Thai Erawan

Rating: OK
Meal:  Lunch
Price: 800 yen
Payment: Cash only
Dishes: Minced chicken with basil set
English Menu: Yes
Smoking:No

Thai Erawan was the favorite Thai place of many friends of mine when I first arrived, so I went here a few times with them.  I always wondered why they went off base in a car when you could just walk to Daie mall and get great thai at Sawasdee.  I was never very enamoured of Thai Erawan myself.  I've had several bad food experiences (not terrible, just really disappointing) so I have steered clear since.  But today I had the car and so it was easy to hop off base and park nearby to give it a review.  It's on the third floor up above the Kami Buta ramen restaurant and you have to take the elevator up.  They usually have their elephant sign out front so you can find the place easily.



 Their lunch specials are quite affordable at 800 yen but they only have 4 items on the menu and it looks like these don't change.  I went for my usual favorite, the minced chicken with basil and fried egg on top.  In my previous experience, a disappointment had to do with the fried eggs, which always seem to come with hard yolks.  I asked if it was possible to fry an egg with a soft yolk and was told that no...it was not possible.  Ok then.  I asked for a spice level one below the highest also.

The full set arrived not long after with a little dessert, a small salad, a small soup and the main dish.  I do like that you get all of that for a good price.  The dessert was uninteresting to me, the salad wasn't bad with a sesame dressing, and the soup tasted quite good.  The main dish arrived with the very solid egg on top, again to my disappointment.  I ate it quickly to get it out of the way.  The minced chicken with basil was pretty good this time with nice texture and flavor.  It was full of sliced up green beans and basil and peppers, both hot and not.  The spiciness was perfect, a nice burn without insanity.  It was pretty salty too, so I didn't ask for any fish sauce.  The rice was made from Thai rice and it had some of that fragrance, but it seemed a bit mush and overdone to me.  As I mixed it all up and ate it, the flavors and textures did not hold up over the whole meal and I found myself liking it less as I finished up the dish.

Overall, my opinion remains unchanged, though I guess at least during lunch you won't feel like you are paying a ton for mediocrity.  I would go back, but not with anticipation.