The Vintage & Handmade Market 
Miang Kum, the first item on Sab E Lee's menu, is a good starting point (photo by Dhanraj Emanuel)
Sab E Lee
9159 Mission Gorge Road
Santee
619-328-1568
Don’t make the same mistake I did and wait too long before getting yourself out to Sab E Lee in Santee. If trekking out to East County sounds daunting, I promise that the meal will be worth the trip, and the drive isn’t bad at all if you plan well; outside of rush hour, my travel time along Highway 52 is just 20 minutes—less if I’m really hungry. If you need more incentive, local institution Mary’s Donuts is just a block or so away and makes for a nice snack stop before you hit the road home.
If you’ve already been to the first Sab E Lee in Linda Vista, then you have some idea of what you’re in for at this spacious new spot, which owner Kobe Siri opened after selling the original small shop to a friend late last year. My favorites among the pungent and spicy Issan-style dishes from northeastern Thailand are still offered, but I find that the heat level served here is much more subdued. Most dishes on the 80-plus-item menu reflect the training of the chefs in this kitchen, three in all, whose Royal Thai-style cuisine is more refined and mellow but no less flavorful.
I like starting a meal here with miang kum, the first dish on the list. Its presentation is lovely—a stack of spinach leaves surrounded by neat piles of diced ginger, shallot, Thai bird chilies, tiny wedges of lime, dried shrimp and roasted peanuts. You sprinkle a few pieces of each ingredient onto a leaf, top it with a pinch of toasted coconut and a bit of tamarind chutney, bundle the whole package up and pop it in your month. The packets burst with taste and texture, flavors mingling harmoniously into a very satisfying mouthful that energizes your palate for the deliciousness to come. It’d make for a great beer snack so I’m looking forward to the day, hopefully soon, when this Sab E Lee gets its liquor license.
My current lunch lineup starts with a cup of Thai sweet and sour soup called tom yum, which has never been as yummy as it is here, with its piquant elements of lime, lemongrass and chilies in perfect balance. I follow that with an order of gai yang, or Thai-style barbecue chicken, a half-bird marinated in garlic, ginger, lemongrass, sugar and fish sauce and grilled until the skin is lacquered and crisp. I’m normally a dark-meat-only customer, but the white meat here also passes muster, since the marinade combined with careful cooking keeps the meat savory and tender. It’s served with two sauces, including an addictive and fragrant mix of garlic, chilies, rice powder, green onion and herbs.
In recent weeks, I’ve introduced a bunch of family and friends to Sab E Lee, and even those who profess to not be very hungry magically turn ravenous at first bite. Among the appetite-awakening dishes are the Chinese-influenced salted-fish fried rice and the simple, but delectable, side dish of golden, toasty garlic bits stir-fried with white rice. And don’t forget to employ tableside condiments; the hot chilies in vinegar are great when sprinkled on noodles or rice. The signature fish dish, a filet of halibut scored in a diamond pattern and fried with a panko crust, is beautifully presented in a way that makes it easy to pick off chunks of moist fish and dip them in either a spicy garlic-lime sauce or a tangy tamarind-fish sauce blend.
Resist the urge to leave room for a donut dessert—you don’t want to miss out on Sab E Lee’s exemplary version of mango sticky rice, cool slices of ripe fruit nestled against warm, coconut-scented glutinous rice that’s sprinkled with sesame seeds, which is just more edible proof that Sab E Lee’s name, which translates to “super delicious,” is nowhere near a misnomer.
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