The crab fried rice here was so insanely good I literally said “wow” multiple times.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Y S
This is a review for the other location of this restaurant at the pier in Chelsea. The worst service + stingy portion + not tasty + overpriced. Better management urgently needed.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Jessica Vang
As someone who absolutely loves Thai food—especially Northern Thai and Isan cuisine—I had been looking forward to trying Zaab Zaab more than any other restaurant during my trip to NYC. Unfortunately, my experience at their Brooklyn location was underwhelming and disappointing.
The flavors, which I was hoping would reflect the bold, spicy, and sour profile of true Isan cooking, leaned far too sweet across the board. In some dishes, the sweetness was so strong it overwhelmed everything else. A few items were also overly salty, making it hard to enjoy the balance typically found in Thai cuisine.
We ordered several dishes:
Som Tum (not pictured): This was probably one of the better dishes. It had a decent amount of funk and heat, though it still leaned a bit sweet. The portion was small for the $17 price tag, which felt excessive for what you get.
Pad Kra Pao: A major letdown. It didn’t come with a fried egg, which is traditionally a key part of the dish. Charging extra for the egg felt stingy and unnecessary. Without it, the dish lacked richness and authenticity.
Clams: These were okay, but honestly forgettable. They lacked depth and didn’t have much flavor.
Pad Thai: Extremely sweet. This dish seemed tailored more toward Western palates than those looking for a true Thai experience.
Steamed Fish: Probably the best dish we had, but even this was on the salty side.
The ambiance didn’t help the experience. The restaurant was so dimly lit that we had to use a small table lamp to even see our food. While that might appeal to some for mood, it made it hard to appreciate the presentation or snap any decent photos.
On the service front, our server was lovely, especially considering it was his first week.
Overall, Zaab Zaab in Brooklyn just didn’t live up to the hype or expectations. In a city with so many excellent Thai restaurants, especially those serving regional cuisines, it’s hard to recommend this one. Maybe their other locations are better, but I won’t be rushing back to find out.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 4
Yasmin
Nice place for different kinds of thai food. I love steamed fish and their skewers
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Karthik C. S.
I used to love this place for it's (vegan) larb ped jae (see pic), but it is not on the menu anymore, and instead it's replaced with an embarrassing excuse of a vegan menu. I will update this review. I will update this review only once their vegan larb is back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 5
A Boo
Words can’t fully capture how amazing this dining experience was. I came here after a disappointing meal at another spot around the corner (H*** in th* Wall), and wow, what a turnaround. This place instantly became my new favorite restaurant. I ordered the fish, and it was absolutely incredible, flavorful, perfectly cooked, and deeply satisfying. The service was also excellent. Thank you for turning my night around and satisfying my palate. Truly a memorable meal!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Kiki
Their laab has so much flavors . I also order Moring glory , green curry , Isan sausage all excellent. Very impressed .
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Rohan Sharma
Okay food. There was a small ball of hair in my Thai iced tea. While they replaced the drink, they didn't offer to comp it (which in the rare instance I've had hair in a restaurant is pretty standard). They also automatically add a donation fee to the bill that you have to specifically ask to remove if you don't want.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 1
Bruce
Cocktail really creative
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Christopher Quesada
Fantastic authentic Thai food! Really warm and inviting.
Always friendly and superb food. Different menu than Elmhurst and they are always changing and experimenting. Love the skewers and the raw shrimp.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Daniel Lama
Extremely delicious food, very authentic experience in case you are looking for a different flavor than most restaurants.
Thai to the bones, hard seasoning, spicy stuff is actually spicy, everything is expensive as usual in NY.
The plate that is clearly not a fish was an omelet with crab, deliiiicious.
The fish ($40) was even better of course, bunch of flavors exploding in your mouth deliciously.
Reduce options of drinks.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Marie De Amicis
Probably my favorite mango sticky rice in the city, with its subtle note of pandan, nicely sweet and salty, wow!! For the savory part, it’s just as good: their crab omelette, crab fried rice, pad see ew are incredible. Everything taste authentic and legit there. I’ve returned 4 times in 1 month! Just one note for the service: please let us know when it’s gonna be so spicy that we might cry 😂
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Salu Victori
Wonderful experience on a quiet Sunday. A great way to “spice” things up! A bit expensive, though.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Keith Carne
Excellent Isan Thai cuisine. So tempted by so many of the menu items. Their homemade fermented sausage is both refreshing and indulgent — served with papaya straws, peanuts, cabbage and lettuce wraps. Whole branzino is a total winner. Prepped for super easy eating I didn’t worry at all about small bones. Full section for vegan eating and they happily altered the Khao Soi for my wife who is veg. Their vegetable dumplings were also much better than most. Helpful service and easy to walk in. Highly recommend.
The crab fried rice here was so insanely good I literally said “wow” multiple times.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This is a review for the other location of this restaurant at the pier in Chelsea. The worst service + stingy portion + not tasty + overpriced. Better management urgently needed.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
As someone who absolutely loves Thai food—especially Northern Thai and Isan cuisine—I had been looking forward to trying Zaab Zaab more than any other restaurant during my trip to NYC. Unfortunately, my experience at their Brooklyn location was underwhelming and disappointing.
The flavors, which I was hoping would reflect the bold, spicy, and sour profile of true Isan cooking, leaned far too sweet across the board. In some dishes, the sweetness was so strong it overwhelmed everything else. A few items were also overly salty, making it hard to enjoy the balance typically found in Thai cuisine.
We ordered several dishes:
Som Tum (not pictured): This was probably one of the better dishes. It had a decent amount of funk and heat, though it still leaned a bit sweet. The portion was small for the $17 price tag, which felt excessive for what you get.
Pad Kra Pao: A major letdown. It didn’t come with a fried egg, which is traditionally a key part of the dish. Charging extra for the egg felt stingy and unnecessary. Without it, the dish lacked richness and authenticity.
Clams: These were okay, but honestly forgettable. They lacked depth and didn’t have much flavor.
Pad Thai: Extremely sweet. This dish seemed tailored more toward Western palates than those looking for a true Thai experience.
Steamed Fish: Probably the best dish we had, but even this was on the salty side.
The ambiance didn’t help the experience. The restaurant was so dimly lit that we had to use a small table lamp to even see our food. While that might appeal to some for mood, it made it hard to appreciate the presentation or snap any decent photos.
On the service front, our server was lovely, especially considering it was his first week.
Overall, Zaab Zaab in Brooklyn just didn’t live up to the hype or expectations. In a city with so many excellent Thai restaurants, especially those serving regional cuisines, it’s hard to recommend this one. Maybe their other locations are better, but I won’t be rushing back to find out.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 4
Nice place for different kinds of thai food. I love steamed fish and their skewers
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I used to love this place for it's (vegan) larb ped jae (see pic), but it is not on the menu anymore, and instead it's replaced with an embarrassing excuse of a vegan menu. I will update this review. I will update this review only once their vegan larb is back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 5
Words can’t fully capture how amazing this dining experience was. I came here after a disappointing meal at another spot around the corner (H*** in th* Wall), and wow, what a turnaround. This place instantly became my new favorite restaurant. I ordered the fish, and it was absolutely incredible, flavorful, perfectly cooked, and deeply satisfying. The service was also excellent. Thank you for turning my night around and satisfying my palate. Truly a memorable meal!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Their laab has so much flavors . I also order Moring glory , green curry , Isan sausage all excellent. Very impressed .
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Okay food.
There was a small ball of hair in my Thai iced tea. While they replaced the drink, they didn't offer to comp it (which in the rare instance I've had hair in a restaurant is pretty standard).
They also automatically add a donation fee to the bill that you have to specifically ask to remove if you don't want.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 1
Cocktail really creative
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Fantastic authentic Thai food! Really warm and inviting.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Always friendly and superb food. Different menu than Elmhurst and they are always changing and experimenting. Love the skewers and the raw shrimp.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Extremely delicious food, very authentic experience in case you are looking for a different flavor than most restaurants.
Thai to the bones, hard seasoning, spicy stuff is actually spicy, everything is expensive as usual in NY.
The plate that is clearly not a fish was an omelet with crab, deliiiicious.
The fish ($40) was even better of course, bunch of flavors exploding in your mouth deliciously.
Reduce options of drinks.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Probably my favorite mango sticky rice in the city, with its subtle note of pandan, nicely sweet and salty, wow!!
For the savory part, it’s just as good: their crab omelette, crab fried rice, pad see ew are incredible. Everything taste authentic and legit there. I’ve returned 4 times in 1 month!
Just one note for the service: please let us know when it’s gonna be so spicy that we might cry 😂
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Wonderful experience on a quiet Sunday. A great way to “spice” things up! A bit expensive, though.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Excellent Isan Thai cuisine. So tempted by so many of the menu items. Their homemade fermented sausage is both refreshing and indulgent — served with papaya straws, peanuts, cabbage and lettuce wraps. Whole branzino is a total winner. Prepped for super easy eating I didn’t worry at all about small bones. Full section for vegan eating and they happily altered the Khao Soi for my wife who is veg. Their vegetable dumplings were also much better than most. Helpful service and easy to walk in. Highly recommend.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Loading...