Sabai Sabai Simply Thai

The best reasonable priced Thai restaurant in Columbia/​Germantown area! The staff is excellent and friendly.
We had a TomKha Soup, and Crying Tiger appetizer. And for the entrée we had the spicy catfish curry, the non fried version!
Brilliant is the word for the taste of the food!

While I think the food is great, the past two times I called to order take out I am put on hold for over 7+ minutes and no one ever comes back to the line. I then hang up and order else where.

Have been going here for about 7 years now, and still a favorite. Their drunken noodles are without equal — believe me, I’ve looked. Service is quick and polite. I don’t live nearby anymore, but I still drop in every chance I get!

*Sigh* I was really excited to try this place with my family, but both the food and the service was subpar. Based on the great reviews I tried to make a reservation for dinner to celebrate my brother’s birthday, but you have to give them at least two hours notice. If you call within two hours they can put you on a call-​ahead list and try to get you a table when you arrive. I’d recommend making the reservation because the restaurant is small and it was packed on a Saturday night.
For appetizers we ordered our usual of kanom jeeb and curry puffs. Something tasted a little different about the kanom jeeb, which are pork and shrimp dumplings, than I’m used to, but it wasn’t bad. And the curry puffs were flaky and flavorful. For my meal I ordered the crispy basil duck, but there was nothing crispy about it. The skin was soggy and was falling off and was just not appetizing. This is probably one of my favorite Thai dishes so it was disappointing they couldn’t execute it properly. And not to mention it was one of the pricier menu items.
What would have been a three star experience drops down to a two because of the service. Our waiter never checked on us after we got our food and another waitress was very brisk and rude when taking our orders. I got the vibe that they knew they were a popular restaurant and didn’t feel the need to offer great service because they know they’ll fill the table as soon as we leave. It might’ve been an off-​night, but I most likely won’t return.

I love going to this place for the Penang Curry they make with the Kaffir Lime leaves unlike some other Thai places where they substitute mint leaves for the same. I love its great flavor and can never get bored of it.
I only wish they were a little faster on their service. It easily takes about an hour for your order to arrive and I always end up overlooking it as a choice for lunches during weekdays.

Ordered take out Friday night. Are you serious. Noodles were robbery and pad Thai was bad. Don’t get it ordered several other times good last experience blew my mind. You guys lost me Gonna have to stick with Gaithersburg Thai.

Excellent Thai food! We went the first time a long while ago and have been somewhat wedded to Ruan Thai. However, last night, we had something later that night in Germantown, so we gave Sabai Sabai another visit. We ran into some friends who are regulars, and the folks there were happy to move tables for us.
Everything we had was excellent. The drunken noodles had a little kick, the pad thai was excellent and the dragon beef was delicious. They have a dish similar to Ruan Thai’s Yum Watercress, my favorite thai dish, but it wasn’t available last night. I look forward to the next time we go so that I can compare.

When I think Thai, I compare it against Sabai Sabai. Hands down the best Thai food I’ve tried.

I went here for a dinner with coworkers and it was seriously such a nice way to end the day. Unlike many other hole in the wall Thai places, Sabai Sabai has a nice atmosphere and polished décor. You may also want to make reservations as it was pretty busy even on a random Tuesday evening. We ended up having to wait 15 minutes to be seated, but it was well worth it.
We started off at the bar with some beers, of which they have a nice selection and half off prices. We then grabbed a table and ordered some appetizers. Their wings, though on the smaller side, are absolutely delectable, sweet and crunchy. Another must try is the crying tiger which is soooo spicy (hence the name!). We also had the chicken satay, which was pretty good.
For the main course I loved the rock fish, which was a pan fried fish with a light vinegary sauce. There’s also a dish called «whole crispy fish», which comes nicely presented with the flounder fried to the shape of a bowl and the actual fish meat placed inside. Another good pick is their chicken curry!
All in all, def recommend this place!

I’m going to focus on the food here. It was really tasty. I enjoyed the ambiance, and the hospitality. I plan on going back once I feel like indulging in Thai food. I would give them a 5 star rating if that had grilled pork chops with white rice. That’s my favorite!
Great lunch special. Also, they do get busy around 5pm so plan accordingly.

I AM ABSOLUTELY IN LOVE WITH THIS PLACE. P. S I have been to Thailand and have eaten some seriously authentic Thai food and this is easily the best Thai restaurant in the Montgomery County, MD area.
Let’s start with the food– DELICIOUS! I seriously recommend the Spicy Catfish– it’s crispy catfish sauteed with Thai eggplant and tons of Thai basil with a spicy kick. I’d also suggest getting the Green Curry or Penang Curry with chicken or seafood. Other great dishes are the Drunken Noodles (I like to order mine with beef) and the Pad Thai is great comfort food. Also, if you are worried about the spiciness of the dishes, you are able to ask your waiter to lower the level of heat.
The portions are huge for a very reasonable price, the atmosphere is cozy and casual, and the wait staff are very friendly. It can get pretty busy on the weekend nights so make sure to grab a reservation before. I LOVE YOU, SABAI SABAI.

This place is so good ! They deliver as well !
Very clean restaurant right in the middle of downtown Germantown :)
Try the pineapple fried rice :)

I eat here because Sabai offers delicious vegan options. When I eat in-​house, the service is fast and the food is hot and fresh. When I pick up, my food is always ready in the timeframe they give me.
My main order is Pad Thai tofu, and they easily understand and accommodate my request for no egg and no fish sauce. I also like their Pad See Ew a lot, and have enjoyed their Massaman Curry and Papaya pad Thai. Friends I’ve taken here have always enjoyed their meals. Appetizer-​wise, can’t go wrong with tofu triangles or dumplings, or some fried green beans. Yum!
Thanks Sabai Sabai for being so vegan friendly, and delicious! I’ll continue to be a regular customer.

5 stars for their soft shell crab dish!!! and 4.5 overall.
The last time I had a really good soft shell crab curry dish was at SriPraPhai Thai Restaurant in Woodside, New York, which is one of the best Thai restaurants in the city (4 stars, 1600+ Unilocal reviews). Sabai Sabai’s soft shell crab curry is as good as SriPraPhai’s dish.
We decided to give this place a try since our beloved Unilocaler friends Mike B and Hannah H both gave it 5 stars. If this place could satisfy these two to earn 5 stars, then we expected this gem to be something special.
Inside of the restaurant is hip and modern, and we were warmly welcomed by a super friendly staff. We saw people eating some delicious looking soup noodle dishes, but our server highly recommended soft shell crab dish and Jason C wanted something familiar, so we ordered Lahb, Soft shell crab with yellow curry sauce and drunken noodles.
Now, why do we love this place so much?
1. Portions are huge, I mean HUGE. Our appetizer, Lahb, was easily an entrée size, and our entrée portions were enormous, too.
2. Delicious Delicious food. I don’t know why Lahb was slightly powdery, but nonetheless it was sweet, sour, slightly spicy and delicious.
The body of my soft shell crab was bigger than my fist, and it was fried to perfection. Yellow Curry sauce was slightly sweet (I wish it was less sweet) but other than that it was one of the best Thai dishes I had in DMV area. The drunken noodle wasn’t the conventional drunken noodles that we had before, but it was still pretty good.
3. Reasonable prices. We felt that the total bill was really reasonable and much cheaper than other Thai restaurants in Rockville area. We ordered 3 dishes, and Thai iced tea and the total bill was a little over $ 40.
In sum, I would definitely return to Sabai Sabai and look forward to trying out other dishes.

For once I didn’t get my normal Veggie Pad Thai and was sooooo very happy I didn’t. Of course I had my Veggie Spring Rolls, and they were cooked perfectly. I’m a stickler for Spring Rolls that have just the right amount of filling and are quickly fried without the lingering oil.
For my meal I went with the Plah with Salmon, can you say DELICIOUS?! It was a mix of crispy pieces that was seasoned with a rare chili paste, lime juice, lemongrass, onions/​scallions that was served with wedges of lettuce. I ended up making «Lettuce Wraps» and it was very tasty. The portion was enormous, I literally stuffed myself on purpose.
My friend ordered the Sabai Sabai Grilled Chicken, and must of really enjoyed it as the plate was cleaned off. Great Chef choice to have a side papaya salad accompanying the meal.
It was a very ingratiating and decorative ambiance. The full bar was designed with a flowing architectural hand of stones, that really set the space to a higher level. I enjoyed the background music that really complimented the dining experience.
Service was very expedient and top notch. It’s always a good experience to have a casual meal in an establishment that operates and serves like white linen table service.
I will not mind the travel north for this great Thai food experience.

My friend booked this restaurant for my wedding rehearsal dinner. And I finished up the transaction by giving them my credit card information via the phone. It was a very simple reservation and transaction process. I was thankful to the restaurant because they really took more care into the rehearsal dinner than I had ever expected. They even used special table cloth for our dinner.
I had a pre ordered meal for my wedding rehearsal dinner. The dinner was delicious and people had more than enough to eat. As a matter of fact, we had a lot of left over food.
Menu:
Appetizers:
calamari & curry puffs
Entrees:
Crispy pork
Penang curry with shrimp
Roasted duck curry
Pad Thai with chicken
Beef drunken noodle
Dessert:
mango sticky rice/​fried banana dessert
The one dish I did not really like was the mango sticky rice. It was pre made in advance and the rice was harden.
They shaped the mango sticky rice in a heart shape for us. It was such a nice and sweet surprise. However, everything else was so amazing. The food was saturated with deep flavors. I highly recommend eating here or even booking a dinner party for a large group!

Consistently delicious!
If you love Pad Thai like I love Pad Thai then look no further! Best I’ve ever had with big juicy slices of chicken and generous portions of egg. Everything is always hot and very fresh. I am long over due for a review on SABAI SABAI!

Thai! Every time I go to a thai restaurant, I have the green curry so I can compare places.
So how did it compare!!!
*drum roll*
3.5 stars!!! Out of 5. 5 is my favorite. So it’s above average. It definitely has spice to it that builds up in your mouth over time. That is nice. However, the curry itself, besides being hot spicy, needed more dynamic flavor… which I’ve had else where… the chicken was cooked well and so were the bamboo shoots etc.
Also had the mango sticky rice!
How did it fair!!!
Also 3.5 stars out of five. Sigh. I had high hopes for this one. The presentation was good. The sauce was good. The rice was hard at the bottom. Not good. The mangos were a little tart. But I very well know that they are NOT in season. Most thai places will NOT put this on the menu during the off season OR warn you in advance that it is not in season and its more of a sweet and tart/​sour dessert. This did not happen… :/​
So the stars get amped up due to good service and décor. However I would not go out of my way to come here. If I’m shopping in area etc maybe…

Great place for Thai food in Germantown! My favorites of the night were the Crispy Duck with Basil and the Pineapple Fried Rice. The duck was delicious. The crispiness of the skin lasted the entire night and did not seem fatty at all. The fried rice, while simple, was really tasty with the ham, chicken, Chinese sausage, and pineapple. I’d definitely go back and order these two again.
The Drunken Noodles and the salmon dish were great too. The salmon was not dry. It was cooked just right with the chili pepper and basil sauce.
Everyone also loved the Thai Style Omelet. We got it with crabmeat and scallops. It is simple comfort food, but was great with the hot sauce.
For appetizers, we got the Chicken Lahb, which was spicy, minced chicken with onion, scallion, and lime juice. With each bite, it kept getting spicier. Another appetizer we ordered was the Kanom Jeeb. This is a Thai style dumpling made with pork and shrimp. It looks and taste like shumai, a type of Chinese dimsum.
I didn’t care too much for the Massaman Curry with Chicken, which was actually my entrée pick. I thought it was okay. The chicken was kind of overcooked. Unfortunately, no beef option. I wish the potatoes were cooked a little longer. The Thai Battered Calamari was pretty standard. You can get better elsewhere.
*Pay attention to the chili pepper symbols by the description. Thai spicy is no joke.

Nice to see a Thai spot ’round my bro’s ‘hood. Don’t let the white washed exterior fool you — it’s Thai alright.
We know a few culinarily talented Thai pals so I was curious on how they’ll rate with us. Of course home-​cooked Thai will always be tops but let’s move on.
Big points for their papaya salad especially since they did well with our extra spicy request. Our family appreciates tasty heat so good job. The lettuce pieces were left alone — made for cute décor.
Now they’re legit with the Thai eggplants in our green curry w/​pork. Nothin’ but net for this originally slight spiced dish.
The comfort food that is the minced pork omelette was blanketed over a bed of rice which went nice w/​sriracha.
Pad prik khing w/​chicken was sweeter than spicy so thank goodness for those quad condiment servers which included the dry pepper flakes. Zapped the sweetness away. Thank ye.
Welp the tom yum though brought us back to the reality that we are in Germantown. But that’s fine. Far more sour than sour-​spicy. I sound like a broken record but to each their own.
Wonderful friendly courteous staff on a busy weekday. Thanks bro for the good eats in your neck of the woods.