So today I had a Royal Feast, at the Sabai Restaurant, which serves authentic Thai food. It was kinda pricey at first glance, but that was one of the steps I never regret taking.
The place was royally decorated, very much like the name card on the left. Red wall, red ceiling, and a lot of intricate ornaments. Situated strategically at Ngee Ann City #04-23, Takashimaya, they definitely catch one’s eyes. The ornaments are embedded in almost everything we saw, even the food.
So first things first, the service there, was the ultimate awesomeness. Never empty glass of water, good recommendations of food, fantastic politeness and how the manager was trying to ensure that we know what we’re ordering and checking whether the dish will suit our taste buds. Awesome ambiance, romantic, quiet, clean. The only downside to this whole place was only the bill waiting for you at the end of it all. But for what we were about to devour, it was definitely worth it.
Well another down side was this, the manager kept walking around us, such that, I felt super weird taking pictures of the food, despite its OMG presentations. I only managed to take 2 photos out of 5 of the dishes we ordered, DANG.. but THAT gives ME another reason to go back.. haha.. to be faithful to our readers who are waiting for the nicest dishes in town.. =D
Let’s get on to the juicy stuff.
Menu: Pat Thai Gung
The famous tasty Thai Fried Noodles. Stir-fried with prawns, chicken, yellow beancurd, eggs, ground peanuts, sweet tamarind sauce and beansprouts.
Price: S$18.00
Verdict: 3/5
Review: I’ve eaten too much Pat Thai, it seems that all of them taste about the same, this one wins on the presentation, but other than that, not much difference.
Menu: See-Krong Moo Op Nahmpeung
Deep fried smoked honey pork ribs
Price: S$19.00 (for about 8-10 pieces of ribs)
Verdict: 4.5/5 (ultimate!)
Review: This dish, which I couldn’t take pictures of since it looked too good to wait for a snap, was seriously the ultimate honey pork ribs ever, it was soft and tender, succulent, with a distinct taste from the fact that it was smoked. An excellent combination of spices, which I don’t know, were evidently so working for that dish. I LOVED it.
Menu: Gang Mussaman Neua, Gai
“Ancient recipe” red peanut curry with potatoes and a choice of beef or chicken
Price: S$ 18.50
Verdict: 3.5/5
Review: It was better than the Pat Thai, and this curry actually smells nice, but to me, it doesn’t come across as something which is out of the ordinary, it taste a little bit like Indonesian dishes, but if my mom loves it, since she hates curries, it must be something right?
Menu: Saengwa Gung Pao
Kaffir lime juice dressing with grilled prawns, lemograss, chillies and mint leaves, served with deep fried crispy fish and raw vegetables. This dish was originally “Royal Food”, the relish it always served in a carved vegetable; pumpkin or green melon and together with carved raw vegetables; carrots, cucumber, and apple eggplant.
Price: S$18.00
Verdict: 4/5 (VERY good)
Review: The relish was definitely something different, if you love Indonesian rujak, it’ll definitely be a winner. I loved it. And how all the things were carved, the eggplants, the carrots, sooo beautiful, the cucumbers and all were also carved, and check ot the bowl from the pumpkin, so beautiful right?? It’s a bit sour, a bit sweet, a bit spicy, in Indonesian we call it “Nano, nano, manis, asem, asin, Ramai rasanya” loosely translated it means “Nano, Nano ( a name of this candy thing in Indo), sweet, sour, salty, all the different tastes combined into one..”
Menu: Mee Grop
One of Sabai’s ancient recipes – sweet and sour crispy noodles with prawns, chicken, beancurd, pickled garlic and yellow bean past
Price: S$17.50
Verdict: 4.5/5
Review: Seriously they were awesome, super super awesome, it was crispy and just nice, splendid with rice, but fantastic if eaten alone. I can’t really describe it with words, it was just awesome. You have to try it to know what I mean.
So what are you waiting for?? Go get your asses down at the Thai Palace!!
XOXO,
~Ly
) this dish hit the spot. It was spicy so yes plain rice was good to balance out the dish’s overall spicyness. However I felt that garnish could have been a little better. Because the crab was curried, the lettuce, onions and cucumbers seemed like they were in a mess. But other than that, everything else about the dish was good! Especially if you love spicy food, Thai Express is the place to be.
Menu: Chettinad Chicken
The pricing was not too over-priced especially when I compare them to their direct rivals (restaurants that serve similar dishes that are located within close proximity from them). On the whole, it was an excellent and fullfilling experience for me at swaadhist. Can’t wait to get back there!
