Zabb Elee

This place is a delight. We were going to be passing by Lowell. Though I had never been to Lowell before, I had heard that there are a bunch of Southeast Asian immigrant communities living there, and equally a large variety of Southeast Asian cuisine restaurants in town. I was particularly craving Laotian cuisine. We stopped in to order to go.

Once we walked in the door, we were greeted warmly (I forgot to ask for the hostess’s name). I said up front we wanted to order take out so she gave us a seat with menus and offered us two large glasses of ice water. After placing the order, I started to take in all of the decor. It’s pretty sumptuous, and at times I might call it a little decadent, but I’m guessing the goal is to make customers comfortable and feel like they are in a (small) palatial setting. There is a lot to look at in the large display cases, above and below the bar, in the corner with the ornate (rosewood?) table, chairs (thrones?), and divan. Lots of beautiful, spiritual, and fun, carved statues.

Our food was ready within 25 minutes, which was about the time we finished looking around from our seats at the heavy wooden table/chairs area.

The food smelled fantastic as we dove home. The dishes did not disappoint in the least. We ordered

C14. Nam Kao (deep fried rice with pork sausage and peanuts, to be wrapped with lettuce leaves).
C12. Pad Pak Boong (water spinach).
C7. Kra Pao Moo Krob (stir fried pork belly with bell peppers and onion)
B6. Lao sausage
Side of Jasmine rice

Everything was wonderful and fresh with delightful flavors. We would order these dishes again without hesitation. And I’m sure that there are many other things on the menu that deserve trying. That said, the star among our ordered dishes is the Nam Kao. That particularly was what I was craving and this is among the best that I’ve had (to be clear, I’ve only eaten Laotian food in the US; I’ve never been to Laos). The textures and the flavors were perfect. The Lao sausage was also worth writing home about.
Definitely give this place a try. Note that there are only a few tables to sit at in this tiny restaurant, so if it’s a busy night you may have to wait outside.

I will add photos and label them too.

Five stars all around. Everything we've ordered on two occasions now has been delicious and unique. We love the quiet, friendly, and attentive woman that's served us, and the homey atmosphere. We'll be back again and again.

(Would love for them to take their wonderful chicken wings to a spicier level. I'm a wing-nut and if they did, they'd get my top prize for eastern MA.)

I love this place. The food is great. Tasty and feel like eating at home. It's just a little different about yum Nam sod, it was too sweet. However, I will go back here to eat again.

I had this restaurant recommended by a Lao friend who is in the restaurant business and it did not disappoint. If you want truly authentic Lao food that caters to the local Lao population this is a great option. You will get food cooked like they do at home & not modified to an American palette that is more accustomed to Thai food. Small restaurant with limited seating, and lots of Lao decor. The staff was very friendly. There are 6 parking spots right in front or else street parking.

The cooked larb beef was fantastic. Often if you can find this dish at a Thai restaurant it will be ground beef which isn’t as good, but not here. Thinly sliced beef with lots of aromatics. Make sure to order a side of sticky rice which it is typically eaten with. There was enough food for 2 people if you ordered 2 sides or rice. Heat was on a scale of 1-10 and they gave me a “medium”. I like spicy food and boy was I sweating.

I was also recommended the Kao Piek soup and absolutely loved it. It balanced out the heat from the larb since it is not spicy. It is similar to an American chicken noodle soup, but 10X better. Very thick broth with tons of garlic and very comforting. They hand make the noodles everyday. If you want it spicy, typically you add chili oil (not sriracha) which is a condiment at the table. Their chili oil is much spicier than other Asian restaurants I’ve been to so taste it first.

Never going back. I was extremely extremely disappointed. I wanted to give this such a chance FYI. I waited 25 minutes for almost no food. I'm very sad about this.

$26.72 for such a crazy small serving. Green beans were ok. Crispy pork was way overcooked, so hard I couldn't eat it and cold - my teeth hurt now.

Would recommend literally anywhere else. So much competition nearby with more food.

This Lao place offers a good selections of Lao dishes. Their fried meatball was quite good. The meat was not too dried. The sweet and sour sauce went well with the meatball and cabbage on the side. Nam Khao is my favorite lao food, and I've tried it at many places. Nam Khao at this place was a little too sour for me, but I liked the ratio of their peanut and cilantro to the rice. It would have been better if they made it less sour and just added lime on the side.

The larb Is amazing and better than Providence RI hands down where everyone raves about. All dishes are as if you were back in the homeland. The place is small but enough seating and never ever crowded. The decors bring you back to Lao.

Pros: Extremely flavorful, friendly staff

Cons: Crab Rangoon was completely burnt and inedible as seen below, food was cold upon opening, shrimp pad Thai had maybe 6 or 7 tiny pieces of shrimp hidden in the whole box, as pictured below, they forgot to put the chicken in my Chicken Basil Fried Rice. Paid $31 for a mediocre meal. Wanted to return it for a refund, but was persuaded in just letting it go by my husband, who wanted to enjoy a date night in.