A friend from Surrey repaid a favor by taking me out for Thai dinner (actually I might’ve made him buy me dinner LOL…). He suggested Sabai Thai from the Guildford area as he’s been there before and they seem authentic, as in it’s actually owned and operated by Thai’s.
We had quite an early dinner but the place was already half-full. It got progressively fuller afterwards. We also noticed that the clientele was all Caucasians, with me (and the owners/servers) being the only Asians. We deduced that that could mean something about the authenticity of the food as in the actual supposed spiciness and such.
I had been craving Thai Tea for the longest time and so far the only place I’m able to get it is from Tapioca Express in Richmond. I was happy to see that it was offered here too, but it certainly wasn’t cheap. I believe it was around $3.50-4.
As with the authentic Thai Teas, this became a bright orange after mixing, and I was happy to see that. Only wish the picture would do it justice in the bright “neon-ness” of the orange. I was surprised that my friend hadn’t tried this before, having visited Thailand a few times…he wasn’t too impressed with it though.
I loved it. It has a very distinct, almost herb-y flavor which I can’t quite describe. You really gotta try it to appreciate it.
Surrey Friend ordered a single Tom Yum Goong ($4) to start. It came in a really small bowl. It was actually one of those Asian rice bowls that you use at a Chinese restaurant. Surrey Friend was extremely unimpressed with the fact that it only came with a single prawn, with the rest of the space being filled with white mushrooms
For main Surrey Friend ordered the Pad Kee Mao ($15) which was listed under the “Chef’s Suggestions”. He told me that it’s also known as “Drunken Noodles” as it’s supposedly great after a night of partying =P
So it’s supposed to be stir-fried in a Thai spicy sauce. However, Surrey Friend was disappointed once again as the spiciness level was not up to par. I had a bite and I had to agree, as my tolerance for spiciness is not great and I couldn’t taste any. He found it tasteless/bland too with the only flavoring to seemingly be black pepper.
My entree was the simple Pad Thai ($14). It was good but not great. It was the usual ketchupy sauce but there were ample amounts of small prawns and tofu. The noodles could be a bit less mushy also.
Tell me, is Pad Thai supposed to be made with a ketchupy sauce??
Overall the food was alright, not great. Service was better though. When Surrey Friend complained about the blandness of his dish, the server lady brought him some spicy sauce and also went to tell the chef about it. She came back to tell us that for next time we could request the dish made spicier. But Surrey Friend, man he’s a finicky eater!! He says it’s not just the spice level but the taste too. Oh well. I guess we won’t be coming back~
Off topic but funny story…I said to Surrey Friend “Next time, maybe tell them to make it the way they make it for themselves.”
Surrey Friend: I did that once when I ordered some pork dish. They said they eat it raw at home. So I asked them to serve it that way. They came back later to tell me that they can’t since it’s against food-safe regulations. (Hitman edit: That was larb at the old Full Moon Laos Thai restaurant across from Central City. Man do I ever miss that place! If the family who ran it has opened a new restaurant yet please let us know.)
Ok maybe not that funny. Entertaining at least? Just a little???
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