Sabai Fine Thai on the Bay

There are few Thai restaurants in Singapore that can boast such regal pedigree as Sabai Fine Thai On The Bay. It’s Sabai’s kitchen that’s the focus here, headed up by chef Samlee who had the honour of cooking for HRH Princess Srinagarindra, the Princess Mother of Thailand’s beloved King Rama IX. With this experience under her knife belt, Samlee makes what are arguably the city’s best Thai curries. It helps that the showroom for such talent is the historic Customs House building on Collyer Quay, easily accessed from another rather regal spot in Singapore, Raffles Place. Book a table at Sabai, drink in the views out over Marina Bay and experience really royal Thai cuisine.

Situated right by Marina Bay at Collyer Quay in the heritage Customs House building, and within walking distance of the central business district around Raffles Place, MFC and Shenton Way, Sabai Fine Thai On The Bay is a popular venue for corporate functions and special celebrations. Cocktail and Thai-inspired canape receptions can be held in Sabai’s outdoor area, boasting incredible views out over the water, or in the inside dining area, which holds up to 130 people and can be hired in part or in full for private dining. That said, Sabai is just as popular among Singapore diners looking to simply enjoy an evening of superlative Thai cuisine.

Weekly set lunch menus are a great-value way to enjoy Sabai Fine Thai On The Bay’s offering – workers in the vicinity of Raffles Place, Collyer Quay and Marina Bay take full advantage here – while 4 set menus (including an all-vegetarian option) are available at other times for a guided introduction to the pleasures of expertly crafted Thai cuisine. The a la carte menu is, of course, the best representation of what chef Samlee and team can do, studded with familiar Southeast Asian delicacies and some dishes that are likely to be less well known even to Singapore’s most sophisticated diners. As a starter, choose one of Sabai’s ancient recipes, the mee grop, a dish of sweet and sour crispy noodles with prawns, chicken, tofu and yellow bean paste. The yam pla dook foo is a deep-fried catfish salad with shredded green mango, shallots, Chinese celery, cashews and a lime and chilli dressing, while the grapoh pla nahm daeng is a Thai-Teochew soup that will delight serious foodies. A very long list of stir-fries and noodle dishes, vegetable, meat, and seafood mains follow, but any visit to Sabai is incomplete without sampling one of the restaurant’s signature Thai curries.