Sabieng Thai Cuisine

I guess when you want good Thai food, you hit a gray stucco building in a dying strip mall, because that we’re I’ve always been successful. Maybe it’s the nearby laundromat or thrift store, but there’s something about the energy of a dilapidated parking lot and circle of struggling stores that inspires good Asian food.
Sabieng is one of those good Thai places. They have a vast menu, with the typical options for curries, noodle dishes, fried rices, and entrees. They allow for veggies, tofu, fish, chicken, shrimp, or beef as a protein choice in most dishes. They have a large number of soups, available by cup or large bowl, which are really satisfying. I appreciate the depth of their vegetarian menu. They offer several soups as vegetarian choices, whereas many Asian restaurants use fish stock or bonito in their soups and make them unsuitable for people who don’t eat fish. Sabieng is also careful to label dishes as having oyster sauce or fish sauce, in case you want to avoid them. I do, and whenever I ask they’ve been willing to forgo the sauce in exchange for soy sauce or something vegetarian friendly.
I appreciate the service at Sabieng, which is always friendly, and quick. My food has always arrived hot which I really appreciate. My favorite dish is the Thai basil stir fry, and I also like the green curry. We got sticky rice with mango the last visit, and it was exceptional. It’s easy for sticky rice to be too hard, or not actually sticky, or too sweet, or too dry, but they make the platonic ideal of a sticky rice. Where they got such fresh mangos, I don’t know, but they were the perfect creamy, sweet accompaniment to the rice.
The atmosphere here is quiet and pretty serene, and it’s a good place to linger with friends. Even when they’re busy, they’ve never made me feel pressured to jump out when I’m there with friends. I don’t think it’s the greatest Thai food I’ve ever had, and the prices seem a bit above what they should be, but regardless of that when I want Thai food, I go here.

Two Star review rationale:
1. One star because the ambiance at Sabieng is nice.
2. Another star because the Pumpkin Curry is just that delicious.
I’ve tried both restaurants owned by this proprietor and had dinner/​lunch at each. Drunken Noodles and Pumpkin Curry are always my go-​to when trying new Thai places. Try Pumpkin Curry if it’s listed on the specials menu. It came out hot, and perfectly seasoned. You can tell this place cooks with a hot wok!
The only problem I have with this restaurant is that they have yet to offer vegan mock meat proteins. Those products from Vegefarm & Beyond Meat are available in bulk from restaurant suppliers. It’s cruelty free and gives you as much protein as their meat counterparts. it’d be easy for the restaurant to get the new ingredients as well. Vegan Vegi-​protein crumbles are similarly easy to find. Places like Sala Thai in Santa Cruz offer vegan thai dishes made identically to most other asian restaurants except that they substitute plant-​based proteins. In case the business owner/​manager reads this review I’ve supplied a link to a resource that explains exactly how to get these veggie protein bits: The full list of restaurant suppliers is on page 17 here:
Here’s a short list of bulk suppliers I found searching «vegan meat alternative bulk supplier»
There are a number of suppliers who offer them. Vegefarm, listed in the first two links below is right there in North San Jose. It’d be easy to add this stuff and it would further increase your vegetarian customer base.
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Chow for now ;-)

The only good Thai restaurant in Santa Cruz and it just so happens to be within walking distance from the bus stops.