Zabb Queens

[JosephB]

Apparently, Zabb, a new Thai place (Northestern style) up the road from Sripraphai, is all the rage among Thai people. This is what I’m hearing from the folks at the Bangkok Grocery and a Thai friend. Has anyone tried this place yet?

[jogoode]

Apparently, Zabb, a new Thai place (Northestern style) up the road from Sripraphai, is all the rage among Thai people.  This is what I’m hearing from the folks at the Bangkok Grocery and a Thai friend.  Has anyone tried this place yet?

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I'm dying to. Here's Robert Sietsema's review.

[Jason Perlow]

Jesus, you think they could have picked a more sensitive title for that article. Explodes like a mortar round? Holy crap.

[slkinsey]

Apparently, Zabb, a new Thai place (Northestern style) up the road from Sripraphai, is all the rage among Thai people.  This is what I’m hearing from the folks at the Bangkok Grocery and a Thai friend.  Has anyone tried this place yet?

I'm dying to. Here's Robert Sietsema's review.

Here's a quote for posterity:

Zabb is a newcomer to the long, dark ribbon of Roosevelt Avenue under the No. 7 tracks on the western frontier of Jackson Heights. The plain facade sports a pair of crossed red chiles and the word Esan, referring to northeastern Thailand. More often transliterated as Isaan, this region is the country's poorest, composed mainly of an arid sandstone plateau incapable of sustaining much agriculture. Paradoxically, Isaan is also the holy grail of Thai cuisine. It's what Los Angeles foodies could righteously claim they had and we didn't. But gradually, Isaan cooking has been creeping into Queens.

Ask a dozen experts what Isaan is, and you'll get 12 different answers. All agree that the food is more fiery and less fussy, favoring ground-meat salads, Chinese-leaning noodles, Mekong River catfish, grilled chicken, and dishes showing Laotian and Cambodian influences.

[JosephB]

Today's NY Times $25 and Under gave a positive review to Zabb. Much of the review is focused on the food's intense heat, at least to the reviewer's taste. To show that he was not overly sensitive to chili, the reviewer pointed to the apparent pain experienced by his several dining companions: "Nobody I ate with there escaped a midconversation chili-induced breakdown."

I'm planning a visit this week.

[banquo]

Coming from Manhattan and going to Queens for Thai food will always conjure up thoughts of Sripraphai, but after having read the positive word on Zabb, we decided to go and give it a try (this was about a 2 months ago) and forgo a meal at the former. I wanted to love Zabb because Thai salads, evidently their specialty, are my favorite part of a Thai meal. They did not have their Thai sausage dish. From other accounts, this absence seems to be close to the norm, so I wouldn't go their longing for it (as I did). This sausage sounds like a Vietnamese sausage called nem chua which is delicious and unlocatable anywhere (except perhaps in Vietnamese households, although I know of none which continue to make it). At any rate, we ordered a couple of their salads, the papaya salad and a catfish one. For those who can appreciate fermented fish paste (not the liquid brownish fish sauce) and the distinctive taste of white peppercorn, the papaya salad is your dish. As for me, I have 2 pints of the fish paste in my fridge, and for any one dish I can't stand using more than a teaspoon (if that). That is, I didn't love Zaab's papaya salad. Incidently, that salad is very spicy. I can't remember if we ordered it that way or not. The catfish salad was complex in flavor, as it should be. However, it lacked punch and the flavors weren't, to my palette, integrated. I don't think they broil their catfish, as Sripraphai does, and this makes a vast difference (incidently, we went to Sri last Friday and their catfish salad remains outstanding). This was a good dish, but not great, and in the context of great expectations, something of a disappointment. I can't remember what else we ordered. The service is casual, to say the least, and the place is tiny. We arrived early (on a Friday) in anticipation of a crowd, but none materialized even after we left around 8pm. This might be a late night sort of spot. It is BYO, at least when we went. Overall, I don't foresee going back any time soon, given the option of going to Sripraphai instead.

[FatTony]

My $0.02

We visited Zabb last night for an early dinner at 6pm. We found it empty but for the little girl watching TV, but by the time we left, around 8pm, it was almost completely full. Of Thais, I might add, although they seemed to have won the hearts of the local cops too.

My fellow diners are big Sripraphai fans and the summary of our experience was that Sri is probably still the one to beat. That said, Zabb delivers the kinds of flavors you simply don't get in Manhattan or Brooklyn Thais, at least none that I've encountered. It's up there.

We started with a plate of Thai sausage, which was pleasantly porky but not a standout; a decent som tam with salted crab, though the crab was a flavor component rather than something visibly present in the dish. I was a bit disappointed as I was hoping for the fermented river crab som tam I ate in Bangkok. Obviously a different dish. Our mango salad special came with an unadvertised but totally delicious smoked fish topping, a curious ingredient that was wispy thin and moving (but very much cooked) when it was served. I've had that fish once before in a Japanese restaurant. Kind of freaky, but delicious. Contrary to Banquo's experience, we found the catfish salad a standout appetizer. It was plenty fiery and dressed with a liberal hand. But sucking limey fish sauce through crispy fried goodness is the whole point of catfish salad, I think.

A whole crispy fish with chilli came adorned with glass noodles and was both crispy and succulent. Drunken noodles were very comparable to Sri's. The crispy pork with broccoli (ordered for a bit of respite from the heat) was serviceable but I'm not such a fan of this dish.

Zabb is BYOB which makes for an extremely reasonably priced meal. It's small and economically furnished and feels about as comfortable as Sri was before the renovation.

All in all, a welcome addition to Queens' Thai hegemony. They're open until 2am which is a pleasant counterpoint to Sri's frustrating 9pm cut off. I'd love to hear what others think.

[bpearis]

Our mango salad special came with an unadvertised but totally delicious smoked fish topping, a curious ingredient that was wispy thin and moving (but very much cooked) when it was served. I've had that fish once before in a Japanese restaurant. Kind of freaky, but delicious.

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Sounds like bonito flakes to me. I like Zabb a lot, have been a bunch of times. They are different than Sripraphai, and their curries aren't as good, but the soups and all those salads are something else. Plus, they're BYOB and open till 1am.

Edited March 7, 2006 by bpearis (log)