Yso F.
Yelp
resos were made through tock for lunch at 1:00 pm, party of three on a wednesday and marks zab bite as our first dine out of 2024. we had arrived early and the place was busy, we were greeted promptly, and seated shortly after. the servers were professional and accommodating, they allowed us to move to a booth as one became available. due to a mix up in the date for lunch, my girlfriend arrived 45 minutes late, and one of the servers reassured us, there was no problem, there were no reservations after us, which was a huge relief. zab bite is located on the corner of fraser and east 26th, and is small, and a little cramped, seating capacity may be around 30. street parking is available on fraser and nearby neighbourhoods.
this thai e-sarn restaurant is clean and features a lot of wood, and weaving textures, like in their chair seats, lighting fixtures, and what looked like a bamboo fish trap. when we were there, they had young, modern thai music videos, similar to kpop on their tv. there is a smell that lingers in the air, i can't quite place my finger on it, perhaps it's fish sauce and/or dried shrimp.
they have lunch o'clock specials on a few selected items, monday through thursday, from 11:30 am to 2:00 pm, along with their regular menu. many of their dishes are spicy.
we ordered the following items:
tum thai, shredded green papaya salad topped with dried shrimp and peanut, this dish was spicy, and lacked acidity
pad thai, stir fried rice noodle cooked with chef's signature sweet and sour sauce with chicken, there was a generous amount of chicken and tasted okay
pad see ew, stir fried wide rice noodles with gai lan, scrambled egg, and chef's signature seasoning sauce, with pork, of the three dishes ordered, this was the star. the wide rice noodles were silky and caramelized, this was flavourful with the pork.
after lunch, we asked about their dessert and was told they have mango sticky rice. we can't say no to mango sticky rice, even though we were full. they came back and told us their mangoes were not ripe enough.
i appreciate that we were not rushed at all, and waters were refilled frequently. we thoroughly enjoyed our first luncheon of the year, explored a new northeastern thai cuisine while catching up with a dear friend. i think it would be great to visit zab bite again with a larger group, to try more dishes, but may prove to be challenging as this place is ideal for small groups.