Zab Thai Cooking — Restaurant in Oregon

Up until about a year ago, when I last visited Zab Thai, I would have agreed wholeheartedly that the Beef Noodle Soup was outstanding. In fact, it was my favorite dish and I raved about it to anyone who would listen. Unfortunately, after traveling from NE Portland to pick up 2 orders of the beef soup yesterday, my opinion has changed drastically. Perhaps it's because I ordered my food to go and they thought they could get away with it, but for whatever reason, I have to say the beef soup was beyond disappointing---it was disgusting. These had to be some of the toughest and cheapest cuts of "meat" (I question whether it's actually meat) I have ever come across.

As a previous reviewer indicated, Yes, the beef in the Beef Noodle Soup used to be amazingly tender, such that you could probably eat it without chewing. That was not the case with either of my 2 orders yesterday. As you can see in the photos I am sharing, the beef--or, whatever it is, has a tough, rubbery, layer running pretty much throughout. It's not fat, because you can chew through fat. You can even tell by the way it is curled up in the photos below that something is not right. And it's not that there were amazing cuts of beef with a few of these pieces mixed in... This was ALL of the beef. Just look at the consistency and judge for yourself. As for me, I will never order from Zab Thai again. Fool me once, shame on you... Fool me twice...?...

I really enjoyed the food and the atmosphere. It was a weeknight and the place was quiet. It seemed the few customers were devoted locals the way the staff interacted with everyone.

The food came out quickly. We ordered the coconut shrimp and fried chicken wontons to start. The sweet and sour sauce was terrific and garnished with a little green and red cabbage which added a nice touch of color for presentation.

The main dishes were a little varied for our four person group. The pad Thai is quite nutty with a cumulative spice that never gets unbearable. The pad se ew had massive wide noodles and the chicken was perfect.

My own order of pad ga prao was incorrectly served. I received the golden fried rice (yellow curry). When I mentioned it to the waitress she immediately placed the correct order and boxed it up to go at my request. I also got to eat the golden fried rice for free, which was also delicious. They will TOTALLY get my business again in the future!

The prices are a little higher than you'd expect so far from downtown Portland, but the servings are massive and the spice hits the right threshold. If you're looking for hot then ask for a little more than their hottest (it's a scale of 1-4, mild to hot). One of our party asked for a level 4 heat in her dish and we all found it a bit mild, but still...

This is a bit of an odd review.

Service was excellent. Quick seating, bringing water, refills, food. Friendly. 5*

Place looks nice. 5*

The food quality was great, fresh veggies etc. 5*

The Thai ice tea was great. 5*

The food as Thai food... Not really? We had vegetarian (with egg) every thing... So tofu for below.

The Tom Yum soup was kind of like plain vegetable soup (American?) no lemon grass or galangal as far as we could tell (not just none floating, none of those flavors). And despite having lots of red specks (usually a sign of super hot spicy) it was mild... Like really American mild, not Thai mild. The quality was fine but not Tom Yum.

The Pad Se Ew was tasty but the seasoning profile kind of reminded me of mac n beef my mom used to make. Tasty, but never had Thai food taste like that.

The salad rolls (summer rolls?) were... Different. More carroty than usual? Since they're just veggies etc. wrapped I feel kind of dumb saying this, but they tasted too vegetabley for me. I think a lack of Thai basil or other Thai seasonings. Their peanut sauce was good (& Thai tasting).

So as Thai food: 3*

If grandma don't like Thai food = A+

We might try the place again... But...