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fvz
Tue Nov 21, 2006 11:48 pm

Re: Ebisu &amp; Meguro - Asian food
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Kaew Jai - Thai - *****
Meguro & Kinshicho 

Addresses -
Meguro : Tokyo-to, Shinagawa-ku, Kami Osaki 2-14-9 Meguro Waco Bdg B1
Kinshicho : Tokyo-to, Sumida-ku Kinshicho 4-9-4
Telephones -
Meguro : 03-5420-7727
Kinshicho : 03-3626-6256
Menu - In English and Japanese
Credit Cards - OK

Quality among Thai restaurants in Tokyo is very even and very high: it really is difficult to shine. I went to Keawjai in Meguro mostly because it's the only one I know of which serves "Thai Royal Cuisine". Now that I have eaten there I am sort of baffled, because it seems to me it serves excellent, but otherwise perfectly normal Thai food. The one unusual feature is the way it is decorated. Maybe this is the difference. Order for example fried rice with pineapple, and you will receive it in a pineapple tranformed into a rooster. A carved carrot for the beak, head and neck, a leaf of lettuce for the breast feathers, more lettuce for the tail. Stunning, but even more impressive were the roses carved out of daikon on every dish, perfect to the point of disbelief. I admire people with so much skill and patience. 
Down in a small basement, Keawjai is frankly pretty but not convenient: tables are round and surrounded by walls, so that I felt both uncomfortable and claustrophobic. 
But the menu is long, very long, as more than 200 different items appear in it, although many are variations on a theme. We ate a lot and all was very good. Not as original as I thought, but very good nonetheless. Damages were around 4500 yen per person for a very good and abundant meal and drinks, so not unreasonable.

Keawjai in Meguro is very easy to find. Get out of Meguro station's east exit, go down the avenue you see in front of you and you will find it on your left after perhaps 200 meters.
