I have been anxiously awaiting Sway’s opening since I first saw construction activity while eating at Elizabeth Street Cafe a few months ago. “Wood paired with a painted masonry exterior? I must eat here.”. Two sentences that, outside of my world, probably don’t frequent a pairing.
A group of seven of us gathered around 4PM on a Saturday for a late lunch/early dinner before heading to the TX Roller Derby (ultimate girls’ night?). I highly suggest arriving during an off-hour because there was zero wait. And I have a hunch that from five to ten this place is more along the lines of zero available tables.
We started with the Shu Mai, which was a variety of seafood wrapped with noodles in lieu of a traditional dumpling. I could have eaten about 24 of these dumplings and still wanted more. What can I say? Dumplings are delish.
For my main course, I went with the Pad Kwetio, which I assumed would be similar to a pork belly version of Pad See Ew. I found this dish to be incredibly salty with not enough noodles (dumpling girl likes noodles). I’m not certain if I’m extra sensitive to salt or if someone tipped the salt container into this particular batch of Pad Kwetio, but this was not the dish for me. I did, however, try my friend’s chicken fried rice and found it to be light, herby, and more my style.
And then we ordered the Jasmine Tea Panna Cotta for dessert, which was one of the most pleasant desserts I’ve ever had. The panna cotta was topped with coconut-lychee sorbet, crunchy amaranth, fruit, and thai basil. The combination of temperatures, tastes, and textures was super appealing to my palate. And this barely sweet and refreshing dessert left me feeling satisfied and without that “oh I ate too much” feeling that traditional desserts typically leave behind.
Overall, the goodness of the Shu Mai and Panna Cotta outweighed the disappointment of the Pad Kwetio enough to where I’d definitely go back. So much, that I’m already thinking about their tom kha gai, pad thai, and blue crab fried rice!