Groupon Time at Pawana Thai Cuisine in Englewood

Food at Pawana Thai Cuisine - Englewood, NJ - Oct 5, 2011

I love Thai food and now live close to Englewood and so when I saw Pawana (an establishment I hadn’t heard of) come up on Groupon, I grabbed it.

It’s often the case that you buy a Groupon and then suddenly it is months later and it’s about to expire. That was the case this time. I got in touch with my friend Kate and, on Wednesday, October 5, 2011, we checked the place out.

We started out with two appetizers.

We had the Steamed Thai Dumpling (ground shrimp, pork, crabmeat, shitake mushrooms, chestnuts, cilantro, and Thai herbs). They were quite yummy and tasted very fresh.

Steamed Thai Dumplings at Pawana Thai Cuisine - Englewood, NJ - Oct 5, 2011

We also had one of the best-named appetizers I’ve ever seen – the Money Bags (crispy pastry purses filling w/ chicken, peanut, onion chestnut, corn and carrot). They were fun little things.

Money Bags at Pawana Thai Cuisine - Englewood, NJ - Oct 5, 2011

For her main course, Kate had the Thai Ravioli Rad Nar (crispy ravioli stuffed with shrimp, crabmeat, chicken an topped with mixed vegetables in a Thai grave sauce). The word “grave” is not a typo on my part, but I’m pretty sure it is on the part of whoever did the restaurant’s website. Kate was pleased with her selection. I liked it, too.

Thai Ravioli Rad Nar at Pawana Thai Cuisine - Englewood, NJ - Oct 5, 2011

For my main course, I had shrimp Pad Thai. I usually have Pad Thai when I first try a Thai restaurant. I use it as a gauge of the establishment. If I really like the Pad Thai, I might go back and try something else. Well, it was good Pad Thai, but not great and I also don’t like the bits of chopped red onion. In addition, the peanut crumble was on the bottom of the dish. It should really be on the top.

Shrimp Pad Thai at Pawana Thai Cuisine - Englewood, NJ - Oct 5, 2011

To be honest, I don’t know if I’ll go back. There are so many other Thai restaurants to try, both in New Jersey and in the city. But it was a yummy and fun evening. After all, when you’re out to dinner (or any meal), as long as you have great company, it will be enjoyable – even if the food isn’t (though the food was enjoyable).

Pawana Thai Cuisine
63 Nathaniel Place
Englewood, NJ 07631
201-227-7484
www.thaifooddelight.com
(BYOB)

– Evan Bindelglass
(Photos taken with iPhone 4)