Restaurant Reveiw: Suwanasak

Hidden Thai Gem

Corner of a ethnic strip mall

There are a few great Thai and Laotian restaurants in Madison. Most of them aren't anything special. cooking Thai food outside of Thailand is difficult. There are ingredients that are all but impossible to source fresh, there are complicated and time consuming techniques. Also, whitey can be really lame when it comes to spicy food. (I can say that because I am ethnically half whitey)

I have some background in Thai food, I spent 5 years in the San Francisco Bay Area where there is a large concentration of Thai immigrants and some of the best Thai food in the US. I worked as a chef with a fabulous Thai chef in Berkeley. Also I have spent nearly 3 months in Thailand over the last 6 years. I have eaten street meals with Thai construction workers and in beautiful restaurants. I have been led and stumbled blindly into some of the best meals of my life in Thailand. I have also lost entire cameras full of pictures of amazing food in Thailand...

Now that I have established at least a little "street cred" (growing up in Shorewood Hills, this is the first "street cred" I've ever had). I need you to trust me when I say Suwanasak is the best Thai food I've eaten in Madison.

Now, let me order for you: 

Thai food in the Park

Every nice weekend day at Preussen park in the Wilmersdorf neighborhood. Thai families gather to cook, eat, play games and spend the day in the park. Luckily for the rest of us these families have begun selling their food. The day we went about a dozen families were out selling soups, meats, fried pancakes, and all manner of sweets and even mixed drinks.

I got a plate of extremely spicy chicken bits and a plate of rice for 5 Euros. It had tiny little hard crunchy peas, eggplant and lots of Thai chili peppers. One of the Couchsurfers who organized this little outing to the park commented that you have to put your toilet paper into the freezer before you leave to go to the park or you are out of luck...


Jess got a plate from the same vendors of a dish that wasn't spicy. It was also chicken meat but it was mostly dark meat and chicken livers, hearts and kidneys. I was SO jealous! Also 5 Euros and a very tasty meal. Little bamboo shoots, onions and loads of organ meats.


There were also some other snacks to be had these banana leaves are stuffed with fermented raw pork, eaten with tiny little fire engine hot peppers as a chaser. I had only a tiny bite, but the family was eating them and I haven't gotten sick yet!

There were also some tasty deep fried battered Thai yams. Those were amazingly good but I unfortunately didn't get a picture of them! Those you'll just have to go and get for yourself! Here is a cool article about the park. This is definitely a must see if you end up in Berlin on a nice summer or fall day.

-NOM!