw mushrooms and coriander.

Upon arrival at the table, it smelled amazing. The creamy liquid was sprinkled with little green leaves and had two big straw mushrooms and shrimp floating beneath the surface. The initial taste was great, but after a few more, the lime juice became overwhelming. It was just too tangy-sweet to finish.

The waitress was lovely and was happy to take time with us and joke over the menu options. Surprisingly, she did not recommend the pad thai when I asked. I really appreciated this, as pad thai is usually considered the token Thai dish. She said the menu catered to both sweet and spicy flavors.

I chose the spicy pad ki mao, and she suggested having it with chicken. This dish was comprised of large rice noodles fried with egg, oyster sauce, tomato, onion, sweet basil leaves, chili pepper, snow peas, napa cabbage and broccoli.

It was a vibrant and colorful dish. The noodles were wide, long, tender and chewy. They were lightly covered in the oyster sauce, and there was a lot of cabbage in the meal. As a less-than-avid cabbage fan, I could have done with a smaller quantity of the vegetable. The tomatoes were grilled, and their flavor in the dish seemed awkward and out of place. The dish would have been better without them.

From the sweet side of things, the waitress told me that everyone always orders and loves the gai pad pak lad nam satay. It’s a vegetable dish comprised of broccoli, snow peas, straw mushrooms, baby corn and napa cabbage. I chose the meat, and the entire meal was generously drizzled in a peanut satay sauce and served with a side of rice. The rice was beautifully presented in a giant silver pot that I wish I had in my kitchen at home.

I could see why this is a popular dish. The vegetables are vibrant green from being steamed and taste so fresh. Served over rice, it’s a really healthy and clean meal. However, I found the satay sauce just too strong in peanut flavor. As a result I wouldn’t have been able to finish the dish by myself.

All the dishes had very generous servings. But the dishes were overpowered by their respective flavors, and for that reason, I would suggest ordering a few to share for your table, as any one dish is hard to finish alone.

Published on March 22, 2015 at 9:32 pm