Circling Back to Sab E Lee (Santee)

We've just torn the last page out of the 2019 calendar….it's 2020. 2020……man, can you believe that if we're still posting in May of this year; it will make 15 years? Sheesh….. I was recently wool gathering and looking at some older posts and I realize that there are tons of places that I haven't revisited in years.

Some of them used to be favorites of ours…….Sab E Lee was one of them right from they opened in 2008. Over the years, they've opened a location in PQ, moved the original shop to a larger location down the street, and opened another, more Thai comfort food based restaurant in the old location. And of course, there's the Sab E Lee location in Santee, which I used to call SEL2. The original owner of TOSEL sold the place to the cooks and opened up a location in Santee back in 2009. The food wasn't truly Issan like TOSEL, but some of the dishes were quite good. I looked at my post from 2012 and realized I hadn't been back there in over 7 years! Also, the Missus has been wanting Salted Fish Fried Rice; something that TOSEL and Thai Papaya took off their menu a few years back. Looking at the online menu for the place; I noticed that they still had it on the menu…..in Santee! I hoped.

So, this past weekend, I made the drive out to Santee to see what was going on at that location of SEL.

The place looks pretty much the same as I recalled…..though for some reason, it just seemed much darker inside.

Two really nice young ladies were working…so friendly. And yes, there it was….the salted fish fried rice on he menu. When I ordered it; the nice young lady made sure to let me know that they use fermented fish….not "fresh" fish, which made me laugh…..I'm guessing perhaps there have been some folks surprised when they actually caught a whiff of that fried rice?

Anyway; it was the first dish to arrive.

Nicely stir-fried; some wok hay going on….not as much salted fish as I recalled…the dish was not very pungent. Enjoyed the texture and this wasn't overly salty. Most of went home for the Missus who said it was "kind of bland"……She'd expected something much more pungent. Still, not bad.

I also ordered the Duck Larb…..and was shocked when it arrived at the table hot.

The temperature really dulled the sharp flavors and the dish tasted better after spending some time in the fridge. At heat level 7, this was quite wimpy……..just not enough heat…..the duck was pretty gamey though. This was just mediocre, not made with any real finesse.

I also ordered the Khai Jeaw; a classic Thai street food dish. Basically eggs with ground pork and fish sauce.

The eggs were pretty well done; nice and fluffy, savory, and while not quite as good as what I'd had here in the past; this was my favorite dish. This did better with Nam Pla Prik – the savory fish sauce with chilies than the Sriracha that was served with the dish. Still, I missed the version they used to make here.

For your reference….from back in 2009, when SEL2 really tried stepping up their game.

I understand the economics of things….the prices here are very reasonable and I'm fairly certain that concessions have to be made for the area. This did seem like a totally different restaurant than the version of Sab E Lee I ate at in 2012. And I can't help but wonder what Kobey; the former owner of SEL would think if he shared this meal with me.

Sab E Lee
9159 Mission Gorge Road
Santee, CA 92071