Often times, a bit of information or a recommendation will allow me to order to the strength of a restaurant. When I first visited Sab E Lee, I was taken by the gentleman who ran the tiny restaurant. He eagerly provided me with the information I needed to order by telling me that the cooks were from "Issan" (Northeastern Thailand), and I ended up ordering to the restaurant's strength. That was a whole fifteen months, and maybe over a hundred visits ago. Since then, I've gotten to know Kobe pretty well, and now with the opening of Sab E Lee 2 in Santee, it'll be more of the same, right? Well, not so fast pilgrim……… During the past weekend when I went to check out Sab E Lee 2 and ran into Kobe, he shared the new menu with me, and information about the chef at this location. This Chef is more experienced in fine dining, having worked at several four star hotels…. I believe The Sukothai Bangkok was one of the hotels named. After looking through the menu, the Missus and I headed over, East on the 52, off at Mission Gorge, and arrived at Sab E Lee. As I mentioned in my previous post, the restaurant is maybe four times the size of the Linda Vista location, Kobe also showed me the kitchen which is about the same size as the dining area!
After we were greeted by Kobe, and several of the familiar faces, we got under way. First off, please forgive the pinkish tinged photos as the reflection of pink everywhere makes everything…. well, pink.
Kobe told me to try the Kra Thong Tong ($7.95):
You see, from what Kobe told me about the Chef, I figured that one of the streng
ths here would be what I tend to call "Royal Thai" cuisine, with it's more intricate presentations, lighter fare, featuring many Chinese and Mon influences. And these wonderful, light, rice flour based pasty cups filled with minced prawns and chicken surely fill the bill. Royal Thai doesn't mean dumbed down, but it presents itself with a wonderfully balanced flavors and textures. In this case a mild curry background, brought up with a cucumber relish that seems to use palm syrup. And yet, it is not overly sweet, but a very complex dish.
The Plaa Shrimp($8.95) was a good second choice:
Butterflied shrimp are quickly charred, and left in a "rare" state. The bracing and spicy lime sauce finishes off the "cooking" process. We quickly noticed that this chef uses a good bit more lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves in his dishes. The spice level was excellent, courtesy of Thai Bird Chilies, and with the slices of raw garlic and Thai Eggplant, this is a dish that would be right at home at Sab E Lee on Linda Vista.
The third dish we ordered was the Pine Cone Fish (Halibut – $16.95):
I'm sorry to say that my photos don't do this dish justice. It is a good-sized Halibut, de-boned, crusted with panko and placed into the shape of a pine cone. The fish was fried to perfection, soft and tender. The line-chili-fish sauce dip was good if a bit salty. Kobe brought out a little dish of tangy tamarind based sauce which the Missus loved. Kobe told us that it was the sauce used for Three Flavored Fish, which is what we'll be ordering in the future.
Overall, this was a wonderful meal….lovely presentations, well prepared food, and the prices weren't too bad. And yes, there's Koi Soi, Catfish Larb, and many of my other favorites on the menu. But I thought it would be good to play to the Chef's strengths, and I think he did a great job. I'll do my Koi Soi comparison on another day…..
Sab E Lee 2
9159 Mission Gorge Road
Santee, CA 92071