Review Zaab - Canberra

KK

Funky modern restaurant, love the decor and vibes here. Food was delicious. Came here with kids and the staff were able to accomodate them for certain items ie remove the chilli or add to the side only. Not too many options for those who do not like spice like young kids. All the chicken dishes were a hit with the kids, even the fried one which was only little bit spicy/peppery.

Billy C

Amazing place to eat, probably the best place I've eaten this year. Most dishes we ate had spice, had interesting tastes and were very well presented. Each dish was bursting with flavour and tantalised my taste buds. Between 3 people we had about 3 small stuff and 3 big stuff. Will be back for more!

paterjo

Zaab is a trendy restaurant along Lonsdale street across the street from the Civic Pub. Lots of young good looking couples so popular with 20-30s. They serve Southeast Asian fusion dishes, wild cocktails served in plastic bags, and good “small bites”. Staff was friendly and quick. I tried the Beef Massamun which is beef cheeks, mild curry, sweet potato chips, over a potato mash which was good but not a huge portion. For small stuff I tried pork larb bites. Fun restaurant but portions were small considering the price .

Lauren James

Not sure what restaurant some of the most recent reviewers visited - I had the set menu and we couldn't finish it! The food was tasty and interesting (although the small eats and bites look more interesting than the massamun provided in the banquet, which was a little underwhelming). Biggest issue though is the 1.5 hour seating limit. We were hurried out having barely finished our mains. Only two waitresses the night we were there couldn't keep up with drinks orders (lost of one mine) and that's a shame; staying for an extra half an hour I would have loved to be able to enjoy another cocktail.

Jasmine Nguyen

Such a great experience! All the food from the banquet were nice. Cocktails were quite good. Will come back to try other food off the banquet menu

Sidesh Naikar

Fantastic Lao/Thai Canberra venue. Visiting Zaab after a long absence confirmed that it remains one of the best eateries in Braddon's bustling Lonsdale Street. Every single dish served was fresh, flavourful and playfully original. The betel leaf starter is playful, the ceviche was fresh, the barramundi had the right spiciness to accentuate the barramundi without overpowering it. To top it off, the cocktails were fabulous and the wait staff were outstanding in their friendliness and professionalism. A must go Canberra venue.

Kimberley Chalmers

Impressively delicious food, especially for the price. Had the Vegetarian Feed Me menu. Attentive informed staff, good temperature, good sound level. Would recommend.

Phoebe Acton

Had a great date night experience! We ordered the 59PP Feed Me menu, 100% satisfied both for the taste and the service.

Kay Jay

Not sure there needs to be so much hype about this place. Tables were tiny (with square timber stools only a foot off the ground). Very little space to share a meal with a small group; water ended up on the floor to conserve space. I felt like I was sitting at one of those kiddy colouring in tables. The wait staff were great; they kept removing things from the table (clearly they know how small they were). Food was fine but nothing to rave about. We had the green curry and the Seafood for 2. The seafood was boarder line overcooked. Would I recommend this place? Meh, too many better options in this location.

Brendan Dean

Yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum

Marianne Cullen

We held my son's 21st here for 20 people. It was a fantastc night. Fabulous food and fun venue. Becky and her staff provided great service. Even though we had a few miscommunication all caused by me, Becky resolved them all. Cannot recommend this venue enough.

Jessie Jo Blythe

We went to Zaab last night & it was amazing! We want to go back to try more stuff on the menu. Awesome atmosphere, great DJs, yummiest cocktails & best of all - beautiful staff. Especially the lovely girl who served us. Highly recommended for a good night out�

Isabelle Tomlinson

Zaab has the best vibe I love going there!!! Amazing food great drinks. The staff and Becky and Ricky are simply amazing

Courtney Menegon-Meredith

THANKYOU Zaab! Your restaurant is absolutely incredible & staff are so friendly. My partner and I walked away so happy. The mussaman curry was the best mussaman curry we have ever had. Every dish packed flavour, punch & darn right deliciousness. Once again, thank you for a lovely night :) can't wait to return!!

Ami Latona

If anyone's wondering what the fuss is about they've not spent any time in Laos or Northeast Thailand. If you have spent time there then you'll be as excited as I was tonight to discover real Lao food in Canberra - and in a funky bar setting, which is perfect, because it's best eaten with a beer. Don't be a hero and order 'hot' if you can't take it though - it's legit Lao hot, not cushy made-for-an-Aussi-pallet hot. And it will hurt you.

Lucy Duncan

By far the best Thai food we have ever eaten. So tasty and fresh and the whole family loved it!

Neil San

Ordered the 'Feed me' with seafood... Quality food, friendly people, great location, place looks great and open til 1AM on a Sat.

Bond Seven

Service was a bit slow, seats were not comfortable and table was too small to accommodate the food ordered. However, taste of food was okay and serving was reasonable.

Debbie Maz

One of my favorite dining destinations. The food tantalizes the taste buds, the service is better than anywhere else in Canberra. Chris and Cam you rock ��

Sarah Martin

Zaab is amazing. Awesome food, incredible flavours, wonderful service. Hands down the best Thai I've had in Canberra. Wish these guys the very best.

Paul Lee

Excellent food, high marks for authenticity. Good selection of drinks, including Beer Lao, Chang Beer, great cocktail list. Friday night crowd seemed mostly unmarried public servants and women out with their girlfriends. Full review on my occasional blog, travelsinfood on Wordpress.

Pierre BigBangs Johannessen

Exactly as advertised, with little tables and chairs, though modernised, reminiscent of authentic Street restaurants in Thailand. Both Thai and Laotian dishes were amazing. Highly recommend paying for the house combo ; let the chef decide what to feed you, it's all amazing. Excellent meal. Thoroughly delicious.

Laura Williams

Amazing atmosphere, service and food at a great price! Dining here turned my less than amazing day around �

Cassidy Boyd

Great value, delicious food and excellent service. Also really good with dealing with dietary requirements (vegan, vegetarian and gluten free). Love it!

Rosie Posy

Awesome food and service and atmosphere. The duck curry is the best ever

Scott Meikle

Had a business dinner here and was the perfect location, nice modern feel, Staff all happy and smiling, food was excellent. Had a few dishes, however the stand was Crying tiger with sticky rice with the added extra kick of chilli on the side, my friend couldn't stand the heat and said she really enjoyed her milk ice tea to cool things down!

David Morris

Starter. The clue is in the name. My partners main meal arrived at the table first. Followed five minutes later by the starter. Followed five minutes after that by my main meal. At least they had the good grace to not charge us for my partner’s meal, after I pointed out it was becoming a cold, congealed mess. In terms of ambience, they really promote the idea of community, at least that’s what I assume by how close the tables are to each other. The food was just ok. Not worth the price. Won’t be back

The World’s My Oyster

We found the food here quite underwhelming for the price. The Thai food was a bit too “tidied up” and fancy to resemble any traditional Thai flavours we’ve had. The best dish was probably the chicken skewers which had a delicious peanut sauce. The Pad Thai was nice and what you could get at a local Thai restaurant but at $25 was surely the most expensive Pad Thai we’ve had. The soft shell crab curry was also tasty but only had two crabs and was expensive for the serve we got. As for the red curry, well you can see from the photo it really didn’t have a lot of ingredients in it and although the dishes here were “priced” to share the servings were not. Probably would not return.

M3lissa____

Did a takeaway at Zaab Thai and we tried a few dishes. The flavours were good but the portions are quite small. Would be good if they increase the portion

E

Delicious flavours and all meals packed a punch. They have small portion, so it’s ideal to select a few and share this. I tried their betal leave (crowd favourite, they say), crunchy tofu, pork crackle and squid. Although the squid taste amazing, I definitely thought for the price of $28, you would expect more than 3 pieces of small squid. Love their look and the staff work hard to ensure everyone is looked after.

Chiliong

Saw great reviews of the food in Google and certainly didn’t disappoint. As we didn’t want to eat too full, so we just ordered the proteins that we love. We really enjoyed the squid with medium spiciness and the “crying tiger” cold beef dish. The betel leaf street food small eat was very fragrant too. Would definitely come back to this place if visiting Canberra again.

Ausbeagle

Wish I could give this a higher rating but the menu is super limited, my phad Thai was inedible as it was so spicy and the service is friendly enough but inattentive. Decor is fine but uncomfortable/impractical. It has potential but it’s got a way to go.

Sean Stanton

Great food and atmosphere. Some dishes took me back to floating restaurant on Mekong River - Pakse Laos. I am definitely coming back for more. Crying Tiger so good.

Andy Trieu

Brings you back to asia! Zaab has so much to offer - The Thai flavours are on point and their drinks are amazing. They take their food and service seriously and it shows in the detail and the end product. A DJ in the restaurant on certain nights is a great touch. Take me backkkkkkk

Eat Canberra

Most of us would assume our little local Asian restaurant down the street would be more authentic than a buzzing hot spot in Braddon, well you may just be mistaken. Eat Canberra was recently invited to have dinner at Zaab, a trendy, Thai-Lao street food restaurant located on Lonsdale Street, Braddon. With the cool, unique and interesting vibe of an underground Bangkok bar, I was pleasantly surprised that this little gem was owned and operated by a traditional Thai family. The head chef is the father of owner, Becky Khanthavongsa and Zaab’s Manager Ricky Liau is a cocktail expert, having hosted a long line of award winning Melbourne bars.

Foodpornjournal

Zaab is a trendy new Laotian/Thai joint in Braddon offering a modern take to these cuisines. The place was packed out on a Friday night with a queue of people in front of what was a reservation lectern waiting to be seated. My friend and I had no booking and there were no tables left but we had the option to sit at the bar and was happy with that. The menu listed street food snacks such as pork skewers, larb bites and Lao sausages. Curry favourites like mussaman and red duck were also on the menu, as well as pad thai, various grilled meats, larb and paw paw salad. It was a hot day and since we were already at the bar, I asked whether mocktails could be made. The bartender mentioned they had limited ingredients for mocktails but could come up with a berry/lychee mocktail which sounded great. I didn’t know what the price was until I saw the bill later for $12. I thought this was rather overpriced for the small glass I received. The mocktail was fruity and fun but mainly filled with crushed ice.

Eat Play Love Travel

Serving up Lao-Thai street food, this Lonsdale Street restaurant has plenty of personality. There’s banging beats, displays of Asian Red Bull, lots of delicious-smelling share plates and even a guy playing the trumpet.

Andrew Tye

This initially promissed so much. The ability to reminisce over trips to south east asia and the wonderful street food which draws Australians so readily. Zaab promissed at lot.. it however did not deliver. The decor, although highlighted with such familiar brand names as Singha,Tiger, Beer Lao and Chang to give authenticity are sparse in application. Service was slow. Portion sizing small. The dished themselves were underwhelming relying heavely on chilli to mask poor performance in balancing flavors. Even the cheapest of Balanise street stalls had more flavourful dishes. Then the price.. where $5 gets you meal in south east asia, Zaab will ask much more and give nowhere near the same in return. That Bintang you drank in Bali at effectivly $1AUS a bottle is $8.50 at Zaab! Zaab needs to rethink their menu, emulate more closely the street food its modeling off and embrace more deeply the decor of the regions its borrowing so much from...Pick up your game Zaab or make way for someone who can do what your trying to.

Jack

Very impressed by this outlet. I don't normally give 5s but this restaurant deserves it. You can book the table via Qantas to earn 100 points per diner booked. We booked a table for 4, but they went out of their way to upgrade out table to something larger. Very good selection of drinks, decor done beautifully. Food is amazing. Excellent blend of flavours and using fresh ingredients. Highly recommend