Thai Sabai — Restaurant in Newark and Sherwood

Passing through Newark-on-Trent and stopped to eat here, always a bit apprehensive of UK thai food (either extremely pricey or a bit rubbish) but this restaurant really exceeded our expectations... My husband is from Australia where Thai food is more popular, and we would still rate this restaurant as one of the best!

We arrived just after 5pm on a Sunday, so the restaurant was pretty empty (lucky for us), but I'm surprised it's ever empty with food if this quality. I had the battered vegetable starter, my husband the spring rolls, both were perfect - the batter was EXACTLY what a batter should be, light, crisp and flavoursome. My husband had the penang curry, I had the thai beef salad - not very adventurous but it's been so long we thought we'd better sick with our staples - the beef in my salad was so tender, my husband rated the penang among the best he's ever had. He had a side of steamed jasmine rice but would have been happy to eat it without, the sauce was delicious. The serving sizes were nite than adequate following a starter, we both have good appetites!

The restaurant itself was beautifully designed with lovely details, without the tacky stuff... making a perfect atmosphere for a celebratory meal. The service was quick but not rushed, and our server (I'm sorry I didn't catch her name!) was very friendly and welcoming. The bill was cheaper than we expected for the quality too.

If we lived here it would be our go-to take-out/ restaurant when friend visit. What a gem in such as small town!

Also had a couple of espresso - the coffee is great!

There were a few street parking spots outside, but we left our car in the larger car park after charging (by the b&q), only an 8 min walk to stretch our legs. Not sure where to recommend to park closer, I'm sure if you call ahead they will...

I'm a fairly regular customer at Zaap in Nottingham, but was looking for somewhere in Newark. We ordered takeaway for collection on the phone - polite, friendly, and helpful when one of our choices was not available. We ordered satay chicken and Thai calamari as a starter. Both came with a separate sauce and cabbage garnish. Both were excellent. We ordered two main noodle dishes: pad Thai (chicken) and pad kee mau (beef). The pad Thai is exactly what you would expect, and the portion was huge - could have fed both of us. The pad kee mau has many more ingredients than advertised, and more than the offering at Zaap - I found courgette, broccoli, and mushrooms among the expected green beans, red pepper, carrot and onion. The chilli kick was good and not over powerful. The portion was the same as the pad Thai. If you have a huge appetite, this will suit you. Complimentary prawn crackers were included. 10% discount for collection (30 minutes after ordering, and it was ready on time), so we paid under £30. Would highly recommend. We...

Visited for lunch on Monday 17th August during the COVID-19 pandemic. The country was being eased out of lockdown and in a bid to encourage more confidence in going out to eat, the Govt developed an 'Eat Out to Help Out' initiative. 50% of the bill being cut for the customer and the restaurant is reclaiming this from the Govt. I had Pad Thai noodles with king prawns, delicate flavour with super fresh crispy beansprouts on the side. We also had Thai red curry with king prawns, beautiful flavour, could really taste the peanut. Plain sticky rice complimented the dish. At £8.50 normal price with added £1.50 for the king prawns this was a totally reasonable price already - add that we got 50% off the bill too and it was a win-win. Staff immaculate and attentive but not overly so, everywhere I could see was spotlessly clean. Will...