Zabb Thai Cuisine — Restaurant in Newport Beach

My friend and I decided we wanted to get some Thai food. We have heard from some people that Zabb Thai Cuisine was good, so we went. From the start, we pulled up and was happy to see that they had free valet parking. Which is wise given the layout of the "parking lot"! (If you go, you will see why I put that in quotes. LOL!) The valet person was extremely nice and polite. As were the people when we entered the restaurant, the hostess was extremely kind with a big smile and made us feel very welcomed. She walked us back to our table, which was right by a fireplace. Very nice. It gave it a cozy feeling. We ordered the food, and before it came, 3 different people came up and made sure everything was going well. It's a little overkill, but nice. Once we receive the food - on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd probably give it about a 7 or 8. It was good, but not great. I've had some great Thai food in the past, and this was below that. The one thing I always judge Thai restaurants on is their ability to make Tom Kha Gai Soup. (Thai Coconut Chicken soup). Most of it tastes like dishwater at the cheaper Thai restaurants! However, you can always tell the top quality Thai food restaurants by how thick the broth is and how good the flavor is! I would say the flavor of their Tom Kha Gai Soup was about a 6 or 7 - on a scale of 1 to 10, The rest of the food was pretty good, too. It was truly the ambiance and the service that really stood out! Just before we were getting ready to leave, another person who worked there came over and asked if everything was okay, and when I told them, "It was pretty good", she commented that the entire staff in the kitchen were Mexican and not from Thailand or any other Asian descent at all. So... that kind of answered all my questions about the food. When we left, everybody was extremely courteous and polite, welcoming us back again soon. The valet driver was extremely courteous and kind, opening our doors, and wishing us a pleasant evening. So if you go, don't expect the greatest Thai food you've ever had, but it will definitely fill up your stomach and satisfy your taste...

Okay, I've been eating here for over a year now and can still confirm that their soups and curries are top notch! Tom Kha, Tom Yum, Red/Green/Panang Curry - all amazing! I still do not enjoy their noodle dishes. While the food is amazing, they do struggle with some consistency issues. For example, they have not earned my complete trust when it comes to takeout orders. I've gotten home one too many times with something wrong in my bag, so I always peek at what was packed before leaving now. Also, their spice levels are all over the place. I order Medium Spicy everywhere, but once we got a Ka Pow (Basil Chicken: medium) that was SO spicy I could not eat it. It hurt too bad. I'm not sure if I was given the wrong one (i.e. someone else ordered a spicy Ka Pow and it got mixed up) or if they just had a heavy hand and made it crazy hot that night. Due to the disappointment of not being able to even eat my meal (again, I order takeout - was not in the restaurant to fix the issue), I have started ordering everything Mild. It works out because some dishes get home and still taste Medium, butttt others are completely bland (aka they actually made it mild). That's why I can't give 5 stars. The food is great, for sure! But the inconsistency and mistakes drop it a notch. Also, their entree prices have gone up $1-2 (on average) since November. Ohhh, one more thing to note is they started "valet parking". They have a lot right beside the restaurant (which is usually not full when I've visited), but want to park cars as close together as possible in there. It seems really unnecessary and especially during Covid when we were wearing masks and sanitizing like crazy - they want someone inside your personal car...ehhhh. Just wanted to give that heads-up to all the introverts because I'm sure you'll find it as awkward as I do. Definitely recommend Zabb, but with some...

We had Zabb Thai come out and cater our team lunch for 100 people today and I cannot say nice enough things about the team, their food, and the service they provided.

From the start, Benito and team went out of their way to make it an exceptional experience. He provided his bestsellers, the correct portions, and also made suggestions as to what would go with what better. From there he created a separate, allergen-friendly menu, for folks who couldnt eat from the traditional selection. He checked in consistently with me over the course of a few weeks to ensure that we were aligned, and that nothing had changed in our needs.

The food arrived perfectly cooked, beautifully displayed, and more tasty than anything we had ever catered before. Our team was beyond excited, they went back for seconds, thirds, and had a lottery for who got to take leftovers. I was asked before we even wrapped up to bring Zabb Thai back out soon because of how delicious it was.

Really cannot say enough nice things. Five star service, five star food, five star communication, it was everything you could possibly want and then some. If you're looking to cater Thai food here in Orange County then Zabb Thai is the place for you to do that. Thank you so much Benito and team for everything, we could not be more grateful.

For context we ordered the green papaya salad, spring rolls, Ka Pow beef, shrimp pad thai, and panang curry with chicken. We also had sweet mango...