Wine and Thai events delight guests at Sabai Thai Restaurant.

THE most exciting thing happening in Harare’s restaurant scene right now is the opening of a party room/banqueting hall at Sabai Thai Restaurant, in a quiet close in Ballantyne Park.

Surrounded by flowering shrubs and lush succulents, the party room, which doubles up as an event and training centre, is a few metres away from the main restaurant. In the evening, fairy lights hang from the Thai gables, and by day the space assumes a business aspect.

Thursday evenings, for the last few weeks, have seen the experts pairing delicious Thai cuisine with an array of wines, both red and white. When foodies first started talking about the spicy, salty, sweet and sour flavours of Thai food, it was generally accepted that one would be a Philistine to drink anything other than beer, whiskey or iced tea with a spicy Pad Thai or a rich and tangy Massaman curry.

Event centre at Sabai Thai Restaurant in Ballantyne Park.

An amateur sommelier might have claimed that Gewurtztraminer, a heady, perfumed white wine, was the only wine to drink with Thai food. But tastes change, and as more and more vineyards and wineries continue to open up in Thailand, ways are being found to pair the harmonious blend of spices in Thai cuisine with the right wines.

Champagne corks were popping at a recent Wine and Thai event on a chilly July evening, as immaculately dressed waiters welcomed diners to the party room with a welcome glass of Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel 2021 sparkling wine. The light golden bubbles of this elegant Cap Classique set the scene for a fun evening, hosted by wine professional Rose Chichaya of Big 5 Wines Zimbabwe, a leading importer of quality wines from the international market.

Aromatic Glen Carlou Sauvignon Blanc with its grassy nose and balanced acidity, complemented a first course of mildly spicy and crispy chicken spring rolls. It didn’t take long for guests to get into the swing of things, and by the time bowls of hot and spicy prawn soup were served, together with a glass of silky and inviting L’Avenir Provenance Stellenbosch Classic, excited comments swirled around, suggesting notes of strawberries and raspberries in the wine.

Glen Carlou Petit Chardonnay, with its crisp flavours of green apples, pear and citrus, accompanied a salty, sweet and umami-rich dish of Pad Mee Thai noodles with beef. Flavours reached a crescendo with a fourth course of rich and sweet Red Curry Duck and Pineapple. The bold and spicy flavours of coriander, cumin, red chillis, lemon grass and galangal melded satisfyingly with the soft tannins and velvety smooth notes of L’Avenir Provence Merlot, a fruity-tasting wine with earthy overtones of vanilla and cloves.

By this time, not only were we all entranced by the contrasting flavours of Thai cuisine, but we considered ourselves experts in the art of wine tasting.

A week later, an evening of cocktails and a Thai tasting menu was hosted by Trent Hill, a graduate of the Shaker Bar School in Bree Street in Cape Town. Skilled in bartending and mixology, Trent treated his guests to a welcome Tom Collins cocktail of lime and gin, followed by Mojitos, Moscow Mules and Margaritas, each paired with a classic Thai dish.

The versatile party room is easily transformed into a private venue or fully equipped conference centre, accommodating forty people. A smart board (interactive flat panel) mounted on the wall uses infrared touch sensors to allow touch input (similar to the use of a white board), bringing useful options for teaching or making presentations. Educationists have already used the venue to train school teachers from St John’s College and Chisipite School in Harare in ways to help students work together on a shared document, and to save and store class materials and presentations.

There’s a lot going on at Sabai Thai right now, including a building project to enlarge the kitchen. I caught up with owners Russell and Ning Macdonald during a rare free moment, and they described the requirements in a kitchen where a team of chefs work long hours to create dishes to satisfy the ever-increasing demand for delicious Thai food in Harare. Each dish is cooked in a separate wok, and Sabai Thai’s batterie de cuisine houses no fewer than fifty woks. There is even a dedicated kitchen porter to wash all the woks, while the second kitchen porter sees to the plates and glasses.

Whether you’re looking for a conference centre to establish your brand and to find ways to stay on top of the competition, in search of a venue to celebrate with forty of your best friends, or simply wanting to enjoy classic Thai flavours and a glass of wine in secluded surroundings, look no further than Sabai Thai Restaurant in Stokesay Cose, Ballantyne Park.

A Matter of Taste with  Charlotte Malakoff