Sabai Thai Gastrobar

It was a big mistake to come there. I ordered many dishes because I was hungry and trusted good reviews. Papaya salad was bland. It mainly contained tired beansprouts floating in syrupy sugar. The taste was off and I could not swallow it.

The dumplings I ordered were dry, tasteless and brought to the table already falled apart. Red Curry was greasy and sugary. The signature dish - tamarind duck was cold inside and appeared to be reheated in a microwave. It had a sickly taste, was incredibly tough and very salty.

The head of front house was stubbornly refuting my complaints. Their argument was that theirs was the authentic thai taste which they implied I didn't know much about.

I would not recommend it to anybody.
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Clementine
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 3
Sunday, December 25, 2011

Very, very good. Have been here a couple of times now, and have thoroughly enjoyed it.

It's not the cheapest night out, but lots of fun. Good atmosphere and staff, and great food.

I'm an Asian food fanatic, and this is in my top three, for sure.

Cocktails are amazing.. :)
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Carla
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Thursday, December 15, 2011

We went here to celebrate a birthday. The service was excellent, the staff here are friendly and helpful but not imposing. The food came in perfect time, was presented perfectly and tasted sensational. The style of the restaurant is sophisticated and classy but not at all pretentious and the general atmosphere is very welcoming. We would highly recommend this restaurant and will definately be going again.
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Lisa & Rosie
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, June 12, 2011

It's a shame to see negative reviews to what has to be one of, if not, my favourite restaurants in Brighton!

My husband and I stumbled across Sabai totally by accident one night when considering the Tapas joint next door.

We both love Thai and weren't disappointed. The food is always consistently good and full of flavour! (Beware the "weeping Tiger") it is VERY hot!

This year we decided to go here for my birthday - the test of a good restaurant is always a party of 10 or more. I was a little worried as it's a small place and wasn't sure how many large groups they get!

We had a fantastic time and the staff are so pleasant. A friend ordered a soup they had never had before and decided they didn't like it. The staff arranged for something different AND comp'd they original dish! On top of this, for my birthday I was given a few free chilli and lime Vodka shots, which are delicious!

Cocktails are good but disappointingly are pricey as with most restaurants in Brighton serving REAL cocktails.

We genuinely love this place and go back time and again for the food, but also for the warmth of the staff.

Worth a second chance.
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Danielle D
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Sunday, June 12, 2011

We visited Sabai while on holiday and came across this wonderrful restaurant by chance. It was so good to eat in lovely suroundings with a choice of fantastic gluten -free food. The staff were wonderful and nothing seemed too much for them - our hosts for a time while in thier restaurant - The Sabai.

Great Thai food and great hosts.

Gluten free meals 10 out of 10!
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Sarah
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, June 06, 2011

My wife and I just came back from eating lunch in this restaurant and I have to say it was a very very disappointing experience. I ordered a Pad Thai from the lunch time menu (4.95) and my wife who is Thai ordered the Geng Par (6.95). She asked the waitress to make it a little bit spicy, as usually Thai food in the UK is a bit bland for her. Anyway when the food came, mine was not too bad. A little greasy but OK. Her Geng Par (jungle Curry) was insanely hot. My wife eats her food very spicy but this was ridiculous, especially as she specifically asked the waitress for it to be a little bit spicy.

Anyway my wife ordered a Thai omelet to go with the curry to help take some of the heat out of it. The omelet was OK and they made it despite the fact it was not on the menu - that was a nice touch I will admit.

Anyway when we looked at the bill the waitress had written in Thai make very very very hot. This was not what my wife asked for.

When we checked the bill further I noticed I had been charged 6.95 for my Pad Thai despite it being lunch time and the Pad Thai was a lunchtime special at 4.95. When I asked the waitress she said I had to specify that I wanted the 4.95 one and not the 6.95 one!!!! I said why didn't she ask me?!! She went on to tell me that the 4.95 is smaller and they had made me the larger 6.95 one so I had to pay for it!!!

So it seems that at Sabai that the lunchtime special is not so special after all. Instead of getting a disount on the evening menu you just get a smaller version of the full price dishes. It seems ridiculous.

Anyway all in all a terrible experience and probably the worst Thai restaurant in Brighton. Avoid.
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Tom Sand
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Had a slightly different experience this time. Initially it all started well. Went inside, as older couple had very small baby in pushchair outside; we left them to their space and we desired ours. Again warm welcome, but then the music was suddenly turned on loudly, overpowering the soothing shush of the water feature. As we were the only inside lunchtime visitors, we politely requested that the volume be reduced. One waitress who mainly looked after us very charmingly, asked the other waitress to turn it down. She did so, but then immediately turned it up again! It took another request to accomplish a little peace. We had the chicken satay and thai crispy greens for starters, chicken fried rice spiced up and the chicken jungle curry that needed no spicing up - very fiery but also tasty. Phillipe de Rothschild white wine accompanied this very nicely; unfortunately, it was also accompanied by the constant toing & froing of the man seated outside coming in and out with the baby's pushchair which he parked nearby to us. If he wasn't bringing the chair in and out, he was constantly back and forth getting items from it. Why he couldn't just keep the darn thing outside, I do not know. When it came to pay, the not so nice waitress took my husband's credit card payment. When he realised there was no service charge added to the bill, he asked her to redo the credit card payment, at which request she rolled her eyes! She then went to the bar and quite blatantly moaned about us to the nice waitress! We asked her if she had a problem and she quickly said no. However, this problematic attitude had taken the shine off the meal, and makes us less keen to return.
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Anne Bond - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 10
Saturday, August 21, 2010

Visited yesterday for a late lunch as we'd been meaning to try them out for a long time. Had the £6.95 special for two courses and thought it great value for money. Sat by the charming Buddha water feature which made for a relaxing atmosphere. We had a warm welcome and very well looked after, with only one minor hiccup. When ordering I asked for a 15 minute break between courses. What actually happened was we weren't given our starters for 15 minutes and the mains came up fairly quickly after the starters had been eaten. Not a problem though, as there wasn't an enormous lot to eat to start with, although perfectly acceptable and nicely presented. They were chicken satay and barbecue pork with a (hot!) chilli dipping sauce. Both were very tasty and the pork had only one piece that was slightly fatty, and for the most part was very lean and tender. We both opted for the pad thai, one chicken and one beef, and these were generous portions, so generous in fact, that I was unable to eat all of mine. My oh had no such problems :-). Again, the beef could have been more tender, but it was certainly better quality than in a lot of Thai/Chinese restaurants we have tried. The charming waitress offered us a side dish of fresh lime pieces and dried chilli powder, and this certainly took the old taste buds to higher levels!!! We like hot spicy food so our palates were certainly tickled by these additions. A nice bottle of Rothschild merlot washed our food down a treat, and the whole bill came to £28.00ish. Nice to see that service charge was not added, although we left more than the standard 10% to show our appreciation. On leaving, we passed a table for two with two regulars who were chatting with the lady chef. She asked us if everything had been ok, and was pleased with our enthusiastic response. Just to finish, the a la carte menu looked very interesting and had dishes that we'd not seen before, plus old favourites. It wasn't cheap, but I think, if the quality of the food lives up to expectations, it could be well worth a venture.
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Anne Bond - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, August 04, 2010

Stumbled on this gem of a restaurant the food was fresh tasty and service spot on. Cocktails amazing definitely try the chilli mojito. So good writing this review whilst eating the fab dessert
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, July 17, 2010

I have eaten here a few times now and love it! Lovely space, nice ambience, good food at a reasonable price and lovely staff. My favourite Thai restaurants in Brighton.
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Starling - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Saturday, March 20, 2010