On one hand, I feel bad for giving this place 2.5 Forks because I knew going into it that this place was not your typical Thai restaurant. And chances are I probably didn't order what I was supposed to, but none the less I walked out of dinner just not loving my food and neither did Dan.
The place has had several incarnations and I have been to all of them. For years it was SEA Thai, and then not to long ago it became Le Da Nang (which apparently was by the same owners as SEA but not as good) and now it's become Zabb Elee (different owners and the original branch is in Queens). The food here is a Islan style Thai food, which is food from the Northeastern region of Thailand. You won't find a pad thai or spring roll in sight. While I was down with trying a new kind of Thai food, the menu made it a bit confusing as to what was what. There was no clear delineation of what was an appetizer, main dish or side dish. In the end, I decided to order the Kra Pao Moo Korb ($9) which is crispy pork, basil, onion and oyster sauce. Dan got the Pla Dook Dad Daew ($9) which is crispy catfish with herbs and sweet tamarind sauce and we split the Pad Tua ($7) which is sauteed bean sprouts with crispy pork.
The food came out and the portions were all fairly large (especially when we didn't really have an idea of whether or not we were ordering main dishes or appetizers). The pork in the Kra Pao Moo Korb was too dry and hard for me and I wish that I had fully thought about what we were ordering because that same crispy pork was in the bean sprout dish. It was like we got the exact same thing just one had basil leaves and the other had bean sprouts. While the pork dishes were ok, it was the catfish dish that really was a let down. The fish was very very thin fillets with the skin and bones and deep fried. The sauce was on the side so when I just bit into the fish it was fairly dry tasting. I've always known that fish served in Asian restaurants tend to keep the skin and bones on, but it was more of the over crispy-ness and lack of meat that got to me. Even the bones were a bit too big and too imbedded within the fish for me to enjoy. Dan and I both kind of left the restaurant feeling unsatisfied and under whelmed. This is not to say that I'm not glad that I tried a different style of Thai food. I will always be adventurous in my eating and try new things, but I think I will stick to my more preferred style of Southern, pad thai laced Thai food. Although I will say that I ate the left over Kra Pao Moo Korb and it was a bit better and less hard the next day. Total bill was $38 for 2 without tip.
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