Sabieng Thai

this is round 7 of the GREAT thai-o-rama and this time we went to sabieng!  located on forest ave. just off congress, it is in a nice space with a huge front window, very high ceilings, and exposed duct work.  i did appreciate that the required thai kitsch was quite pared down.  it seemed like someone had put a little thought into the decor versus just putting the most tacky things possible on the walls.  but i know you don't really care that much about the decor.  you want to know how the food was.
appetizer = chive pancakes.  yummy.  a little gummy in that way that rice pancake-type-things can be but it  filled with fresh chives and garlic and complemented nicely with a ginger dipping sauce.
mains = panaeng tofu curry and lemon grass chicken, both served with brown rice and both ordered medium spicy.  yum to both.
the tofu was like little pillows of soft goodness soaking up the richness of the perfectly spicy, not too sweet, curry.  it was full of fresh crisp green beans and basil and sprinkled with kefir lime zest.
the lemon grass chicken was unfortunately not so lemon grassy but still really good.  a nice rich brown sauce with lots of chicken and green beans and bamboo shoots and basil.  again it was spicy enough to give you a nice burn without detracting from the overall flavor.
we were the only table in the restaurant so we got pretty great service.  the cook himself came out of the kitchen and asked us how everything was.  he seemed very pleased that we were so pleased.  we thought we were really gonna see some action when a fire truck pulled up right outside the restaurant but the owner told us that the fire truck comes almost daily as the building across the street houses a lot of older folks.
on our way out, we saw blueberry files coming in with m.  i hope there take out was as good as our dine in.