Saladang & Saladang Song
Restaurant Review
Nestled off the bustling Fair Oaks Avenue of Pasadena -- just south of Old Town -- rests the unique twin-concept pair of Thai restaurants, better known as Saladang and Saladang Song. Not identical, by any stretch of the imagination, that is, unless you take a thorough look at the menu. Confused? Well, you are not alone. In fact, Ms. Dang -- the unassuming owner of this Thai-food sensation -- confesses that she finds personal enjoyment watching customers stare in confusion, not quite sure which restaurant they were meaning to attend. It is not uncommon to see herds of people walk from one restaurant to the other, just to walk across the parking lot back to where they started, or vice versa. Only those who frequent the restaurants truly know the difference between Saladang and Saladang Song, or do they?
"Saladang Song is the more authentic Thai restaurant and Saladang is more Americanized," the typical answer given to those who are brave enough to ask.
"Saladang is cheaper than Saladang Song," one of the frequenters claimed with utter assurance.
"I hear the owners divorced and the spouse opened across the parking lot to compete," yet another customer proposes.
Inventive, however, they are all myths. According to Dang, the menus are the same, the prices are the same -- oh and I surely checked, and the owner . . . well, theres only one Ms. Dang. So what is the real difference?
Ms. Dang started the Saladang restaurant years before opening Saladang Song -- Sala, the Thai word for pavilion and Dang, after her own name. Dang's pavilion restaurant attracts hundreds of restaurant visitors on a daily basis with its unique Thai cuisine, presentation, and café-like feel. The tables are a little crowded, sure, but that is all a part of the busy atmosphere deliberately created by Dang. Popular pop radio can faintly be heard over the conversations of the crowds of people filling the chairs. The simple interior makes you feel like you've walked into some kind of diner, minus the booths and sticky surfaces. The restaurant is pristine and yet you never feel quite self conscious because the environment is homey and inviting.
With popularity and traffic picking up, Ms. Dang's mind was on expansion -- she needed it. Against all sound business advice, she bought the property across from her restaurant where a Mexican restaurant had recently closed and created Saladang Song -- Song, the Thai word for two. Wanting to keep everything from service to menu to price the same, Dang altered the entire environment of her second restaurant to a more fine dining experience -- high ceilings, more space, exquisite plating. You walk in the outer courtyard and are greeting by the host who asks you, "Are you dining inside or do you prefer the courtyard?" The outdoor tables are adorable and heat lamps are sporadically placed to offer comfort even on the chilliest of nights. Once inside, the distinct differences between the two restaurants are abundantly clear. The restaurant is silent except for the faint classical music filling the spacious contemporary room. The pace, more calm. Individuals and groups of people are clustered all over the restaurant floor and each seems to act as though they are dining at a Michelin-star rated establishment. Windows line the walls -- ceiling to floor -- providing sufficient amount of light during the day and quite the appropriate mood at night, with only one cement wall dividing the dining area from the back kitchen.
When I walk into Salandang Song, I'm offered a seat indoors or out. I go inside. Once seated, I strike a conversation with a young managing accountant there for her lunch break; and she suggests ordering the Pad Se-Ew, a more simplistic approach to the typical Pad Thai dish -- wide rice noodles, your choice of beef, pork, chicken, or shrimp, the secret blend of sauces, boiled broccoli, egg, and a fiery kick that could keep any 8:00am-to-5:00pm worker going through those stagnant afternoon hours. Luckily, you choose the level of heat you prefer. My newly acquainted accountant friend receives her dish and asks for extra peppers. As if already anticipated, the server quickly appears with a tray of different kinds of peppers displayed in the most favorable manner. I order the same along with the most popular dish -- the Green Thai Curry with chicken and eggplant. The Pad Se-Ew was a surprising delight and the Green Thai Curry, unlike any I have ever experienced. The moment the white porcelain bowl touched the surface of the table, I was hit with an aroma so fragrant I had to remind myself what I ordered. My first taste proved to be no disappointment and I knew immediately that this was not your average Thai curry.
Saladang and Saladang Song's borderline hovering service antics prove to be highly effective. Somehow my glass of water stayed full to the brim and I could have sworn I was sipping throughout the entire meal. Plates were exchanged, dishes deposited and cleared, all without any interruption to conversation or thought. Even after a filling meal and my personal decline for a dessert, the staff brought out a little shot glass of ice cream anyway -- special treatment for all Saladang Song customers.
It took a few visits to finally be introduced to Ms. Dang. At first she pretended not to speak English, but having brought a friend fluent in Thai the evening we finally met the owner, she quickly resorted to English. What I had hoped would be a simple ten minute conversation turned into an hour and a half discussion surrounding the creation of her two successful restaurants, her inconspicuous business savvy, and, of course, the secret ingredients in her remarkable food. Ms. Dang came to the United States with a dream -- a hope to share her love of Thai cuisine. A good-humored woman approaching her late fifties, she is not without gumption, goals, and grace. Her risky acquisition of the neighboring property has proved to be beneficial to her overall business drawing in a different crowd of people, keeping her twins in full demand and most importantly, all of her customers happy. Our conversation turned to the secret ingredient in her eminent Green Thai Curry. She initially refused, but after some professional prodding, she gave in and shared her greatest secret an ingredient I would never have guessed only with a promise on-my-end that I would never share her secret with anyone. Unfortunately, I am a man of my word so you will have to visit Saladang or Saladang Song to try to find out.
