Located on 30th and 5th at BGC, Sabai is a casual dining Thai restaurant on the street level of Shangri-La The Fort, Manila. Its entrance is right beside Uma Nota, and Sabai is a sister restaurant. The word means at ease or comfortable in Thai, and when said in repetition, Sabai-Sabai, it denotes being laid-back and completely relaxed. That is the vibe at Sabai: quality Thai food in an informal setting that includes three private dining karaoke rooms and playful drinks.

I had Sunday lunch with two of my three sons the other day, and for Matteo, it was a happy return, as he had dined there the other week. With lunch on our minds, the general idea was to have several of the starters and the salads, and settle on one of the grill selections.

We started things off with the Tod Mun Pla, Thai-style fish cakes with a red curry paste and kaffir lime. On the spicy side of things, but still subtle enough to be a great introduction to the Sabai style of Thai cooking.

My favorite appetizer would be the Miang Kham Kung Yang, which are bite-sized smoky grilled prawns on a wild betel leaf with a medley of Thai condiments. Wrap it, pop it in your mouth, and enjoy the mélange of flavors and textures that explode with each bite. This one gave me visions of food heaven.

The Hed Ruam Tod is crispy mushrooms with Thai herbs, and I could detect at least three different kinds of mushrooms in the preparation. Earthy and crunchy, here was a plant-powered starter that delivered on taste.

The Som Tum Thai is the famous salad of papaya, peanuts, lime, and chili — one of the salads that Thailand is known for globally. At Sabai, it’s sweet, sour and spicy all at once.

Pad Pak Boong Fai Daeng is stir-fried morning glory that’s on the crunchy side. More veggie power for us. I’ve always liked this particular green vegetable, and the sauce accompanying this wok-fried delight was on the tamer side of spicy-sour.

Kor Mhoo Yang is grilled pork jowl with a spicy Isaan dipping sauce. It’s fatty and charred. As it’s the jowl, just be prepared for this to be on the chewy side, and when they say fatty, know that they mean it.

The traditional dessert of mango sticky rice comes with a mango sorbet, which I thought was a nice addition to what one normally gets with an order of this Thai staple.

Chef Tob is Assavadathkamjorn Puwadol, from Southern Thailand, and he has previously worked in Sühring in Bangkok and Pru in Phuket. I’ve dined in Sühring with Issa and loved the experience, so it was nice to know that Chef Tob had done a stint there.

I’m sure there’s a happy coincidence that the word sabai means together in Filipino, as there’s a lot of togetherness and comfort promised with this new food concept. Sabai should be on your list of new culinary treats, especially if you’re partial to Thai cooking.