20 March 2014

Koh Samui Nov 2013 - Part IV Saebeing Lae Restaurant

Continued from
Part I - Grand Deluxe Sea View Room at Akyra Chura Samui
Part II - Akyra Chura Samui Resort
Part III - Krao Chao Ban Restaurant

Sabieng Lae Restaurant has been our favourite restaurant in Thailand so far, that was until we went to Krao Chao Ban. I think it has now dropped to second place. Nonetheless, we would be happy to have all our meals at both restaurants whenever we visit Samui.

We were delighted to learn that Sabieng Lae opened a branch in Chaweng, it's much more convenient if we were staying at Chaweng or even Bophut area. However, it's not located along the touristy Chaweng Beach road area but the main road, next to Wilmaan Buri Resort (quite near to Tesco Lotus). For those without transport, this place would be hard to reach. In fact, you have to turn into a small lane before reaching the restaurant.

We went in during lunch time and surprised to see that the restaurant was quite empty (it was a weekend). If it's the branch at Lamai beach it would be at least half-filled. Probably because this branch is quite new, and partly coz of the secluded location.

The ambience is not as nice as the branch at Lamai Beach, where you could enjoy sea view. But it's ok we were there for the food.

Stir fried morning glory (kang kong) in garlic. The kang kong was tender and fresh. Nice.

Not sure why hubby wanted to order this dish, cocktail shrimp. It was so-so only, prawns weren't exactly very fresh and not crunchy enough.

My favourite prawn cake. Sabieng Lae's version was better than Krao Chao Ban's.

Since we liked the deep fried fish at Krao Chao Ban so much, we were delighted to see that Saebieng Lae also offers similar dish. Indeed, the fish was deep fried to perfection with crispy crust and tender meat, but the sauce was different, not the tamarind sauce so somehow lacked the omph we were expecting.

The meal was once again under 1000 baht inclusive of drinks. Food standard and service quality still on par with the main branch but given the lack of crowd we were quite worried whether this branch could survive or not?

On our last day, we decided to head to Saebieng Lae main restaurant at Lamai once again. Was debating whether to return to Krao Chan Ban (since also around the same area) but decided to give our beloved Saebieng Lae a try.

Hubby's favourite tom yum seafood. Saebieng Lae's version fared better than Krao Chao Ban.

Decided to order something different, baked mussels with basil.

It was not bad, I quite liked it because I like basil. But the mussels tasted a bit dry though.

Tried another new dish, stir fried vermicelli with prawns.

Oooh, we loved this dish! The vermicelli was chewy and very flavourful having soaked up all the sauce.

Had to order the deep fried fish again since we loved it so much. Although it was not as nice as the one at Krao Chao Ban, we had to make do.

Loved the chilli sauce, spicy and tangy, and salty from the fish sauce. Perfect with everything!

The meal was likewise less than 1000 baht with drinks.

I guess Saebieng Lae is sort of on par with Krao Chao Ban. We love them both. Will definitely be back again!

Next post will share about other food we ate for this trip. Stay tuned!

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