Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Serving the Beast Within at Thai Sabye Sabye, Old Klang Road

The Man is essentially an animal, his primary and greatest stake invested in his (or her) own survival. And when that survival is threatened, all the additional complex emotions as well as the ability to rationalise or apply logic become entirely expendable.

Case in point: One night, a desperate craving for Thai surfaced out of the blue. And with all things tinged with desperation, the advanced thinking, feeling human approach goes out the window when it came to the need to assuage that craving. Like a stiff drink. Or sex. No rest until you crack the code. Need it NOW.

I consulted the usual suspects in the blogosphere for guidance and found plenty of good things said about several Thai joints - a few were closed on Mondays and a few others were simply too far away in the horrendous rain-addled traffic. And then, just as I was on the brink of self-detonation in despair, I stumbled upon this lone post on Thai Sabye Sabye located on Old Klang Road, a stone's throw away from home for now.

The old unassuming outlet, located within Lucky Plaza (which houses Pasaraya Central, right before OUG turn-off) facing Old Klang Road, was a mere 5-minute drive away. I was giddy with excitement at the prospect of placating that incensed animal within.

The place was nicely filled up with families who looked like they had returned again and again to order the same items on the menu every single time. The worn-out furniture was reassuring, as was the wearied, yet comforted disposition of the other patrons.

We started with the Four-angle Bean Salad. Scrumptious with both dried and fresh shrimps providing a nice contrasted punch, coated with generous dousing of nam pla and citrus. Very refreshing stuff.

We couldn't possibly do without tomyam, especially on this chilly wet KL evening. Sabye Sabye served their tomyam soups in single serves (RM6 per serve) which allowed us to try two different types. He had the Tom Yam Chicken with Coconut Milk. It was creamy and comforting but it wasn't entirely mind-blowing.

I went with the Clear Soup Tomyam with Seafood. Again, despite my enthusiasm for this place, I felt the tomyam fell a wee bit short on the crazy spicy & sour front. The abundance of sliced bird's eye chillies brought on a coughing fit at one point but I saw that as just bad swallowing action on my part, not entirely great tomyam preparation on theirs.

Otak-Otak was a radiant serving of seafood coated in egg, coconut milk and turmeric. Went down too easily with white rice.

Deep fried Squid with Salted Egg dispensed the kind of joy one couldn't shy from when met with one's kindred soul. You want to get right under the skin and discover what you can't possibly know from muted appearances.

The soul of the evening had to be the Petai Fried Rice which arrived looking as placid as frozen peas but once we stuck our fork in to release the aroma, we were done for. I dare say I've not had petai marriage with carbs as zesty as this!

If you want to pay for only things you order, refuse the towel, the appetizer and jelly they serve as soon as you're seated, as they'll all pop up on the bill later. It's a token amount extra but still... you know what I mean. Meal rounded up to RM70 for two of us, which we were only too happy to fork over. The human in me laid comatose while the animal licked its paws and exhaled with gusto.

Thai Sabye Sabye
G62, Ground Floor, Lucky Plaza
Old Klang Road, KL
Tel: 03-7981 2887

20 comments:

Sean said...

i gotta say, i really dig how u start your entries with philosophical musings that dovetail nicely with the rest of the review! :D
i can't empathize with u here though ... i'd be perfectly happy if i never have tom yam again for the rest of my life. spicy and sour are two of my tastebuds' least favorite sensations!

Ciki said...

The human in me laid comatose while the animal licked its paws and exhaled with gusto.. ! your farnee!

actually iv been hankering for Thais.. but cumi won't bring me.. he said need more ppl.. chis:P

Li Ann said...

ben n i went to this thai plc/fishing pond off chan sow lin which ciki blogged about. the food was pretty good n spicy hot, even we chilliholics had to call for time out b4 our tastebuds got numbed... good but ohhh the pain... suckers for punishment we r :P

choi yen said...

those Thai foods always make me drooling~~~

J said...

LOL. Well, luckily its quite easy to satiate this kinda craving as opposed to some others. :)

Shame about the tom yam though. :(

Paranoid Android said...

OK, Jekyll and Hyde. Bland Tom Yums are a definite no no to my spoilt palate. Unlike Sean, I can live my life happily ever after in careless abandon if I can have perfect sour and spicy food. Everyday and every meal. We should hit Thai Tom Yam and get the mama there to whip u some off menu items and wash it all down with some Palm Juice.

Big Boys Oven said...

the food here looks so awesome! must fly over to try real soon! I need my spicies! lol!

Rebecca Saw said...

been hankering thai too - mine is more pineapple fried rice & green curry!

UnkaLeong said...

When you be going with PA do let me and becks know..between the both of us? We get the chef whipping out some of our favourite Thai dishes!

Kenny Mah said...

There is something pleasing and comofrting about the sorta understated dining bliss we search for and find sometimes.

I certainly hope the beast within was appeased! ;)

minchow said...

Sean, never again? :-S Sure we can't persuade you to give tomyam one final try? It's a splendid assault to the senses!

Ciki, Cumi is a wise man. Imagine how many more dishes we could've gotten away with had we had more company. Let's make a rombongan of this soon!

Li Ann, off Chan Sow Lin eh? I remember reading the same blog post. Numb tastebuds, sounds about right!! You guys up for round #2 soon?

Mimid3vils, hey there! Out of confinement yet? As soon as you're out of it, can go have as much Thai as you want, right??

J, yes I did feel like it was a punch in the gut that the tomyam was a let down. But I refuse to let it mar my impression of this place. Everything else was good!

minchow said...

PA, you mean that joint on Changkat right?? Let's go! I wanna hear you order in perfect Thai, nothing less!! :-)

BBO, I do think this place could generally afford to up the spice ante a notch though. It's not spicy enough if my nose is not running and sweat isn't pouring!

TNG, love green curry too, and I was torn that night whether to go for pineapple or petai fried rice! Glad I went with petai though.. stinkin lovely!

Unka, ooh yeah between you and PA ordering, we can expect nothing less than a spectacular meal, as close to the back alleys of Pratunam as it can get!!

LFB, oh that night the beast was certainly appeased! Only for 24 hours though, for the next evening, it was throwing a fit once again! :-S

HairyBerry said...

unleashing the beast in a Thai restaurant is a great idea, i think. i was the beast once, after one of my exams. the only difference is that i didn't order greens. and this beast got sweaty from the heat as well. haha!

TechSmacker said...

Shame on me... I lived there for five months (Sri Jati, barely 10 minutes away) and never even bothered to drop in.

Selba said...

The otak-otak looks interesting with tumeric.

Gallivanter said...

Excellent! I love Thai food and will check this place out! :-)

Merry Christmas!

iamthewitch said...

The petai fried rice does look tantalizing, though I'm not a fan of petai, at all. The after taste is just too strong! Not to mention the gas... LOL

superwilson said...

Merry Xmas

Ciki said...

Merry Christmas and happy new year babes..see you in 2010!! muaks!

minchow said...

Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year everyone!! Thank you for reading!