In 2023, TasteAtlas, an “encyclopedia of flavors, a world atlas of traditional dishes, local ingredients, and authentic restaurants” compiled a ranking of the 100 best cuisines in the world.  The highest rated cuisine in the world (to no surprise) was Italian followed by Japanese then Greek.  Thai cuisine was ranked 17th in the pantheon of great cuisines, just one slot ahead of American cuisine (whatever that is).  TasteAtlas also named Phat Kaphrao (also known as Pad Grapao or “holy basil stir-fry”), a dish made from meat, chili and basil, as the “best stir-fried dish in the world.”  Among the highest rated dishes, Phat Kaphrao ranked third overall.  Considering 395,205 dishes were rated, Phat Kaphrao’s place in the standings signifies it as one of the best dishes you can possibly order.

Before even looking at a menu, linguaphiles (those of us who love languages and words) need to know what “Sa!” translates to.  Seeing “Sa! Thai”  on the marquee, you might think in its entirety “Sa! Thai” might be pronounced “satay,” the popular Thai appetizer of seasoned, skewered and grilled meat, served with a sauce.  Instead, “Sa!” is a shortened version of “sawatdee,” a phrase that means “Hello.”  This phrase is usually accompanied by a gesture known as a “wai.”  To perform a wai, you simply press your hands together in a “praying” gesture similar to how Indians greet one another with “Namaste.” To show more respect, you can lift your wai up so that it is level with your forehead.

Sa! Thai is located just east of San Pedro on Holly in the space that previously housed Slapfish, a chain seafood restaurant that still has one franchise in Albuquerque (2100 Louisiana Blvd NE Ste 806).  The space is very small though an adjacent patio provides additional seating weather-permitting.  Seating is in personal space proximity which has the advantage of letting diners lean over to see what their neighbors are eating.  The space is beautifully appointed.  Especially eye-catching are two “tuk-tuks,”  the ubiquitous three-wheeled taxis that define Bangkok street scenes.  Tuk-tuks are often brightly colored and highly decorated.  Service at Sa! Thai is friendly and enthusiastic.  You’re likely to encounter the smiling face of Oscar, the genial manager who oversees the front of the house.  His enthusiasm and customer-orientation are infectious.

Sa! Thai is the brainchild of a triumvirate of thirty-something-year-old entrepreneurs: Claudius Dipo Alam, Joel Marquez and Juan Carlos Estala.  The group also owns the Paleta Bar, a concept that has exploded across the Land of Enchantment and even into California.  They also founded Pho Cup and Spring Rollin‘, both in Albuquerque.  Claudius is a peripatetic presence at Sa! Thai.  He’s a very friendly and engaging guy who loves to wax lovingly about Thai cuisine.  Among the other partners in Sa! Thai is Art (he’s cool enough to earn a mononym), the long-time owner of Thai Kitchen and before that Siam Cafe.  On any given day, you might even see Art’s wife in the kitchen preparing dishes with which we’ve become so familiar over the years.

Most of the menu includes familiar Thai favorites with a few “not usually found in Albuquerque” dishes interspersed throughout.  My indictment against Thai food is that it tends skew heavily toward sweet.  Thai food should reflect the philosophy of yin and yang, where contrasting elements coalesce to create a whole.  I look for balance in Thai dishes and usually find most are almost dessert sweet, probably catering to American tastes.  The use of palm sugar, coconut milk, and tamarind paste should create a subtle sweetness that beautifully complements other flavors.  At many Thai restaurants, sweetness is about as subtle as being hit over the head with a truncheon.

The menu is segmented into logical categories: Appetizers, Soup, Salad, Stir-Fried, Noodles, Fried Rice, Curry, Fish, Seafood and Chef Specials.   Beverage choices include hot tea, mango juice, guava juice, iced green tea or coffee and the usual Coke suspects. Many items can be found in most Thai restaurants throughout the area, but there are some that are rarely found (if at all) in New Mexico.  These are the items I find most intriguing.   The menu is a delight to peruse.

My Kim is much less averse to sweet tastes than her persnickety husband.  She’s learned to tune out my scathing assessments of dessert-sweet entrees she might like.  Lately she’s even stopped ordering pad Thai during every visit to a Thai restaurant.  Hmm, maybe she does listen to me once in a while.  Pad Thai is probably the favorite Thai dish among American diners and the most disliked dish among more savvy diners.  Pailin Chongchitnant, a Thai chef and creator of my favorite  Thai cooking YouTube channel Pailin’s Kitchen (with more than two-million subscribers), compiled a  “tier list of common Thai dishes available in a typical North American Thai restaurant, ranked according to their likelihood of being satisfactory.”  Rated last–bottom of the barrel where it belongs–is pad Thai.  Pailin explained “The biggest issue is that it is often FAR. TOO. SWEET” adding that most pad Thai is “sickly sweet and sticky, and definitely NOT the way it is supposed to be.”  She also took issue with inauthentic ingredients and mushy noodles.

Appetizers

18 January 2025:  Just as cloying as pad Thai is, most appetizers are served with a sweet and sour sauce.  Sweet and sour is a misnomer.  More apropriate would be “syrupy and cloying.”  Sweet and sour sauce is served with (among other things) the potstickers at Sa! Thai.  Predictably, it’s sweet enough to rot teeth.  The potstickers (deep-fried chicken dumplings) were otherwise excellent, replete with minced chicken and as good as any potsticker in town.  Instead of desecrating the potstickers with the sweet and sour sauce, ask for prik nam pla, one of Pailin’s favorite condiments.  Prink nam pla is a balanced blend of spicy, sour, salty, and sweet flavors.  My friend Bill Resnik douses much of his Thai food with it.

18 January 2025:  Among the appetizers is one not often found on menus in the metropolitan area.  It’s tod-mon-kai (ground chicken minced with curry paste) served with a cucumber salad.  On the plate in which they’re served (four per order), they resemble engorged Thai fish cakes, one of my favorite starters.  These Thai style chicken curry fritters are superb.  The inimitable flavors of red curry are very welcome in that the curry isn’t overwhelmed by coconut milk.  Don’t even bother with the accompanying cucumber salad unless you like sweet cucumbers.  My Kim does.  Give me unadulterated curry or give me death!

2 April 2025:  Rather than another diatribe about how disappointing Chinese egg rolls are, let me take a positive spin about Thai egg rolls.   Sa! Thai’s version are filled with marinated pork, bean threads, noodles and mixed vegetables served with a sweet and sour sauce punctuated with peanuts.  These fried cylindrical-shaped beauties are terrific.  Perhaps the only negative is that only two per order are served.  In Thailand, they are called Poh Peah Tod or Poh Pia Tod. Poh Peah refers to the crunching sound of the crispy wrappers breaking in your mouth.  Indeed, the crispy, crunchy golden wrapper  make a delightful sound when you bite into them, but the real delight is enjoying the simple, delicious flavors in each bite.

Entrees

18 January 2025:  Also not commonly found (as in probably not at all) in Albuquerque area Thai menus is khao sai (egg noodles in Northern style curry served with sliced cabbage and red onions).  This dish is available with your choice of steamed chicken, fried chicken, grilled chicken or beef.  Do yourself a flavor and order it with fried chicken.  Thai fried chicken is among the best fried chicken you’ll find anywhere.  Sa! Thai slices the fried chicken into thin medallions with a lightly coating.  The curry is a bit on the sweet side and unless you order this dish “Thai hot” you might be disappointed in its lack of potent piquancy.  Still, it’s a surprisingly delicious entree you should add to your repertoire of dishes to try.

18 January 2025:  Yin and yang, a Chinese philosophical concept describing an opposite but interconnected, self-perpetuating cycle describes differences in dining preferences between my Kim and I.  While this blogger is an intrepid (maybe even overly so) culinary adventurer, she orders what she wants, rarely deviating from her favorites.  That explains why she would order lo mein noodles at a Thai restaurant.  “But isn’t that a Chinese dish,” you ask.  Yes, it is.  In fact, lo mein noodles were among the first Chinese dishes taken internationally.  Unlike crab rangoon and chop suey, lo mein has its origins in China.  My Kim loved Sa! Thai’s version.  At least she didn’t order pad Thai.

26 January 2025: Spoon University calls boat noodle soup a “Thai alternative to pho.”  That’s a very apt description.  As you luxuriate in the steaming swimming pool-sized bowl of this popular Thai elixir, you’ll definitely think pho.  Boat noodle soup contains both pork and beef they are each seasoned with a dark soy sauce and nam tok (cow or pig’s blood mixed in with salt).  Boat noodle soup probably wouldn’t sell much in Albuquerque if made the traditional way.  Instead of cow or pig’s blood, Sa! Thai’s version contains coconut milk.  It’s also made with meatballs, bean sprouts, onions and cilantro with your choice of pork or beef.  It’s as good as any pho you’ll find in the Albuquerque area and is the perfect remedy for whatever ails you.  If, however, you’d like a more traditional soup made with blood, a select number of Vietnamese restaurants serve bun bo Hue the traditional way (pork blood and pork hock).

2 April 2025:  During my first three visits to Sa! Thai, every entree I’ve ordered has come from the “Chef Special” section of the menu.  Two of those dishes (Khao Soi and Thai Boat Noodle Soup) were new to me.  Much more familiar is the third item to ensnare my affections.  That would be pumpkin curry (pumpkin in a red curry sauce with your choice of chicken, pork, tofu or vegetable).  The name “Thai pumpkin” is a general descriptor used to encompass multiple varieties of pumpkins commonly grown in Thailand.  It’s unlikely Sa! Thai imports its pumpkins from Thailand.

Pumpkin curry has a subtle sweetness that really complements the inherent spiciness of the red curry paste.  Sa! Curry’s version, prepared to your exacting level of heat, is replete with chunky al dente pumpkin chunks, red peppers, onions and crushed peanuts.  It’s a comforting, deeply satisfying dish that envelops you in warmth and deliciousness.   Pumpkin curry has been described as “Fall (and heaven!) on plate! ”  I couldn’t have said it better myself.

18 January 2025:  We overheard one diner ask about the “hamburger patty topped with mangoes” when an order of mangoes and sticky rice was ferried over to one table.  At first glance, it was easy to see how that diner could be mistaken.  Not every Thai restaurant offering this favorite Thai dessert uses purple sticky rice but Sa! Thai does.  Unlike white glutinous rice, purple (actually black) glutinous rice grains are slightly more robust and less-soft than white glutinous rice grains.  It offers a nuttier creamy taste, too.  Alas, unless mangoes are in season, this dessert isn’t quite as wonderful as it should be.  Such was the case during our inagural visit.  We knew the mangoes wouldn’t be quite as sweet and juicy as we might like, but they are still quite good.

Sa! Thai promises to be one of our favorite Thai restaurants in that it actually boasts of dishes not common in the Duke City area.  It’s those dishes that will likely be the focus of future visits for me though I suspect my Kim will probably order pad Thai at some point.

Sa! Thai
6400 Holly Avenue. N.E.,  Suite I 
Albuquerque, New Mexico
(505) 508-2972
Website | Facebook Page
LATEST VISIT: 2 April 2025
1st VISIT: 18 January 2025
# OF VISITS: 3
RATED: 23
COST: $$
BEST BET: Mangoes With Sticky Rice, Lo Mein Noodles, Potstickers, Tod-Mon-Kai, Khao Sai with Fried Chicken, Boat Noodle Soup, Pumpkin Curry, Egg Rolls
REVIEW #1448