Review Zab Thai - Christchurch

Delicious Thai takeaway in Upper Riccarton area. The food was tasty , good portion size and reasonably priced. The waiting time was very long. On a weekday evening I had to wait for 40 min. So be prepared and order ahead if possible. Convenient parking spaces but not many.

Best takeaways in Christchurch. Portion size for $15 is amazing - always have leftovers for next day. Panang curry is exceptional. Highly recommend!! Note - Peak times wait can be over an hour. Order early!

The food here is by far the best I've tasted in NZ! Great value, fresh and tasty. We drive 30km to get our Zab takeaway treat every week 😋

The best Thai in Ilam, would be the ultimate dusty Sunday meal though! Please open on Sunday in the new year xxx

Phenomenal quality (and quantity) Thai food! Would highly recommend.

26.11.20 first time coming here. Ordered the Thai fried rice and red curry. Good taste, great portion sizes! Most dishes have increased to $15. Still very worth it!

Absolutely delicious Thai food here. Reasonable prices with good quantity + Quality. This takeaway is always busy. It’s always better to call and order from home. 45 min waiting time is not surprising at all. Good job

It's a takeaway, so there is no atmosphere. 3 for service because they're always busy , therefore your orders are going to take a while, like an hour sometime. Real authentic Thai food

Great Thai food. Be prepared for a bit of a wait at the weekend but it’s totally worth it, order early or by phone to avoid a wait. My go to easy and affordable take out. Great local business.

Delicious Thai food. So popular! quite a long wait, but worth it. Love the pad Thai

Everything about this little Takeaway shop is fantastic, I ordered a noodle dish and wontons this evening, and the freshness of the ingredients, and the fact that I can taste the spices that’s great. The spice is so reasonably priced as well, their portions are great. And very friendly service. I have ordered multiple times from this restaurant. And will always go back. Delicious Thai food, and clean kitchen.

Wow ! Absolutely the best Thai food I've eaten in years. Definitely the best Thai food I've eaten in Christchurch ! Perfectly cooked and beautifully presented meals, copious portions and wonderful flavours. Can't wait to return and persuade Chef to cook me all of my requests "Thai Hot". Thanks Guys ! Outstanding food 👌

The best food and staff are lovely. Call in advance - as worth the wait!! Also super reasonably priced

Absolutely delicious. Wonderful portion sizes. Worth every cent. Great vege and vegan options (picture: lunch deal $9.50 tofu massaman and basil & chilli stir fry)

Such good Thai!! Definitely recommend going! Long wait but definitely worth it :)

Have been to Thai places all over Christchurch and this is by far my favourite. The food is fresh, inexpensive and authentic! So delicious. My partner and I order here often and you can easily get a meal for 2 with entrees for $45 with left overs for the next day. Can’t recommend them enough!

Such great value for money and the flavours and quality of food is fantastic. Our favourite Thai place for takeaways.

Food is so good. Always go for the pad sieu. Really good portions for $15. Very highly recommend. Best takeaways in Christchurch. I'd love to get some merch

So good but be ready to wait if you don't get in early.

Visiting Christchurch for work and decided to try a decent Thai place, came across Zab Thai and thought I’d give it a go. Worst idea I could have had. After being told it would be around 30-35 minutes for my order, I ended up waiting for a full hour. Definitely would not recommend.

Affordable, tasty Thai food! A work colleague recommended we try Zab and we weren’t disappointed. It’s great value and we have enjoyed every dish we have tried so far. Would recommend.

Solid Thai takeaway food, but solid wait times. Friday night, 1h20m wait. Borderline ridiculous, so if you're not organised, don't bother.<br/><br/>Curries are very well flavoured with good quality and well cooked meat and vegetables, cute crinkle cut carrots too. Good level of spice too, Medium is actually spicy, unlike some places. <br/><br/>Quite a bit better than some of the other Thai takeaways we have tried in CHCH. On par with the Thai Container, slightly better than Bahn Thai. Significantly cheaper then both. Pad Thai, Pad Kee Mao both tasty and well flavoured. Pad Thai on the sweeter side of this dish if you prefer the more savoury. Have only tried a couple of their stir fry offerings but both were again, very good. Spring rolls are excellent. Haven't tried salad or soup dishes yet.<br/><br/>Curries are large enough for two meals per person but the included rice is not (so just cook some yourself for meal #2).<br/><br/>Would be a 4.5 or even a 5 if the wait time was 30m or less.

This must be one of the best hidden gems of Chch. Their food is out of this earth!! It's rediculosly good!<br/><br/>Tom Kha seafood is so creamy and rich, good quality mussles, prawns, squids and mushrooms were generously provided in the soup. The Penang curry was the highlight. The peanut sauce on top has to be the best l had so far. And they use real tofu (firm) instead of fried tofu in most places.<br/><br/>The Masama curry is very flavourful and hearty. They use good cut of steak instead of your stingy small pieces of meat. All of their portions are Hugh ...And their prices are very reasonable.<br/><br/>I would recommend this place if you want some good quality authentic Thai food.

Been here many times, partner and I both love the peanut sauce on noodle. Good sized containers compared to other thai places. Pad Thai is great too lots of nuts on the top.

I'd been wanting to try out Zab Thai for a while now after seeing so many great reviews on here. Finally went and got a takeaway pad thai. I was very impressed with the serving size (1/2 of it was enough to have me feeling very full) and the flavour was just like the ones I had in Thailand. It came with lots of crushed peanuts, fresh mung beans, coriander and a slice of lemon. <br/><br/>I do agree with a previous reviewer, however, that they really need to invest in a second phone line; this is why I have only given them 4 stars.

Although I cannot comment on the food, I heard this place had great food so decided to go order from<br/>There the other night, I waited in line to be served and as it was my turn to be served the incrediblely rude girl<br/>Behind the counter answered the Phone to take a phone order which I may add took at least 5 minutes, as soon as she hung up I had my card out ready to order when the phone rang again, I thought this time she will surely serve me first but no she took the phone call again and I left instantly as they do not deserve my money they were extremely rude and I will never go back I went to noodle canteen after that

ZAB THAI is great!!! Easily some of the best Thai I have had in Christchurch. While I would LOVE to give them 5 stars, I have to limit myself to 4 as sometimes they are impossible to get hold of. I have been trying to ring to place an order for the last two weeks and just can't get through!

Our local Thai takeaway. Excellent food and great price, never been disappointed! Very popular so would recommend ordering in advance on busy days. Love the peanut satay and chicken cashew stir fry. Well worth a try if your in the area or looking a quick well priced takeaway.

The food as Zab tastes great and is well priced. I have one issue which drives me up the wall though.<br/><br/>The owner is to cheap to buy two phone lines which means their eftpos and phone cant be used at the same time. <br/><br/>EVERY time that I eat at Zab I get held up because either the eftpos machine cant be used until a phone order is taken or because I cant get through due the line being busy.

Great Thai food at great prices , just make sure you ring well in advance to place your order!

Wow I'm eating Zab Thai right now thinking wow this is the best Thai food in Christchurch.. I thought I had better see the reviews too see if I had hit the jackpot of awesome yummness of Thai food..ans yes I sure did 5 star for sure. New fav Thai food place.

We have had food from Zab 3 times and never had left overs because its far to yummy!<br/>Keep up the yummy food as I wouldn't go any where else now.<br/>Such beautifully flavoured food.<br/>A credit to the owners.

Zab Thai is never a disappointment, and always our fail safe 'I can't be bothered cooking tonight' option. While there is sometimes a wait, it is ALWAYS worth it!<br/>I typically go for the chicken cashew nut stir fry (original authentic thai.. I know) and it has never let me down. The Gurri Puffs are also amazing. Would totally recommend you stop by and try out.

I recently had yet another craving for yummy Thai food, and googled “Best Thai in Christchurch.” This recovered four hits, and Zab Thai was the only restaurant reviewed with the perfect average score of 5 Stars! A quick read of the many reviews was enough to pinpoint the Panang Curry as a particular crowd favourite. Upon tasting the famous Chicken Panang Curry I instantly fell in love with this dish and can honestly pronounce Zab Thai the best I have sampled. The quantity is the first thing to stand out: a container full of delicious meat and curried veges as well as a separate container packed with rice! As many times as I have attempted to replicate this dish at home, I simply fall far short of the amazing flavours Zab Thai seem to pack into their dishes. I am now a regular, and would like to thank Zab Thai for the delicious food and amazing service they provide to the public; they even provide a delivery service to nearby suburbs! I’m just pleased to be living nearby, but even if I didn't, I’d still happily drive the distance for the best Thai in town☺.

I went to Zab Thai the other night after being recommended it by a flat mate when I was absolutely craving Thai food. I rang up after being advised that the wait time can be up to 40 minutes, though my wait was definitely worth while. The staff were incredibly friendly and the Panang Thai with chicken was the best Thai food I have ever tasted. I now go to Zab Thai regularly and would highly recommend this place! The food is so cheap as well for the quality and the size of the portion which is a large bonus. I just wish that this wasn't just takeaway and you could eat in as well! Keep up the good work Zab Thai!

Zab Thai is the best Thai food I have ever had. The panang curry is the best thing of my life, curry puffs are amazing too. The portions are huge, had one last night and got 3 servings from it. Beware: mild is very hot! Don't judge it by the outside, it looks nasty but I promise you wont be disappointed!

Legitimately one of the best Thai takeaways in Christchurch. Incredibly cheap and the portions are huge. Panang Curry is always a winner, and the spice levels are pretty authentic (medium is hot, mild to be safe). Absolutely recommend this place if you haven't already dabbled.

Possibly the best Thai take-out in Christchurch. The reason I gave it 4 not 5 stars is, because it is so popular, the wait time is really long, especially on Fridays. I now ring in advance but really they need to get more staff!!!

Gotten takeaways here several times. I initially thought they were a real find for a bargain. The curries have always been entirely acceptable and represent good value for money even if a tad bland compared to the stock standard offerings from here, there and beyond. Nonetheless, for the price and convenience one was apt to be forgiving for what appeared to be simple, honest, cheap and cheerful food with enough of a serving to share amongst two from just one dish. <br/><br/>Until I tried their stir fries, the major negative here was the wait time when busy; as well as that they never made the food as spicy hot as requested. Over time the wait has greatly reduced to nothing, and I can only surmise that their business has reduced as evidenced upon a typically empty store with bored, disinterested staff upon pick-up when once it was all stations go! <br/><br/>Very alas but in contrast to the curries which are decent and value for the tarrif, the stir-fries are less than average at best, even absolutely abysmal and on my last visit, completely inedible. After giving them more than one chance with such but where quality has only declined precipitously and where ordering their dirty dish water would have been the better option, I shall not return. <br/><br/>Perhaps my last and by far most worst excursion was a particularly bad night? Yet as it turns out others of my food-wise ilk have been even more dismissive of this place and its steady decline and so have given upon on it even before me. <br/><br/>Whatever the case, my last visit offered the worst excuse for food of any kind I've long since come upon. I am so, so much better off going further afield and paying more; or on an ordinary day with sufficient time and inspiration, cooking my own for I am sure I have more and better ingredients as well as care and concern for quality than they.

Tried Zab Thai tonight for the first time. Totally impressed by the quality and quantity of the food. I ordered 3 dishes to feed a family of 4. The Pineapple Rice was INCREDIBLE. The Green Curry was very authentic and the Fish Cakes very nice too. I have lived in South East Asia so I do recognise authentic food. Definitely try this place out if you haven't had their food before.

All their soups are to die for. The Tom yum was delicious and the Tom Kha even better. The Green curry was tasty and the Black pepper squid was el dente perfect! All courses where full of quality ingredients and very large.<br/><br/>As a warning all courses are very large! Two courses each almost killed us :)

This is amazing food. So cheap for the quality fully recommend to all Thai Food lovers especially people who love really hot food if you ask for hot they will make it super spicy!! Have been many times and always enjoyed it. Best satay kebabs my partner and I have ever had. A+++

Had the Mild Chicken Thai Green Curry and Beef Pad Sieyu (Noodles) and both we're delicious but especially loved the noodles, it had fat flat noodles with beef and veges with a soy sauce base. Only took 10mins for the food to be cooked, but called beforehand. The meal was quite cheap too, ended up being like 25$ for both dishes. Will be back here for lunch next time!

Very good food, been there several times and always been pleased. If you ask for it hot and spicy, it will actually BE hot and spicy but they can do mild as well. Portions are very large and curries come with rice included in the price.<br/><br/>My recommendation is the Beef Panang.<br/><br/>Food generally takes a while though, so allow at least half an hour between ordering and pick up.

I had given this place 5 stars in 2011, but lately I've been left feeling very let down with the quality and service. Often the wait on thur/fri/sat nights is up to an hour and lately the food has been overly greasy and below their previous quality. <br/><br/>The staff are often brisk and impolite, we pulled up tonight and saw them standing around chatting with a whole row of orders on the wall. We decided to pull the pin, which fortunately has worked out well as we came across the Thai Kitchen, which eclipses Zab in terms of quality and value for money.

This place is amazing!! So super yummy, great value and speedy. I have it at least once a week :)

Delicious meals, excellent value for money. My husband and I usually get one dish and have enough for left overs the next day.

Amazing Thai takeways. Speedy service, and always delicable food. Best Thai curries in town!