New restaurant: Thai restaurant with extensive sushi bar opens in St. Lucie County

Laurie K. Blandford, Treasure Coast Newspapers
·2 min read

A new Thai restaurant with an extensive sushi bar, whose four owners hail from different regions of Thailand, has opened in St. Lucie County.

Zakura Sushi & Thai Restaurant, in the Paar Center at Paar Drive and Port St. Lucie Boulevard, is owned by brothers Siriphong "Chef Ken" Pajanang and Phao "Chef Phao" Phonklang, as well as Chef Ken’s wife, Rose Kampeero, and family friend Nan Sumrarrat. The couple previously ran a popular Asian restaurant in downtown Jensen Beach.

Zakura, which means cherry blossoms, serves traditional Thai food, but Chef Ken puts his own spin on some menu items. His lobster pad Thai ($27.95) has steamed lobster tail with the typical rice noodles, eggs, bean sprouts, scallions and ground peanuts.

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The most popular dish has been the crispy chicken fried rice ($18.95), with egg fried rice, onions, scallions, tomatoes and topped with crispy chicken.

The menu includes other options with Thai fried rice, spicy basil fried rice and pineapple fried rice. They’re served with a choice of meat: vegetable or tofu ($14.95); chicken, pork or beef ($16.95); shrimp, squid, scallop or seafood mix ($18.95); soft shell crab ($26.95); and crispy duck ($27.95).

There's also ramen, sushi bowls, noodle soups, stir-fry noodles, Thai curry, teriyaki grill and an extensive sushi roll menu.

Zakura Sushi & Thai Restaurant opened May 1, 2023, in the Paar Center plaza in Port St. Lucie. Its menu features a lobster volcano roll.
Zakura Sushi & Thai Restaurant opened May 1, 2023, in the Paar Center plaza in Port St. Lucie. Its menu features a lobster volcano roll.

Chef Phao, who runs the sushi bar, said the most popular sushi roll has been the lobster volcano roll ($32.95) with lobster tail tempura, avocado, cucumber and cream cheese, topped with a mix of lobster and other seafood, plus volcano sauce, masago, scallions and sesame seeds.

He also makes a viper roll ($26.95) with soft-shell crab; a shrimp-on-the-rock roll ($17.95) with cooked eel, crab and shrimp; and an "amazing" salmon roll ($16.95).

What makes it amazing? “How I make it,” he laughed, without giving away his secrets.

Zakura Sushi & Thai Restaurant opened May 1, 2023, in the Paar Center plaza in Port St. Lucie. Its menu features lobster pad Thai.
Zakura Sushi & Thai Restaurant opened May 1, 2023, in the Paar Center plaza in Port St. Lucie. Its menu features lobster pad Thai.

Chef Ken and his wife previously ran La Rose Asian Bistro on the Jensen Beach Boulevard roundabout for four years before closing in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. That location now is Maki Sushi & Thai Restaurant.

Kampeero said their new restaurant, which opened May 1, is their chance to try again. She and Sumrarrat have children younger than age 2, so they wanted to open the restaurant to provide for them.

Zakura Sushi & Thai Restaurant

  • Address: 4007 S.W. Port St. Lucie Blvd.

  • Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4:30-9 p.m. Monday, Wednesday-Friday; noon to 3 p.m. and 4:30-9 p.m. Saturday-Sunday; closed Tuesday

  • Phone: 772-905-8680

  • Website: zakurasushithai.com

Laurie K. Blandford is TCPalm's entertainment reporter and columnist dedicated to finding the best things to do on the Treasure Coast. Follow her on Twitter @TCPalmLaurie and Facebook @TCPalmLaurie. Email her at laurie.blandford@tcpalm.com. Sign up for her What To Do in 772 weekly newsletter at profile.tcpalm.com/newsletters/manage.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: New restaurant Zakura Sushi & Thai Restaurant opens in Port St. Lucie