Sabai Thai Gastrobar

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

Heard some good things about this place so thought we would check it out.

Nice looking and friendly staff but service is slow and food is below par.

Nice to sit our side in summer, its a shame they do not have many seats there. It would make a good bar but the food quality lets it down a bit as a restaurant.
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Alan and Vicky
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Saturday, August 22, 2009

Very nice place with a few seats outside. The interior makes you feel like you are in an expensive restaurant in Thailand but prices are good and the staff are very friendly.

We ate on a busy Saturday and unfortunately service was very slow.

Sea Bass was very good but both our stir fries were too salty and had to be sent back.
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Tom Morris
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 5
Sunday, June 07, 2009

The most attraction of Sabai is the style of service that all the staffs always pay attention and prompt to response to all requests.

I really enjoy the home made dumplings and coconut prawns .Actually , the tamarine duck is fantastic and it's my favourite one. I'd like recommended this restaurant to anyone who aren't like Thai food only but also the relax atmosphere.
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Thomas Jenkins
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Sunday, May 03, 2009

Probably the poorest Thai meal I've eaten in Brighton. Chiang Mai curry just way too sweet (tasted of nothing else), Meat tough and chewy. Dumplings had incredibly dry filling. Service just about OK. Disappointing.
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Bernard Hatler
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Saturday, April 04, 2009

Lovely looking place that has had a lot of time and attention spent on it. Staff are good too and very attentive.

Unfortunately though it's all about the food - ours was very salty and oily. There is certainly better in Brighton but after a few Singhas to get rid of the salty taste we still had a good night.
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Ade Parker
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 4
Tuesday, December 09, 2008