Bowing to its greatness – the Royal Thai Brunch at Sabai Thai, Westin

We don’t know how Sabai Thai does it.

In our minds, it just keeps getting better.

Once upon a time they delivered a lovely light business lunch (I say light, it’s still 3 courses) for 95 QAR. Then they brought the price down to 75 QAR (which includes tea and coffee). And NOW they come along and add to this by offer a Saturday brunch for 130 QAR (sans alcohol) and 245 QAR (with cocktail, beer, wine and spirits).

We went along last weekend and tried the non-alcoholic package, and boy did it deliver: on taste, on service, and on value for money.

The spread wasn’t overwhelming, which wins them points for ensuring that they offer quality not quantity. For starters, you could help yourselves to a range of spicy salads, minced beef, sharp, tangy pomelo (the hands down winner of the strong line up), papaya, seafood and crispy fish salad. There was a Tom Yum soup, some grilled chicken and shrimps, fried tofu, spring rolls and sesame toast. Enough to whet your appetite for the main event. Although personally, I’d be happy just to feast on these.

Mains, brought all the faves: spicy stir-fried beef (scorchio); green chicken curry (loved it); beef panang curry (creamy and delish), stir fried vegetables, phad thai with all the additions to add seasoning and texture; stir-fried seafood; and fried rice. We couldn’t try them all, but stand outs were the stir-fried beef, it’s spicy yet you can still taste the different elements, Chicken Thai green curry, which has lots of vegetables and a deliciously creamy coconut sauce and the Penang curry, which is a combination of sweet, sour and spicy, another morish coconut curry dish. If we had to be picky, we’d say the Phad Thai could be cooked to order, so it remains hot, as noodles tend to go sticky and lose their appeal if left to sit around.

Drinks and desserts were also interesting. We got served 3 different types of drinks throughout our lunch: A welcoming lemongrass and ginger drink which reminded us of Thai spas; a zingy refreshing coriander, lime and mint drink to wake and cleanse the palate; and a delicious sweet ending of a cold Thai coffee made with condensed milk which helped to cool us down. We should warn you, all dishes are cooked with an authentic spice level – so if you’re not into spice, the brunch might not be to your taste, as dishes are prepared in advanced.

Desserts included pumpkin custard, fruit tarts, rice cake, and fresh fruits – nothing overly sugary or heavy going, thank goodness as we’d filled ourselves us on salads and curries.