Our favorite take-out.... guess where?

This is an easy one......

There are a couple of reasons why this place is our go-to take-out joint. First, we (obviously) love the food. Second, the prices of almost everything we order is below $7.25. Third, it's on one of the alternate routes home. Fourth, our favorite dishes there hold up well on the 15-20 minute drive home. The place is rather small, so sometimes doing take-out works out better as well. It does help that the place serves one of my "last request" dishes. Without further ado......

Yep, it's Sab E Lee of course. I guess now that Koby has sold the place to the staff, they've gone ahead and called themselves "The Original" Sab E Lee. And though I've been doing most of my recent postings on Sab E Lee in Santee, and god knows we adore Koby. I thought I'd just dig out a few take-out photos cluttering my folders.

If you're a regular reader, you know my "last meal" dish is the Koi Soi, the raw beef salad.

I love the texture of the raw beef. And though it is not as refined as the version at Lotus of Siam (which is $6.70 more expensive), I just love the melding of flavors, the biting heat, the nuttiness of the roasted rice powder, pungent onions, scallions, and raw garlic slices, and biting into an occasional Thai chili! I know...yada-yada-yada..... just make sure you give me a spoonful before you pull the plug.

 

That's not say that any of the other dishes take a back seat. Whether it's the mild sourness of the Issan Sausage, with bits of pork skin adding a nice chew. Wrapped in a slice of cabbage with a peanut or two, or perhaps a chili or slice of raw garlic, and you've got a symphony of flavors.

Or the somewhat stinky, but so savory Salted Fish Fried Rice:

The Missus recently took a bunch of folks She works with to Sab E Lee. The coworkers weren't really familiar with Thai Food aside from Tom Yum and Pad Thai. When this dish arrived, folks pulled away from the plate.... once they tasted this, you couldn't get them away from the plate. 

Well 'nuff said.... I'm sure all the SEL regulars have their favorite dishes...... I know of one one Food Blogger who can't get enough of this.

While building links, I just realized that this is my seventh post on SEL..... so maybe I should back off a bit.

But man, do I have tons of SEL photos.

And not only take-out either.....

OK, enough of that......

Most importantly, I'd like to know what your "go to" take-out places are, and why. Is it convenience? Prices perhaps? I'd really like to know.......

And in case you like to check out my other posts on Sab E Lee, you can find links on our "Rotation Page".

Comments

[bill]

Wow - my go to places for the time being is Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers. I love there flat patty burgers you can definitely taste the freshness.

I doubt I'll get tired of looking at all your food pictures let alone figure when and if I'll every get a chance to sample it. That's what true sucks, LOL.

[caninecologne]

hi kirk - we were just there last weekend and i didn't even notice that sign "the original sab e lee"! bad food blogger that i was that day, i'd forgotten my camera. but there wouldn't have been a point since we ordered stuff we've already had like the spicy mint leaf noodles with beef, the #48 Issan sausage, my favorite! i've only tried the khoi soi at the santee location. michael from foodopolis ordered it. i took home the leftovers and, don't get mad at me, i cooked the raw beef! ha ha. it gave my husband a nice burn. the next day!!!!! O _ o

[Stephen]

Since I'm surrounded by fast food places, I don't have a go to place.
Always enjoy reading about Sab E Lee. I've been to both, and enjoyed both, but this location is closer. That sign looks fairly new.

[kat]

don't have many take-out places around me, but I guess my "go-to" place would be the bakeries in my neighborhood, they have good sandwiches and sweet treats!

[dave]

I guess our go-to places are Minh Ky, Sicilian Thing Pizza, and Bangkok Spices Thai. Thinking about it, I guess we do take out from these places for convenience and amount of food per dollar.

[kirbie]

It's been a while since I've been back here for take-out. Your post is making me so hungry!

[ed (from Yuma)]

That food looks yummy. I will never forget the raw beef salad there. Great textures and heat like putting a burning coal in my mouth.

For me, Yummy Yummy is the takeout king. Close, cheap, good, and real.

[Tammy]

Our take-out place has to be at In and Out and we would get three protein doggie style...I mean animal style burgers. Then we would drive across the street to Jack in the Box for curly fries, fries and jalapenos poppers. The cost is under $20. We try to drink water instead of getting shakes because we need to "watch" our diet.

[kamisama]

Didn't know that Koby sold the place to his staff. Interestingly the papaya salad was not up to the usual standard the last time I was there a week ago. Hopefully this doesn't signal a slow decline in quality.

I live in Linda Vista, so SEL is one of my go to take out spots. Others include Ks sandwiches, Homestyle Hawaiian, Rosa's pizza (on Convoy) for their Rosa's super sub, Super Bronco/JVs/Palominos for Mexican and bentos from Nijiya.

[RT]

I'm not sure if you've ever mentioned it, Kirk, but there's a dish there called Noodles with Crab Meat (might not be the exact name, but it's very generic-sounding) that is my favorite dish at Sab E Lee! It's my go-to dish there, and it's hard for me to not order it whenever I go.

As for take out... hmm I don't seem to do a lot of takeout... Do banh mi or burritos count?

[sawyer]

man kirk, u got me feening for some sabelee....those pictures look great. that lunch w/ you guys was my first and only time for some koi soi. i don't do too much takeout. i realized besides the usual happy hour haunts, i like trying new places rather than the familiar

[Kirk]

Hi Billy - You know if you;re headed my way.... I'll be there with the welcome wagon!

Hi CC - So that was the scream I heard coming from the South! ;o) Actually CJ also cooked his leftover Koi Soi.....

Hi Stephen - Choices are good..... but we found that we always end up getting take-out from SEL.

Hi Kat - I do love all the wonderful bakeries you have.....

Hi Dave - I think that convenience and value are what drives who you decide to do take-out from.

Hi Kirbie - I think you'll need to hit them up again soon then! ;o)

Hi Ed - I thought it would be Yummy Yummy.... and that Indian Food place.

LOL Tammy..... I'm not a big fan of In n Out's fries either. I haven't had a shake in years...lactose intolerance and all that.

Hi Kamisama - I enjoy the bentos from Nijiya as well, I think they're better than Mitsuwa and Marukai. You have a nice list! All the items in the post were taken after the change-over.... so I didn't notice a drop-off. I will say that when the regular cook....the woman who has been there from the beginning makes my food, it's always better.

Hi RT - Is it the Rice Noodles with Crab Meat? You know, it's one of the items I haven't tried at SEL.... I've gotta check it out now!

Hi Sawyer - First off.... let me say that you've got a ton more choices. If I lived in LA....I could start on one side of Valley, and work my way to the other end..... and a hundred new restaurants would have popped up so I'd have to star tall over again! BTW, how was the Hawaiian Food place?

[sawyer]

hey kirk,

i wasn't ready for the locomoco so i ordered the kalbi/huli huli chicken. the galbi wasn't very good, but the chicken(first time trying it) was delicious and so was the mac salad ...i'll def. have to go back to try their other offerings. always wondered what saimin and oxtail soup tasted like haha...a very simple menu w/ daily specials and good prices.

[Kirk]

So no Locomoco yet Sawyer!!! ;o)

[RT]

Yes! Rice Noodles with Crab Meat, that's exactly it. I'm half-surprised you haven't tried it because the name doesn't sound interesting. But let me know if you don't think it's great.

[Sandy]

I think our favorite take-out tends to be the convenient take-out: Lucky Seafood's deli. The noodle place in the same strip mall is a close second.

[Kirk]

Hi Sandy - Convenience is quite important.

[jenny]

I do my best to avoid take out, but occasionally I will indulge in some tacos from luche libre, or pizza from my hubby's favorite pappa johns (sigh!) or pizza fusion!