Sabai Dee Thai Restaurant

This is an amazing family friendly, military friendly place. My family and I have been eating here for over a year and have gotten to know the staff. Their service is exceptional and they make the best curry on the island. I am a very picky eater and hard to please and they meet and surpass my expectation everytime. Highly recommended.

One of the best Thai red curry dishes I have ever had, authentic and fresh tasting. Cute little restaurant and friendly staff. If you’re in the area I highly recommend this place!

Food was good, service was terrible. We too had to yoohoo for someone to give us our check. We were just left in the restaurant from after they served our entrees.

My go to Thai place. The curry i get most often is the one with the peas in it, I forget the name but its really on point. You also really can’t go wrong with their tom kha soup that stuff is incredible and not to mention a great hangover cure. Did i mention its almost impossible to finish, the portions are huge! This place is byob and the staff is always friendly and they even do a to go discount for students. Really nothing bad to say about Sabai dee unless you like hearing yourself complain. Oh they also validate parking. I have been off island for 6 months and this is one of the first places I want to visit when I get back.

They are located on S. King Street between Central Pacific Bank and Kokua Market. I’m not sure if they serve authentic Thai food. I dined here twice and both times, my food had a lot of black pepper in it. I ordered the pad see ew and then i order the basil pork. I told the staff not spicy but I guess when you put lots of black pepper into a dish, it becomes spicy. I also tried the sticky rice with mango and the taste for that was bland. The rice needed more coconut cream and sugar. My friend had the curry and he said it was good.
If you’re on a budget for lunch, they have $ 7.95 lunch specials (take-​out only). That was one of the reasons why I decided to try their food. The portions for their lunch special are big. They also offer a discount for UH students. You need to show your ID as proof.

Always had a great experience here until I Took my vegetarian friend to the restaurant and she found chicken in her yellow vegetable curry! That is a huge NO NO! Never again!

The food is great! I love the condescending way they ask if you’ve had Thai medium spice before. I just ordered a Thai coffee, which I knew would be sweet, but this has a smokey dark after taste that is delightful and slightly addicting!
I love the take out special because I work near here and it is great dinner food! I am particularly fond of the Evil Angel Curry Thai medium… so ono! Excited to try the pad Thai too!
Delish! I highly recommend it. Once I try their peanut sauce I’ll add the extra star.

I don’t know what the other people were talk about, I thought the curry and pad Thai were tasty.
Stuffed chicken-​good
Red Curry-​good
Pad Thai-​good. Had with pork and chicken.
Pros: The price is good, it’s slow so you don’t need to wait, huge cup of Thai tea, and friendly staff.
Cons: staff is a little slow but it’s not a problem since it looks like one or two people for the restaurant at a time.

The WORST Thai place. Ever. Doesn’t even need a review. Ever.
Masuman and Pineapple curry lacked any heat or flavor that i ate only a few bites. We were the only ones in the restaurant (granted it just opened for dinner about 15 minutes prior to us coming). Not even a staff in sight. I had to yoddle to get someone to come to the front. Although the waitress was friendly, the food was not worth coming back for.

2÷20÷14
I absolutely love this food! It is fresh, delicious, and full of flavor!
I have had the beef pad Thai and the egg rolls/​spring rolls.
Yummmm so much food and you get full quickly, perfect for sharing.
The customer service is great and the environment is pleasant. My friend introduced me to this restaurant and would drive from Hawaii Kai to pick up take out, ITS THAT GOOD! He even had his birthday party there and we had a great time.
¾/​14
**Aloha an update:
I order my usual, except this time when I came in to pick up my food I didn’t check it. The lady told me I should try something new. However, After considering they may have turned off the fryer and instead of being honest about it, decided to sell me AnYthing. Once we tasted the beef pad thai it was bland, over cooked, and disgusting, nothing like what I’ve had before. I tried to call the restaurant and no one would pick up.
My advice:
Check your food before you pay!
Don’t order anything fried 45 mins before closing

I’ve been going to Sabai Dee for some time now and I can say that my overall experience has been good. The prices are reasonable and I can agree with everyone else that has tried this place that they don’t joke around with the spice level; meaning if you order Thai hot, you will receive Thai HOT. I’ve been to other Thai restaurants before and when I ask for medium spice, 8 out of 10 times there’s is little to no spiciness at all.
They also give discounts to UH students with a valid ID which is think is a plus since the university is just down the road.
7 out of 10 times my food is well seasoned and cooked perfectly! I think if they hired another person things would flow much smoother when it gets busy.

This is a small, inconspicuous Thai restaurant in front of Puck’s Alley. The only reason I found out about them is because my friend won a gift certificate to their restaurant at a Hawaiian Humane Society fundraiser.
Their food is AWESOME. The yellow curry is delish, their drunken noodle is yum, their evil angel curry is amazing. I could go on, but best you try for yourself. Don’t be afraid to try out different dishes here– so many of them are great! They have great vegetarian and vegan options as they are willing to hold fish and oyster sauce and any egg and the dishes still come out great! I’ve been to some places that have everything in pre-​made sauces, so if you ask for no fish or oyster sauce, they end up stir frying your food in shoyu sauce and it come out tasting nothing like the meal you thought you ordered.
And the gift certificate my friend won? Apparently they donated it to the shelter to help them raise money for the animals! Good food and a good conscientious local business supporting their community!

Love, love, love, love this place!
I dream about their pineapple curry on a nightly basis and am so glad that the portions are big enough where there’s plenty more for the next day. Their food is never too spicy unless I ask for it, but it’s always balanced out by a tall glass of Thai iced coffee.
My fiancé and I eat there constantly and love looking out for Lisa, the wonderfully sweet and helpful owner of Sabai Dee.
Parking is free in the lot on the corner. There are usually a few spots open, so it’s extremely convenient for us to drive there.
Pineapple curry.
Not to mention, their student discounts for lunch take out — AMAZING.

If I could give zero stars, I would. I can’t stand the idea of taking out an advertisement and offering a discount only to renege and not accept the discount anymore. We drove all the way there only to find a sign on the front door stating that they no longer accept the Entertainment Book discount which is supposed to be valid until November 1^st. I wouldn’t give them one penny of my money. I almost stayed, out of extreme hunger, but it was extremely annoying to me that they couldn’t honor their commitment.

Thai Hot is on a whole other level… mouth watering, tongue on fire, water not helping… only milk is your best friend… but no milk available so Thai Iced Coffee will have to do.
This is how I felt when I tasted the Vegetarian Pad Thai noodles in THAI HOT. The server warned us that it was hot but damn… he wasn’t joking. My friends and I were being adventurous in trying the THAI HOT. We tried it but could not finish. BUT what we did notice, to tone down the heat was to eat a vegetable with the noodles. I think the noodles are what carries all the heat. So for me, I liked it best when I ate it with a mushroom. Good…but still hot.
I came here for a birthday celebration and they serve family style dishes. No plate lunch. I thought they had because of a Unilocal photo I saw here… but I guess they don’t do that no more. Prices are reasonable $ 9-​$ 11.
I ordered the Chicken Yellow Curry in Medium (
) because the server mentioned that HOT is equivalent to Tobascco so I didn’t want anything to extreme. It wasn’t hot after tasting the THAI HOT Pad Thai. Very creamy and and mild with potatoes, carrots, green peppers and onions. It wasn’t served with rice so I had to order that separately. Boo.
Shrimp Pad Thai Noodles:
Beef Salad:
CUSTOMER SERVICE:
The service was good in the beginning with taking our order but I had to give them 3-​stars because the timing of the food being served was not consistent. We had a party of nine so the food was coming one at a time and we wanted to wait till everyone got their food before we started eating. I would say that it took 10 minutes from when the first person got their food to the last person got their food. So imagine if you were the first to get your food? But my friends and I couldn’t wait till the last person got their food… hahah. took to long. Plus we were hungry.
PARKING:
They have a parking lot located in University Square. It’s FREE just make sure you inform the cashier that you have a parking ticket and they will validate.
FYI:
They give 10% off on your order if you are a student at UH or work at UH.

Want burnt, dry, over salted, over priced food?
Come here if you are a drunk and broke UH college kid, if not STAY AWAY.
This literally has to be the WORST WORST Thai food I’ve ever had.
Ordered take out for my friend and I;chicken wings, spring rolls, evil angel curry with shrimp, shrimp pad thai, and a thai iced tea.
I went here based upon other Unilocal reviews and the fact they supposedly had a college discount with valid ID.
Problems with this place include:
— Cashier refused to honor college discount with my valid college ID from my college in mainland/​my friends HPU ID, 25 mins AFTER he saw my college ID and said ok. (they apparently ONLY accept UH IDs, not stipulated anywhere)
–Paid for my thai tea, yet was never given one, and never realized it until I looked at my receipt at home
–During our long wait for food, we were never offered water, or an explanation as to why it was taking so long
— FOOD WAS TERRIBLE!!! (see pictures!) Spring rolls & Chicken wings were BURNED and tasted/​smelled like old recycled oil. My pad thai was ridiculously DRY, bland, and worst of all, my friend’s curry REEKED of canned bamboo sprouts, and worst yet, it it tasted even more bland and devoid of spices than «any other curry,» he had ever eaten!
–Parked at 6:42PM, got out with food at 7:20PM, had to pay an additional $ 1.25 for parking despite parking validation
Maybe if you were a captive zoo panda you might enjoy this bland curry sabai thai serves, but if not STAY AWAY! So glad I never went here when I worked at the Humane Society…

We were excited to take our guest to a place that has spicy food, ok not spicy she wanted HOT!
I was happy to find that they validate parking if you park at the lot on South King Street and University. We walked in and not too busy, We ordered Thai Hot papaya Salad, Spring Rolls, Panang Curry with Shrimp, Vegitarian Pad Thai
The food came out a little slow, but we were here to talk and eat so we didn’t mind. We ordered the papaya salad Thai hot and it was, we enjoyed it. Next came the spring rolls, they looked yummy unthl I found a long black hair in the leaves, lucky we didnt eat anything from the plate. The brought us out another plate, but when they do that don’t you have the feeling they just took the hair out of of the plate and re served you?
Oh well, the Panang Curry with Shrimp was good and HOT! as we ordered Thai Hot again. and last we ordered the Pad Thai noodles, all were ok,
I enjoyed the food but wonder about sanitary conditions.

NIce little Thai restaurant, located on S King St.
Got the Drunen Noodles, Ginger fish, and Crab fried rice. all medium spicy
Crab fried rice was AWESOME! As was the Ginger fish, deep fried breaded fish with sliced ginger and soy based sauce over the top. Crispy, yet the fried batter soaked up all the sauce. So tender and flavorful!
The drunken noodles were also good the noodles were thicker than other places, and came with a bunch of vegetables and beef.
For dessert we got their version of mango sticky rice, it comes with the sticky (mochi) rice cooked with coconut milk but instead of mangos on top you can get it with Mango or Ube Ice Cream!
Good stuff.
Friendly service, Great food, im not really a fan of Thai food, but i really like this place!
They validate parking in the lot at the corner of S King and University, (entrence on S King street heading toward Diamond Head)

If you like noodles, order the Pad Kee Mow (drunken noodle)=$ 7.95 take out special! Better than Pad Thai!
Pad See Ew has always been my favorite Thai noodle dish but thank goodness Unilocal steered me here and specifically mentioned this «drunken noodle» aka Pad Kee Mow dish. It’s just like pad see ew with the fat flat rice noodles, but more veggies: broccoli, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, mint, and a few peppers to give it some zing. choose chicken, beef or shrimp ($ 1 extra).
Yellow curry was good too. I ordered both dishes for myself (I thought I was going to eat one for lunch, one for dinner) but ended up eating them both at one sitting! I’ll be back soon. Free validated parking in CPB lot. College ID gets you a discount.
Pad Me Cow!

I’ve passed by this place dozens of times with barely a glance back, with the plethora of southeast Asian cuisine choices in the immediate vicinity, it’s easy to overlook this little diamond in the rough.
The entire 25 – 30 seat eatery is manned, or should I say, wo-​manned by the owner herself, Lisa. Don’t take this statement to mean service will be slow because she greets, seats, pours, cooks and cleans (except for when she coerces her brother in to wash dishes) all herself. Service is stellar — swift, friendly, even keeping to the custom i’ve seen at most thai restaurants where your water glass is filled after just about every sip you take. I don’t know how she does it, she’s like a ninja!
Lucky for me, a friend insisted I try Sabai Dee and in true lazy spirit, I was honestly eager to eat here because I could walk over, thinking of my friend — sucks to be you to have to find parking on King St. Little did I know they validate parking in the University Square lot (located at the corner of Univ and King).
The two of us feasted! I’m still going meat-​free until the end of April but was still able to enjoy just about everything — since you’re ordering from the cook herself, she’ll modify anything to your tastes and needs!
The most impressive dishes were the Tom Kha, a coconut ginger soup with lots of vegetables and tofu — not to spicy or tart, warm and soothing and very filling over rice — a perfect meal for a chilly night and a HUGE portion:
The shrimp pad thai was amazing, I love that she loads the traditional noodle dish with lots of extra veggies (she added brocolli, carrots and extra bean sprouts for me), the noodles were cooked perfectly and had just the right chewy consistency to balance the crunchy vegetables and crumbled peanuts on top:
Although this was a stellar dinner, I couldn’t help but notice her insanely cheap lunch specials — $ 8.95 for a FOUR COURSE MEAL?! Sign me up! She also does take out specials for $ 6 (same size portion as dinner)! What?!
Lisa will soon offer cooking classes (which we all know I am in desperate need of) and currently offers catering. What kind of juice is she running on?! She even tweets after lunch and dinner (follow her @sabaideehawaii) ! When does this woman sleep?