Sang’s serves reliably good Thai food at reasonable prices

Sang Chanram is not new to the Macon restaurant scene, even though her new Thai restaurant on Cherry Street is. If you’ve been in Middle Georgia for long, you may remember a former Kentucky Fried Chicken location on Pio Nono Avenue that morphed into the best — and at that time, the only — Thai restaurant in the area.

Many decades later, Sang is back with some of the best Thai food around.

The new location of Sang’s Thai Isaan is more elegant than her first by miles. The interior is dark and sumptuous, with wood and fabrics strongly featured. Smells of garlic and ginger fill the air as friendly servers show you to your table.

Northeastern Thai is her specialty, with influences from Laos, Vietnam and France. A favorite Isaan dish is the papaya salad, with shredded green papaya, lime, fish sauce, tomato, coconut sugar and peanuts, available here for $7.

We started with more common Thai appetizers: fried spring rolls, at two for $5, and chicken satay with peanut and sweet chili sauces for $10. The later also comes with sticky rice, an ubiquitous side dish in the Isaan area. Other appetizers include fresh Thai spring rolls, nam sod with minced pork loin and ginger, and spicy coconut soup.

Pad Thai provides a baseline for any Thai restaurant review and Sang’s is perfect. At $10 for a single protein and $11 for a combination of meats, this national dish is a must-try for any initiate to Thai food. I went with a nice chicken red curry for $8.50 and had plenty left over for lunch the next day. We also tried the Cry Tiger steak, which was good but a bit steep at $29.

On previous visits, we’ve tried the Thai cashew chicken for $10, the basil chicken for $9, and the beef and broccoli for $10.50 — all delicious. Future visits will include Thai street noodles, pad won sen with glass rice noodles, and Thai ginger chicken.

For reliably good Thai food at good prices and with good service, you can’t go wrong with a visit to Sang’s.

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This story was originally published May 10, 2017 at 8:04 AM with the headline "Sang’s serves reliably good Thai food at reasonable prices."