Zab Zab Thai Cuisine
401 Lighthouse Ave., Monterey (831) 747-2225, zabzabmonterey.com
The folks at Zab Zab say that zab translates as “delicious, spicy, hot.” We’ll take their word for it, because this is the Best Of Restaurants section, not Best Of Linguistics, which we don’t even have. But Zab Zab is delicious twice over, and the spices are layered and nuanced. They will also make appropriate plates as hot as you can take. On the other end of the spectrum, the spring rolls are bright, fresh and minty. If you weren’t in a cozy converted cottage on Lighthouse, you’d think you were overseas ordering pad Thai from a street vendor. So yeah—the name is appropriate.