UYE @ Sawasdee & Capital Cabaret oO

I had a great time. Kudos to Ron W for organizing and for accommodating us last-​minute participants at dinner and also for the lovely wine. We enjoyed the ambience of the restaurant and the great Thai food. We also had a great time meeting you cool Unilocalers (Christina and Phil G, Gregory and Beth, Susan, Nene, Tripp and Jane). It was thanks to you amazing peeps that hubby has now decided he wants, nay, needs to Unilocal.Also, thanks for the cool swag, Christina! Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to chat much with Nikki and her husband, or Kevin, (and some other people at the end of the table?) but there’s always next time. We’ll definitely be out to join you for some other events in the future! Thanks again!

Hey I’m not sure if I can review this event since I set it up (does it violate Unilocal rules?!) but what the heck! I’m giving it five stars for everyone that showed up and joined in on the feasting at Sawasdee. I showed up early just to make sure everything was squared away for the group and über-​punctual Nikki and husband Derrick were already at their favorite spot, the bar! They were immediately followed by new Elite Unilocaler Greg and his wife which got things rolling. A cocktail or two later and then the whole Unilocal posse shows up promptly on time.
We broke out a bottle of Gewürztraminer (which I can now FINALLY pronounce thanks to Jane W’s expertise) to share amongst the group. Susan is all growed up now and was able to drink the wine without a straw, nice! Our group was loud and noisy, outdoing a neighboring table of 14 people. Service at Sawasdee was decent but they were totally slammed by the two large parties. We ate mostly family style sharing our faves which is a smart idea given portion sizes at Sawasdee. And I got to hang out with Greg, Nene, Ellen and Dan at my side of the table, cool! By the end of the evening we were all stuffed on great Thai food and couldn’t even do dessert so it was off to the next spot.
Now here’s where the story gets a bit hazy. I was pushing for some ice cream cones and roller-​skating after dinner but had to deal with Christina G’s overwhelming desire to watch magic and burlesque. Being the good, team-​oriented guy I am, Kevin P and I went over early to Capital Cabaret to do some reconnaissance work and make sure everything was cool for her. By 11pm, the rest of the late-​night Unilocal posse made it over and it was Game On at Capital Cabaret! I won’t go into details for the rest of the evening but yes we got lei’d (the women far better than the men), ate some cinnamon apples and watched the Aussie bom (b)shell Suzie Malone perform her «magic». Yeah, it was mostly just dancing and let’s just say that David Blaine has nothing to worry about…
All-​in-​all a fun evening for our brave and curious group of Unilocalers, thanks to all who made it out!

Way to go Ron W! These UYE things keep getting more and more fun (as well as odd). I was initially lured by the thought of tasty thai and the chance of a classy cabaret show. At least one of those was kinda right. Sawasdee did an average job with our large crew, but we made the best of it. Our off the wall conversations made up for any lack of service with topics such as waking up in the middle of surgery, pyramid schemes, and whether or not Christina G’s fish was staring at me. After dinner, we hit up an ‘irish’ pub for an intermediate drink and then on to the cabaret. This was definitely more strip club than cabaret, but who am I to judge. This is the south after all. The magic show was lame, but all was not lost. I did learn and participate in ‘cooter ball’. For those not in the know:
Kevin P. had been practicing, so he ended up being the grand prize winner of a picture of the esteemed performer (which I am pretty sure he got autographed later on). Finally at 1am, we headed home with heads high (or maybe that was the room spinning), and bellies full.
So, all in all, a really great evening. Keep it up Unilocalers!
PS: I hear Capital Cabaret has the best cinnamon apples in the whole world. To bad I missed out on that one.

Elite Ron W nails another brilliant UYE! Fifteen folks including some fresh faces — :waves: to Gregory H & Beth, Ellen L & Dan, and Nene K – were spurred on by all the delicious reviews Sawasdee has been getting and decided to put the place to a Unilocal test. They passed with flying colors!
Ron kicked things off with a Gewürztraminer that got raves. Then a variety of apps hit our table at 8pm: spring rolls, calimari (perfectly battered!), fried tofu, and some Thai-​style jerkey (mm… meaty). At 8:20, entrees arrived. Tripp W had clued us in on Greg Cox’s recent review and his description of the Tamarind Tilapia — a «multisensory extravaganza» — sounded too good to pass up. An entire fish plopped down in front of me. Luckily it had already been filleted, fried, and replaced in the fish … uh… carcass (?) Sounds gross I know, but it was delicious — and when you turned the fish to face the opposite way, less disturbing too. ;)
When we finished wrapping up, it was 9pm and we felt a little late to make Suzie Malone’s (the featured burlesque dancer at the Cabaret) set. So a gang of us headed to O’Malley’s. It felt a little like a crowd of regulars, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying some drinks.
10:45: we head on over to Capital Cabaret. I was certain we were lost when we turned onto the side road that said «Dead End.» But actually that path brought us straight to the strip club; it was the point of no return. Kudos to Ron for spotting the no-​cover coupon in the Indy (you know, I’d seen the ad but had been to distracted by Suzie’s photos to actually notice the writing!). It was Customer Appreciation night, which meant complimentary buffet (a passed tray of cinnamon apples), complimentary drinks (a table-​shared glass of something tropical), and party favors — awesome leis for the gals! The guys got puny plastic ones though.
Suzie built up her anticipation making us wait till midnight (rather than going on at the advertised 11pm). Which may have worked to her disadvantage, because at that point I was getting cranky at having to spend $ 7 on a bottle of beer while waiting for her burlesque-​ness to wow us with some magic… which turned out to be two tricks, that were super-​hokey. Her main claim to fame, as it turned out, was motor-​boating. Alas.
A few of my favorite moments from the evening:
*Running into everyone’s favorite brewer at the club. I’ll never tell! ;)
*Jane W’s retort to my complaining about the cold temperature in the club: «I think there’s a: point: to it!»
*Kevin P making a winning shot in Suzie’s Cooter Ball game! Susan Z and Jane W – A for effort though.
*Tripp W’s real name reveal… you’d never guess — but I’ll tell you this much: the initials spell «ew»!
*ps) Sue P – you win world’s awesomest wife award. If it were me at home with a baby, I’d tell Phil, «Oh hell no.» Thanks for letting your hubs out to play. We missed you though! ;)
You Unilocalers always crack me up. Thanks for making this evening so fun — and certainly one to remember!