Pink Bee Curry & Sandwiches opened in the former Malena’s Tacos location earlier this summer, carving out a niche in the Ballard restaurant scene by serving traditional Thai and Malaysian curries on a sandwich. (You can also order curries on rice or with a salad, but we hear that sandwiches are the way to go.)
The owners are Thai sisters Pawara Chivapat (who goes by the nickname “Pink”) and her sister Ariva Intrachupongse (who goes by the nickname “Bee”). According to Intentionalist, Chivapat grew up in Bangkok, and moved to Seattle in 1995 to help open the family restaurant Jamjuree on Capitol Hill. She was a mail carrier for over a decade, but always dreamed of opening a Thai sandwich shop. So, she partnered with her sister and cousin Rita Fuangarom, and her brother Satit Chivapatanathorn to open up shop in Ballard.
“Pink, Bee and Rita insist that the food they serve is what their family makes and eats at home, and that their recipes have not been adapted for American tastes,” according to the Intentionalist. “The focus on a limited number of dishes translates into quick-serve, affordable options that are brimming with what Pink assures me is authentic Thai flavor attributable to her insistence on slow cooking the meat and use of ingredients like palm sugar for the curry and mung beans for the satay sauce.”
Sandwiches are $9.50, with options such as braised pork, beef or tofu panang, and chicken or tofu satay. Traditional curries over rice are also on the menu for $9.50, with all the same options as for the sandwiches, plus a chicken yellow curry.
Pink Bee’s hours are 11am to 9pm seven days a week, with a one-hour closure between 3 and 4pm each day.
Photo posted by Samantha G. on Yelp
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