Soulful Tom Yum, Fried Fermented Pork: Sabai BGC Serves Thai Classics + Specials

Shangri-La The Fort, 30th Street corner 5th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City

Contact: 0995-643-7283

Instagram: www.instagram.com/eat.sabai

(SPOT.ph) Owing to its well-executed excursions in fusing disparate flavor profiles, Thai cuisine continues as a favorite source of comfort around the world—especially in the Philippines, where Filipinos get to experience relatively new configurations of familiar ingredients growing around the pantropics.

Recently, a new Thai restaurant opened in Shangri-La the Fort in Bonifacio Global City, which aims to introduce parts of Thai cuisine not fully familiar with Filipino palates, while also offering playful, elevated spins to the classics mentioned above. We're talking about Sabai, helmed by Thai chef Assavadathkamjorn Puwadol, who's worked at notable Bangkok establishments—including Sühring, holder of two MICHELIN Stars and No. 22 on The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025 list; and Løyrom, with former Noma chef Cuan Greene.

We started out with a plate of Kanom Krok Na Hoi Shells (P550), or seared scallops nestled in coconut cream pudding on a bed of crispy rice wrapper. The order of toppings is important, essentially creating a three-part story where the fresh-but-savory spiced scallops gain sophistication from the coconut cream’s richness, all of which finds a cleansing, satisfying denouement with the rice wrapper, essentially preparing you for the next bite! Take it as a playful spin on the Buddhist concept of reincarnation, with each scallop acting as a new round of life. 

To ease us into the main course, we had the Pad Kaprao (P520), a minced meat entrée (in chicken—pork and beef versions are also available) that might bring to mind spiced-up, herbed-up giniling. The garnishes of crispy holy basil and julienned carrots add essential balance, with the former ingredient resonating with memories of munching on crispy spinach chips served in Filipino restaurants in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

All of the above and the entrees to follow paired well with the Lychee Zing Zing cocktail (P450), where nothing is forced, the alcohol kick merging seamlessly with the fresh lychee juice.

The Tom Yum Kung (P850) was just the thing to warm us up amid the ongoing downpour. Worth commending are Sabai’s efforts towards sourcing only the freshest prawns (so fresh the taste of the sea gets infused into the broth), lemon grass shoots, and limes. The additional garnishes of cherry tomatoes and enoki mushrooms add dimension on the taste and texture front.

No Thai meal is complete with curry, and we went for the Panang Beef Curry (P1,150, pork option available), described in the menu as “a hug disguised as dinner.” And rightfully so, as this was another three-part story, where the first sip of soup echoed but was distinct from the last bite of beef, where, like with the Tom Yum above, the meat’s freshness infused itself into the stew. The bamboo shoots nodding at Thai traditional vegetable carving added nice bass notes to this sweet, creamy curry.

We capped the savory side of dinner off with some Pla Nuea Yang (P890) or grilled Wagyu beef served in a light sauce sprinkled with fresh herbs. I never realized grilled beef could work stewing in a sour base, like ceviche. This all interestingly reminded me of the liempo in a once-popular but now-closed stall in the University of the Philippines Diliman’s Sunken Garden, which my parents and my friends’ parents took us youngsters to. The way the pork was smoked and seared became the benchmark I’ve since sought whenever I'd try liempo around the Philippines, and I never expected a Thai restaurant to bring me something so close to it—albeit in a beef dish! 

For dessert, we washed down the meal’s complexities with another refreshing cocktail, the Sabai Blue Bliss (P450), a vodka-based highball with butterfly pea syrup served in a shot glass meant to be drizzled over the main drink. This and the Lychee Zing Zing above each have non-alcoholic options available.

The Bliss paired interestingly and intuitively well with the OG of Thai desserts: Mango Sticky Rice (P420). Sabai’s version adds a kick with sea salt lightly sprinkled onto the coconut cream; worth noting, too, is the blanket of mango jam served over the rice, and fresh mango slices drizzled with sesame seeds.

Owing to BGC’s cosmopolitan appeal, there’s a bevy of visitors speaking different languages here in Sabai, all under the soft warm lights and soft luxury interiors. I’m not surprised if a few will rent out the different spaces for their gatherings.

Alex Offe, co-founder of Sabai (and also of Uma Nota Manila), shares the team spent close to a year visiting different restaurants and eateries around Thailand before discovering Assavadathkamijon and his cooking, which echoes a childhood in the family som tam shop in Hat Yai at Southern Thailand. Presently, Sabai employs seven Thai cooks on the team, each hailing from Michelin-starred restaurants in their home country.

Looking at how I experienced the food served and my writing about it, small wonder then that resonances from my childhood meals were frequently referenced.

Some words have no direct translations, but flavors, tastes, and memories sometimes don’t need words to get communicated across language barriers—or the South China Sea for that matter. 

That feeling of finding comfort in a Friday night under grandma’s roof and amidst her cooking, sheltering from the rain after a round of football with your schoolmates for one, is true sabai, true comfort, that goes beyond language.