I’m always up for good Thai food. The Lemongrass, Kaffir lime leaves, coconut milk, chilies, fish sauce – these exotic ingredients come together to create flavour profiles that are unmistakenly unique to Thai cooking and Thai cooking alone. I had heard great things about Sabai Sabai Kitchen and Bar on Church Street in downtown Toronto, so we stopped by on our last visit to The Big Smoke.
Right away, I liked the funky cool vibe they have going on at Sabai Sabai. Casual and modern decor with eclectic art and lighting, it immediately feels like a fun place to hang out. And I really like the menu style. I have probably mentioned in previous posts how much I enjoy the whole concept of tapas style eating. In my mind, there is no reason to limit tapas to Spanish cuisine. Whether its sushi or dim sum, I love being able to order a number of small dishes to really explore the menu and have the opportunity to try several different dishes and flavours, all at the same meal. It’s also a great way to avoid ordering too much food and getting stuffed. You just keep ordering these freshly made plates until you’re satisfied. Sabai Sabai offers exceptionally prepared and creative Thai tapas.
The dinner menu features over 20 small plate items perfect for sharing. From meat, fish and vegetarian dishes, there is no shortage of choices to satisfy everyone’s taste. I think we ended up ordering 8 dishes between the three of us on this evening, and actually went back for seconds on a couple of our favorites. I won’t list everything, but all dishes we sampled were excellent. I have to apologize for the lack of food shots. It was one of those things where the food was so good and we couldn’t wait to dig in, that we forgot to take pictures!
Some of our favorite dishes included the fresh spring rolls with shrimp, the housemade panang chicken curry, the mind-blowingly addictive deep fried freshly grated squash fritters and the super tasty grilled Northern Thai pork skewers with spicy nam chim dip. We probably stretched this meal out to the better part of three hours, but never felt rushed. The service was very friendly and informative. I must confess that I was a little bummed that they didn’t have any Beerlao in stock, the National Beer of Laos that I have been dying to try. Our server mentioned that they haven’t had any for over a month. Must be a darn good beverage! Alas, we drowned out sorrows in a pretty potent pitcher of Sangria, so not all was lost.
Overall, an excellent dining experience at Sabai Sabai. Great food, great service, great atmosphere – what more can you ask for. We will definitely be back. Highly recommended! For now, back to the cage.
