Saba is lovely looking place and I liked the atmosphere and decor but it's style over substance. A few of the starters are very tasty but the main courses have always disappointed, being either bland or just not a good combination of flavours. Something that i think is a telling sign about this place is that the occupied tables are always packed full of drinks and bottles but plates of food are a rare sight. Great place to have a drink and relax in a stylish spot and grab a bite to eat but avoid if the food is your primary consideration. read more

Lovely meal at Saba last night! Went there with a group of 7 for my friend's birthday. When you have a large party you choose from the group menu - which isn't cheap - but takes the stress out of splitting the bill! We quickly ordered cocktails and then set to work on looking through the menu. We decided to share everything so each ordered a different main. After about 20 minutes our drinks finally arrived. I had the Saba Gin Fizz, a few others had the Mayflower and the rest had wine. My drink was sweeter than I expected but still nice - after one though I had to switch to red wine. My friends enjoyed the Mayflower but it was waaay too sweet for me. Shortly after the cocktails our starters arrived. Somehow, I loved each and every one of them. The trout, tempura veggies, and chicken wings were especially nice. A bit later our mains were served and there was so much food you couldn't even see the table underneath. I started with the pad Thai and it was so delicious - one of the better ones I have had in Dublin. After that I moved to the swordfish which was a little bland but still nice. Next up were the Phuket noodles which had great flavours and a surprising kick. I finished with some of the hake in banana leaf which was so fresh and well seasoned. I wanted so badly to try the duck dish and remaining curries but there was literally no room. We ended the evening with a massive bill but the food and atmosphere were well worth it. Until next time Saba! read more

Yum. I like Saba. It's a little expensive but the early bird or set menu deals are brilliant value. Tonight I had the hoisin duck rolls to start which are delicious, but there are lots of other gorgeous starters to choose from too. The grilled prawns and the calamari wrapped in newspaper are great too. My favourite main here is hake in a banana leaf (curry) it's absolutely gorgeous. There's lots of the usual suspects here too, stir fries, noodles, curries etc. Lovely desserts too, I'm a fan of a crumble (not very Asian, I agree, but very lovely). It's a warm night so the floor-to-ceiling windowns were wide open - really nice. read more

Saba means happy meeting place in Thai and this place lives up to its name. It is a really popular Thai restaurant with lots of awards under its belt, like, Best Service, Best Cocktail Bar, Most Stylish Restaurant to name but a few and it is always packed. There are really cool long benches and enormous picture windows which get open on summer evenings and make this place feel very cool understated trendy New York not city centre Dublin. This place is so popular that they now do take away and have a food store in Rathmines! For me I can understand why people love the place but I am not a fan of Thai food so I am not the best one to comment on the menu and choices. I did have the Yellow Butternut Squash Curry which was lovely and tasty, but expensive, but it isn't exactly a Thai dish now is it? So for me I wouldn't go again, but if it was an Indian restaurant I most certainly would! read more

How had I never been here before?! I get takeaway all the time which is good for takeaway but no comparison to the food in the restaurant. I had swordfish which was absolute delicious but they could have been more generous with the veggies. I also think you should be able to change to brown rice without being charged extra for it. Our server was really nice as was the maitre d'. My only complaint would be the rude cocktail waitress on arrival. My bf was taking a while to decide on what he wanted and at one point she threw her hands up in the air and walked off. We hadn't even asked her to come over to serve us and when she came over we said we needed a few more minutes. It was a bad start but everything else made up for it but I'll avoid starting at the bar in future. read more

I hadn't been to Saba in years, so decided to see what it's like these days. It is actually quite different from what I remember. It's a lot funkier now, so it's almost like being in a really cool bar, but eating great thai food at the same time. I had the pad chicken and prawn pad Thai and my friend had the red curry with brown rice. Both excellent! The music is not too loud, with a very causal atmosphere makes this place a great choice for a catch up. Really loved the vibe and will be back again soon. read more

Saba was a bit of a walk from the office, but it's a walk we've become accustomed to. It seems all the decent restaurants are near St. Stephens Green. This one was just on the far end of it. The restaurant was pretty crowded when we arrived. In fact, we got the last table, which was a high top for 2 in the bar, right next to the kitchen. In fact, we could open the shutters on the wall and peek right in if we wanted. Certainly not the best table in the house. The crab tempura appetizer was very good with a little bit of heat from the chile sauce. For my main dish, I selected the chicken Phad Nam Prik Pao, which was delish. It too had a nice kick to it and was only rated 2 stars out of 5 on their scale. I think the only 5 out of 5 was called the Bang! I might have to try that if I happen to go back there before we head back to the states. The service was a bit slow, but not overly neglected. As I said, the place was pretty busy. One thing to keep in mind if you are visiting from the US is to tell the waiter if you intend to tip them before they run your card otherwise they will need to cancel the transaction and start over. I know many of the bartenders have told me they are paid a regular wage and do not expect to be tipped, but I'm not sure about the wait staff. read more

We went along to a Saturday cooking and cocktail class recently and it was a delightful afternoon. The idea of this class, which takes two hours out of your afternoon, is that you learn to cook some authentically flavour busting food and learn what cocktail compliment them. The two gentlemen, head chef Tao and head mixologist, ran the class alongside each other, complimenting each other at the pauses with flawless precision. They took volunteers for each dish up to the cooking station to help with the cooking or mixing. After the first dish, we were fighting for a go! They set out the dishes and cocktails prior to class and provided booklets for the attendees to follow the recipes. This was seriously handy because we got to keep them and I could double and triple check what I could and could not eat or drink. Obviously soy sauce was not going to be gluten free, but the rest was easily adaptable for me. Our first dish was this spicy prawn soup called Tom Yaam Goong. Because of the spice level it was complimented by an "Under the Tropics" cocktail. It had a creamy banana flavour to coat the tongue after the spicy tingles. We were told to have a spoon and soup and then a sip of cocktail and so on. I'm really not a fan of banana, so I may have just had the soup and I can tell you that it was gorgeously spicy. The second cocktail I was a little iffy about as they said it genever, which they described as being distilled through beer. Red flag for me, so when they asked for a volunteer to help make it I hopped on up! To be safe, because he was unsure, we substituted gin for the genever, which as it turns out was what they had started making the cocktail on. It was delicious anyway! The dish it accompanied was a salad, and no, it does not look like a salad as we know it! This was an asian salad called Yamm Woon Sen, a Thai Spicy Glass Noodle Salad with minced pork and prawns. I had a go at chop sticks with this one, after about 10 minutes and 3/4 of the dish I gave in so I could finish it all. I cleaned the plate, great proof I enjoyed it at least! During the whole presentation Chef Tao was instructing the attendees on the composition of the dishes and giving tips on ingredients. He recommended the smaller Asian shops for ingredients, rather than the larger superstores. I asked about substituting Tamari sauce for Soy sauce and he suggested the fish sauce for these dishes instead as it packs more flavour. Another great tip is when your meat is 70-80% cooked, add your veggies because if not your meat will be overcooked. I couldn't eat the third dish as is contained soy sauce, but I could have the cocktail. I asked my neighbour if I could have a quick pic of her dish, which was called Xao Xa Ot. The cocktail was the Garrigue and was close to our mixologists heart as it reminded him of the South of France in taste and fragrance. It reminded me of fields of hay, but hey, everyone gets their own tastes from these things! The final dish was a green monkfish curry (Gaeng Kiew Wnn Pia) accompanied by Mango and Cucumber gimlet. This dish was so creamy without having that texture of cream. The monkfish was perfect, but the most pleasant experience of this dish was thai pea aubergines that burst in your mouth and filled it with flavour as you bit into them. Overall, this was an excellent way to spend an afternoon. Although it'd be great any Saturday afternoon, I'd particularly recommend it for a birthday or a hen party as an fun and filling afternoon activity. Saba has never let me down on the gluten free or flavour fronts. They are dealing with more and more allergies everyday, according to the manager. This is definitely one of the gems of the town and between themselves and Saba To Go they have a variety of price ranges to cater for everyone. read more

Normal food + overpriced menus That's how I describe Saba. The amount of food served is huge and is good but completely overpriced and the restaurant is sooo loud. We barely heard one each other. Not a place to come back. read more

This review is based on personal gustatory satisfaction (2 stars). Not ambience (5 stars). Cocktail drinks (4 stars). Service (4 stars). This place is quite up scale and stylish so I expect the food should be up to par, but not. This review is based on a single menu item that I ordered: **pineapple duck**. It was under Saba's specialty. I am sure this dish is great to some but my taste buds are simply not agreeing with it. I asked the manager ( I guess because he is the guy in suit, walks around and jumps in when others are lagged behind) to recommend me a dish that is special to this restaurant because I have eaten all over and been to many places and I am looking for something new and great. He pointed to the SABA specialty column; and I asked him about pineapple duck. He said it is very good. So I ordered it. The dish came with a good amount of pineapple, substantial amount of green and white onions, small amount of black tree fungus worked in soy and tiny bit of oyster sauce; all wok-ed together and presented beneath the duck. The main actor of the dish: the duck. The portion used was a complete half breast of a duck skin included deep fried. From the taste of the duck, I am sure they used simple egg batter to deep fry. The deep fried duck then are being sliced to pieces and lay on top of the wok veggies... And there I had it. The taste. The duck was under salt prior to battering letting the egg yolk batter to shine creating an aromatic flavor (like cake) rather than a salty, meaty taste. At least he got the crunchy part right. The meat was over cooked it was a little rubbery. Duck breast should be seared and then finished in the oven, let it rest then slice, although this technique is very western but I would expect this technique from a quite up scale Asian cater to western taste. Deep frying the duck did tone down the quality of the meat to a category of fried chicken-ish, although the frying technique did do a good job but does no justice to the duck nor the plate. The dish was SUPPOSED TO BE PINEAPPLE DUCK; but the duck shined as deep fried duck breast by itself and the pineapple somehow got confused and simply thrown into the onion wok. There was not any union between the duck and the pineapple. The two main ingredients did not unite to create one unique flavor. All was dish did was screaming out fried, fried, fried, oil, oil, oil. Anyhow, It tasted a little bit better when some pieces of the duck accidentally gotten underneath the wok and simmered in the sauce after I dogged around to look for pineapple to balance my taste, I found that those pieces to be more edible, other wise I feel like I was eating a fried piece of chicken(duck- I know). I am Asian and I know what Asian food supposed to taste like, I also grew up in the states, so I was lucky enough to experience all types of cuisine, including fusion of any kinds. Also I am a fat boy, who happens to love to eat out and enjoying new flavors and watch Food network like sport. This dish was a disaster. What the restaurant should have done was pineapple purée with ponzu and soy to glaze the seared duck. OR. Deep fried then re-wok to get the sauce into the duck to fuse the two flavors. As a reminder, this review is base on a biased opinion revolving around a single dish from one person during a one time experience. My friend had chicken curry and I tasted that and it was great (4 stars) - (not as authentic but definitely suitable for western influenced Asian cooking) So the purpose of my review is that..... you don't order this dish. The rest - I will leave them to your judgement and curiosity. Cheers to good eating! read more

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Go along for the 19.95 three course menu between 12 and 6 with tea and coffee! The setting is perfect, modern but cosy. The food is to die for, try the Massaman curry for an instant pick me up on a rainy day. The desserts are a bit meh but with prices this good.... read more

We went here on a Friday night for the first time without a booking. It was busy but they were accommodating and offered us to eat at the bar. We had a drink first from their pretty extensive drinks list. I didn't have the cocktail, but what my girlfriend got was really good. Our waitress very friendly and helpful, which I always thing is a big plus for any restaurant. I like my spicy food and was eager to see if there 'spice rating' was accurate. I ordered the beef curry which was three chillies (out of 5!). I figured this would leave me in safe territory even if the rating was off! The beef curry was excellent - definitely a 3/5, (maybe even a 4) but very tasty and good spice to it. Atmosphere was nice, if not a little noisy. It was ok value too. Overall, I will go again read more

Anyone who knows good eating in the city has heard of or visited Saba, possible the finest asian fusion dining experience in Dublin. Even a glance at the cocktail menu shows this place has class. With Paul Lambert, Bacardi ambassador for Ireland and a well known cocktail champion and Karim Mehdi, another mixology champion manning the bar, they walk the walk as well as talk the talk. The drinks are phenomenal (I recommend the South Cider). I had the sushimi dish on the starters menu which was succulent strips of seared tuna loin (raw fish, beware if you're squeamish) and for the main I had a beef dish, (I think it was called sod). The food and drinks all get 100% from me but the service.......oh no. Firstly, I booked online the day before, heard nothing even though the website said someone would be in touch shortly. I rang the next day explaining nobody had gotten back to me and the girl on the phone said someone had phoned me back to say they could only sit us at the bar which wasn't a problem. I checked my call logs but I had recieved no phone call. We were seated straight away but had to wait a while to order drinks...then longer to get them......then even longer to order... ages to get starter. yonks for the starter plates to be cleared away .... years for mains .... millennia for more drinks which were forgotten ..... eons for 2 double espresso which we had to order 3 times as they were forgotten twice and the desserts.....were lovely. Looking at the reputation Saba has, this was a a bitter dissapointment to us as we both have wanted to try it for a while now. I would understand if it was a saturday night but it was 7pm on a Tuesday evening. The waiters seemed to be on a mission to get from the kitchen to a tyable and back again while ignoring eerything else. We ended up waiting about twenty minutes to get the bill and pay and I'm sorry, but that's just ridiculous. read more

The best asian restaurant in dublin by far in my opinion. Love the vietnamese dishes and the cocktails. Would eat here everyday if I could

Lovely setting and ambiance in the restaurant. However, our waitress was very stern and rude. Quite overpriced food for what you get. Essentially, pan asian take away food in a nice setting. read more

I really liked the atmosphere! We had the chicken wings and duck rolls as appetizers, wouldn't recommend the duck rolls. We had bankok noodles, phuket, phad nam prik pao and grilled prawns.. all of these dishes were yummy. read more

Great spot for a night out, more than any restaurant I've been to in Dublin, this one always has a great buzz. I have mainly been there with work but the early birds and specials are good value. Like a few of the posters, I agree that the starter choices are better than the mains but I have always enjoyed the mains and the desserts were good too. Nice spot and good any night of the week. read more

Great spot for evening meal. Book in advance though because it can be really busy any day of the week. Nice touch: the photos of scenes drom Thailand on the walls. read more

I love eating here, make sure to book in advance or you'll be waiting at the bar.

The food was absolutely yummy! We ordered the sweet & sour and the saigon noodles and they were fantastic. The service was great and the atmosphere was excellent! read more

Very nice service. Food came out extremely quickly and was exactly as described. Drinks were great. There's a reason the place wins awards for both food and drink. read more

Very nice Asian Fusion. A bit overpriced for what you get though. I do much better at dives back home in Vancouver.

Excellent service and excellent food. Nice atmosphere, and several interesting drinks designed by their bar staff. The "Say Say" was even better than the description. Wok #4, spring rolls, and brownie with ice cream all exceeded expectations. p.s., the Say Say has Bacardi rum, muddled cherry tomatoes and pomegranate syrup. Shaken with elderflower liquer and fresh lemon juice, then strained into a martini glass. read more

As Im a huge fan of asian food, and ordered from saba to go several times, i was fancied to try the restaurant as well. I must say it was a huge huge disappointment, staff aren't friendly no smile at all, food was ok but way too overpriced for two noodles. And my main reason I wont return or wont recommend the place is that we were waiting about 10-15mins for the waiter to return with the change, which never happened.... All in all unprofessional and unfriendly staff, food is ok but not exceptional!!! read more

Right, a little late, but as promised - my review! Once upon a time I ate here regularly, it was "the" place to eat in the city and I could always get in, so why not. It was pricey but I usually had a good night supping Toblerone cocktails and having fun. But the fun, tasty food and service, like the worlds nicest cocktail, are long gone. I arrived in here with a hen party, 25 of us. We are not the plastic willies/strippers sort of girls and the party included a couple of the girls Mummies, and 2 very obvious Mummies to be. Arriving in at 9, the time for which the tables were booked we were shown to a corner, with seating for about half of us just beside the kitchen. Staff made it quite clear we were in their way, and it's understandable. The 45 minute wait for our table was not. I stopped the manager on 2 occasions, when he insisted that the booking was for 10. The iPhone of the girl who had made it could prove otherwise, but this was not going to deter him in insisting we were early, and refusing to seat the 20+ of us present while we awaiting 2 more attendees. Finally we were shown to our seats/squeezed uncomfortably onto the glorified picnic benches and handed a set menu. Set menus are all well and good, but if you are going to insist on shared mixed platters as the only option, make sure in advance that there will not be vegetarians at the table Me - I don't eat meat, can I order something else? Waitress - there is meat free stuff on the platter Me - but its a shared platter, I'll pay for a different starter Waitress - that's not an option Me - ??!!??? Accordingly platters came and the vegetarian options never even made it to my end. And even for the meat eaters, one or 2 items was all each person got. Pants, just pure pants. Mains were lacklustre and I barely touched mine. This is at best Asian by numbers, uninspiring and less than premium quality ingredients. As for wine, the first 3 choices of mine were unavailable, so water it had to be. I will not bother ever returning here. Hit Capel St, have some authentic Asian food, and be treated with respect, all while getting to save some of your pennies. read more

Over rated. I just don't get the hype about this place. They practically laugh down the phone if you inquire about a seat within the next week. The atmosphere is no different to what you'll find in any other restaurant. The food was good and well presented but I've no major desire to return. read more

I went with a very high expectation regarding the restaurant because anyone who sees from outside looks very luxurious and very good! I went to dinner and there is nothing much. The food is good, the service good, but average! And it's well over priced! read more

Saba on Clarendon Street is another Dublin restaurant that's acknowledging the recession - thank God! Fixed Price menus are now available for lunch and dinner and it seems to be working as the last time I was there it was buzzing. My friend and I skipped the starters and went straight for the main courses - seared tuna salad (€12.95) for me and the green monkfish curry (€19.50) for her. Both were delicious, although it has to be said that the tuna salad was not exactly filling. Then again, it's a salad! Apart from the gorgeous food, Saba excels at service - it's attentive, yet relaxed - and the vibe in there is really second to none. Plus it is open seven days a week from 12pm to late so it's the perfect venue for a work do, birthday party or any other type of celebration where you don't want to be under time constraints. Oh and they do superb cocktails! read more

Saba - Courtesy of Saba website - Thai Near Me - Dublin, D

Average Thai food. They were out of tofu, their sriracha seemed ketchupy (but spicy at all) and they were out of chili oil! What kind of Thai restaurant is this? My stir fry dish was overwhelmingly sweet. Very disappointed. Not worth the high price read more

Eat here most Sunday's. Great value €13.50 for starter and main course. I recommend the Duck rolls and beef ginger dish. A great alternative to the usual packed and noisy hipster "brunch" joints. Get down here on a Sunday! read more

I went to Saba for the first time since a very long time. The last memory I can recollect could be summed up easily by 'it would make a very nice take away'. Don't ask me why I decided to to return - it must be as simple as the location or not wanting to cook myself that night. We walked in at 5 pm and were given a table until 7 pm. Which is great news on one side but on the other, please - this is not a conveyor belt game ... bad start to a nice evening. We skipped starters and decided on two Wok dishes Xao Hao Lo served with rice (respectively beef and prawns) both with asparagus, oyster mushrooms, baby corn, snow peas and cashew nuts - at least in the description. I guess I will not surprise you if I say there was a trace of asparagus in the dish apparently the chef wanted to make it up by splashing soy sauce generously all over both portions. The prawn version appeared to be a better choice all in all, beef seemed totally destroyed by soy sauce. I am not exaggerating - the level of saltiness could kill even the most forgiving customer's heart. And after remembering your mother saying that 'if the dish is too salty at the restaurant it means that it is not fresh as nothing covers it better then when you cannot actually taste the food'...made me cringe. Prawns were 'a okey' but far away from a wonderful 'Thai food experience' you get to have everywhere else than in Ireland. By the way, how is this possible that with all this love towards Thai cuisine and Thailand as a holiday destination, there still isn't a decent place to immerse yourself in it back in Ireland? Just wondering...can we destroy even an amazing taste with the famous attitude? In defence I must say that the wine - a glass of Santa Ana Caracter Shiraz/Malbec, Argentina 2010 and a glass of Urmeneta, Cabernet Savognon, Chile 2011 - were both exquisite. The first one charmingly fruity, sharp and full bodied, and the second one with more earthy and spicy note to it and a smooth finish. The spoiler on the staff side - we needed to remind them that we in fact would like our coats back and were kept waiting a while. It worked out as 55 euro with a 10% tip. Not too bad but in recession times it makes you wondering why the restaurant goers are still taken for granted? read more

The food was a just above average for us although we'll concede our palate differences with our Thai cooking at home (from scratch with authentic ingredients). Flavors seemed just a tad off and the prawns in both our dishes were overcooked. Our real disappointment was in the slow service. We waited more than 10 minutes for our check and another 15 before the server came to run our credit card. That cost him when it was time to tip because nothing annoys me more than wasting my time - especially when I'm on vacation. read more

It's pretty difficult to get a Phad Thai wrong and it's unfortunate that Saba has done so. I it was dry, clearly left sitting for a time, and tasteless. I visited the restaurant a few weeks ago and while the host was accommodating of our buggie the staff seemed hungover and uninterested in serving our party of 4. I would not recommend this restaurant. read more

Used to be a big fan of Saba, beautiful food and restaurant, but in recent times service has really gone downhill - a conveyor-belt approach where service and diners are rushed so that tables can be cleared for new diners asap. Booking for 8 people for 6.30 and were advised we would have the table til 9pm. While being served we're told we would need to be out by 8.30 (which we would have been no bother). Meal was rushed and after ordering dessert we were told that the coffee machine was broken, however we were not asked whether we would like anything else, the waiter disappeared while other parties there at the same time received this no problem. Considering the advance booking and cost I really would expect better, if looking for a relaxing evening would not recommend. read more

Excellent service, excellent food, love this place really trendy.

Balmy summer Sunday evening in Dublin, meandered into Saba at 6.30 having taken the precaution of booking first. Hadn't been in a while but had experienced their excellent suburban take-aways in the interim. Restaurant was busy but not full so we were seated immediately. Mojitos and Grapefruit Cosmo for the ladies whilst the designated driver - me - settled for tap water. The tap water was tap water but the cocktails, apparently, were excellent. They have a special two course menu for €23.95 which we all settled on and which had more than ample choices. The pepper squid starter was, I thought, a little too chewy and bland whilst the spring rolls were very good and both starters were quite substantial in themselves. The Pad Thai with prawns and the Saigon noodles my dining companions selected were both judged as excellent although, again, the portions were massive. I had the sweet and sour chicken on the recommendation of the teenager and it was indeed very good. The carafe of Pinot Grigio appeared to be every bit as large as a full bottle of wine but somewhat cheaper whilst the minuscule glass of said nectar the driver consumed was simply not enough but needs must. We were back out on the street in barely 90 minutes. Excellent. We will be back read more

I expected some Asian crossover kitchen but we got low quality Thai food. I had as a starter some beef in cabbage which were nice but way to expensive for the quality we received. As main course my friend had noodles with gamba and pea nuts. These noodle where way to sweet and quite tasteless. I had the soft shell crabs in a very salty soy sauce. As a side dish I got the worst rice in an Asian restaurant ever (cold). The restaurant is expensive for no reason. The ambience is loud and very crowded. Sorry, I only give two starts because the waitress was very friendly and the old fashion was strong ;) read more

Nice atmosphere, nice food, nice service - a good Thai option in the heart of Dublin.

I had passed Saba tons of times, but i had never really noticed it much. But i went there for my friends birthday a few weeks ago and i couldn't believe that i had never known about it before! Despite it being slightly packed, there was a great atmosphere to the place. I had the BÓ, which is beef cooked in peppercorns and chang beer, and i had never tasted anything like it! It was really tender and absolutely delicious! I tried some of my other friends dishes, and i couldnt fault them in any way. We had Flirtinis, and they had a wide range of other yummy cocktails too.! Definitely a great place for a girly night! read more

Love Saba for Saturday lunch. Very good salads and currys!