Saba

A regular in Saba.
Good service very professional
You never get disappointed there high level of food each time.

I’m feeling particularly generous on this review. Why? Mainly because I wouldn’t have expected good Asian food in Ireland (apologies to my Irish friends for doubting the culinary scene in your country), and my expectations were quite low. Saba definitely made me re-​examine my personal prejudices.
Atmosphere:
It’s a cool restaurant where you find cool people chomping down on good food and throwing back some well-​made drinks. It’s also packed because people know it to be good. For dinner, it’s dimly let and a bit noisier that you’d want for an intimate date.
Food:
The spring rolls and chicken satay appetizers were excellent. The real knockout was the Bangkok Beef Noodle entrée. I was literally talking about it the next day; that’s how good it was.
Drinks:
I didn’t have any, but my crew were sucking down their drinks like there was no tomorrow.
Bottom line, it was awesome and I’d go there again in a heartbeat.

Having previously enjoyed Saba for lunch, I was looking forward to a work Christmas dinner here. Group dinners + December = set menus and set prices, and unfortunately Saba’s Christmas offering just wasn’t up to scratch.
For € 39.95 euro plus 12.5% (= € 45), you get a selection of starters to share (tasty, and nice to try the different offerings), a choice of main (quite a few to choose from, yet not as extensive as the normal menu), and then one of 2 puddings (chocolate tart or cheesecake). No complimentary drinks to start, no complimentary coffees to finish, not even a Christmas cracker to pull. If it wasn’t for the decorations inside the restaurant (and the extortionate pricing), it was like a meal any other time of year.
To make it worse, it almost seemed to be offering a «Ryanair-​like» policy — basic pricing for 3 courses, with lots of optional extras to increase the cost (supplements for certain dishes, tempting Christmas cocktails, coffees, apperitifs, etc).
A good lunchtime spot — yes. But if looking for somewhere to have a work do, would suggest continuing down the street to explore other options.

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.

If you like asian food this is the place to go, great central location (very close to Stephens Green shopping centre). The interior is very swish, modern and most importantly comfortable the food was good too, the duck rolls were amazing, i really loved the hoisin sauce, i enjoyed the massaman chicken, its not the best i have eaten but tastey nevertheless, the portion sizes are huge which makes it good value for money

Here two weeks ago for a catch up with a girlfriend, food was fantastic. Cocktails great. Only complaint was the rubbish prosecco… avoid. Soft shell crabs are amazing. Still a grat atmospheric spot and we were the last to leave.

Great drinks, food and service. Very flavorful soft shell crab. Saigon noodles quite authentic. Nice portions.

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.

Came here for the lunch special which is 2 courses for € 13-​€ 15 (memory failing me here) but you get the drill.
First of all, I’m a big fan of the décor & interior of the place, it’s all wooden and laid in out in big spaces, it really feels like the place can breathe. In keeping in theme with the wholeness feeling of the place, they also offer some very healthy dishes for a Thai restaurant.
I had the ginger salad to start & steamed sea bass for the main. The salad was delicious, and they didn’t hold back on the ginger either which I was pleasantly surprised to see. Good sized portion too which is what you want when you’re opting for a salad. Next up was the steamed sea bass, my one complaint is that the only sides they would do were rice or noodles, I’m kinda growing accustomed to ordering vegetables or even potatoes instead of these options so was a bit of a let down. A minor quibble on my part though. The sea bass itself was very good and came in a lime sauce that just worked perfectly and tasted completely original.
Overall this place has a lot going for it and it seems like it’d do just as well as a lunchtime spot, a date night or an evening with a group of friends. It’s definitely on my ‘return to list’.
In short: A great healthy thai restaurant with a nice wide open interior, perfect for any occasion you could think of (except breakfast obvs).

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

I’m always on the prowl for good asian restaurants, be it a fancy trendy place like Saba and Opium, or a mom and pop shop like Aobaba. First off, when I first went in here I just had the grapefruit Cosmo which I loved. This time I got a chance to dine. They have a menu for Monday– Thursday 2 courses for € 25 which tends to be a good deal depending on what you order as the items on their menu is a bit pricey. We can in and it was empty but by 8 the place was crammed with people so it must be a trendy place to dine.
I passed on their weekday special and opted for the soft shell crab main that was € 24.95. I asked for it 5 star spicy (that’s their spice scale) and they totally delivered! My nose was running from the lovely burn! (Spice beginners beware!) I loved my fish as it was spicy but they didn’t have to sacrifice on flavor to achieve it. The soft shell crabs were delicious! Soft, crispy not chewy cooked to perfection. The sauce it was sautéed in was super nice and I loved mixing it in with my rice. My dinner companions got the Pas Thai with chicken and the sea bass. The sea bass was super nice and came with a light and flavourful broth although it was switched from a halibut that was not so fresh… The pad Thai was lovely, a tad to sweet in my opinion but the chicken was so tough and chewy from being overcooked.
To finish the dinner off I got the hot whiskey as I love hot whiskey with ginger. The cocktail was awful. It was ridiculously sweet with tiny shards or ginger floating on top.
All in all, just based on my dish Id come back. I would’ve given 5 stars if it weren’t for the high prices, bad fish that was initially served, over cooked chicken and the horrible cocktail. They earned 4 for my lovely main Cuz I enjoyed it that much.

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.

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!

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!

How did I not hear about this place before?
My friend mentioned it and we thought we would try out luck, on payday Friday which looking back was a bold move cause they were packed.
We had not made a reservation however the super nice staff found us two seats at the bar and somehow it was an amazing experience just being able to watch the bartenders make drinks, the amount of skill and care they put into making those things was impressive, it was like dinner and a show!
Now to the food which I am pretty sure was the best Asian food I’ve ever had.
I listened to my fellow Unilocalers and tried the green monk fish and it did not disappoint man that was good. I could go into detail but honestly just get your ass to Saba if you haven’t been.
I would love to go back for one of their cocktail classes.

Excellent! Saba has the best Vietnamese/​Thai cuisine. And it’s a sexy spot too. Makes me feel like Carrie and the girls will walk in at any moment to order Cosmos.
love. Love. LOVE it! Fabulous vibe, eats, ambiance and space!
I’ll have a double order of the Pad Thai and a side of Prawn Crackers with Peanut Sauce. Oh yeah baby!
Saba: Take me away…

I found Saba to be quite a stylish Asian restaurant. The pink décor, dim lights, classy seating and bar area, packed to the brim with customers, published their own cookbook, seemed like one of the top Dublin places to eat! When we entered, the staff were very friendly and welcoming and efficient with their service. The food didn’t take too long to come despite the place being packed, and it tasted quite good albeit a bit too spicy for me. I’m not much of a fan of spicy food so the choice on the menu was quite small, this being an Asian restaurant and all, but there sure is a lot to choose from otherwise.
The negative thing was that the inside was kinda smokey and hard to breathe, and smelled to strongly of food that I was kind of afraid it would stick to my clothes. I can tell that reservations would be needed on friday and weekends. Overall, a good restaurant.

This was my first visit to Saba after many many recommendations. Now I can see why. Everything before I even mention the food was aligning nicely. From the location to the interior to the atmosphere. It’s just a really nice spot to be in.
The staff were crazy efficient without making you feel like they were rushing you to get the table back. We had a ton of questions about the menu and they were all answered so helpfully and with a smile. No sooner had we ordered our starters than they were on the table. Prawn crackers with delicious dips, juicy satay skewers and some amazing thai style spicy wings. The plates were clean!
My sister ordered the most amazing cocktail here. I wish I could remember the name, just look out for the coconut one. It is a revelation! Highly recommend it. It’s no wonder their cocktail bar has won awards.
I had a beef jungle curry for my main with brown rice. If you like your food really spicy, I’d point you in that direction. Lots of colourful veg going through it too so you can feel a little less guilty about the feast. Speaking of, I liked how they’ve broken down their menu. You have light, extra light, and paleo options as well catering to vegetarians and coeliacs. There’s really something for everyone at Saba.

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.

(Was there once, invited for business farewell dinner)
Meh… well, it is a great place. But it is also quite loud, and crowded. It seems to be a nice place, but it is hard to understand anyone at the table (we were a group of 6) without shouting. The starters are very good, but just the spring rolls were I think premanifacured ones. Main menu was awesome, the waitress recommended to add coconut milk to my curry, because I could have been to hot without. There was no place for dessert, but I ordered a café corretto (espresso + grappa) and was disappointed when I got a luke warm espresso with a big amount (almost 8cl) of a grappa, which tasted not too good — which I would have expected for that price.
Afterwards a Manhattan — and that one was really good mixed.

Das Saba ist wirklich sehr zu empfehlen.
Wir hatten per E-​Mail reserviert, welche telefonisch und per Mail sofort bestätigt wurde.
Nachdem wir das Saba nicht sofort gefunden haben und gut 20 Minuten zu spät waren, wurden wir dennoch mit einem Lächeln herzlich empfangen.
Die Atmosphäre ist sehr angenehm, außer die teilweise doch eher schrägen Musik. Die Fotowand hätte ich am liebsten mit nach Hause genommen.
Das Essen ist ausgezeichnet, wenn auch etwas zu üppig. Unsere Saté-​Spieße war eher halbe Hähnchen. * ist gut scharf, aber essbar. Es gibt hauseigenes, aufbereitetes Wasser zum kleinen Preis. Außerdem Cocktail, Wein un Co. Wir haben das 3-​Gänge-​Menü genommen, was für 25, — durchaus fair ist.
Und ganz wichtig: Man (n) war freundlich, kompetent und schnell! Kurz gesagt, wir kommen gerne wieder!

Das noch relativ neue Thai-​Restaurant Saba ist sehr stilvoll und stylisch eingerichtet (Braun– und Beigetöné, viel Holz) und fast jeden Abend bis auf den letzten Tisch voll. Deshalb sei dringend empfohlen per Email oder telefonisch einen Tisch zu reservieren. Gerade am Wochenende oder mit mehreren Personen sollte dies mindestens eine Woche vorher geschehen, sonst gibt’s keinen Tisch mehr.
Auf der Karte stehen leckere thailändische Vorspeisen wie Prawn Cracker, Frühlingsrollen, Satay Spieße etc. Preislich liegen diese zwischen EUR 3, — und 15, — (Saba Platte für Zwei). Hauptspeisen kann man wählen zwischen Nudelgerichten, Nudelsuppen, aus dem Wok, Curries und Saba dishes. Die meisten Hauptspeisen kosten zwischen EUR 10, — und 20,-, die Saba dishes bis EUR 30,-. Reis bzw. Nudeln als Beilage werden extra berechnet. Insgesamt sind die Preise für Dublin-​Verhältnisse absolut ok. Die Gerichte sind mit * mild bis *** sehr scharf gekennzeichnet, was sehr hilfreich ist, und es gibt viele vegetarische Optionen.
Große Auswahl an Weinen, die im Glas, als halber Liter oder als Flasche bestellt werden können (da Alkohol grundsätzlich eher teuer ist in Irland, zahlt man für ein Glas mind. EUR 5,-, die Flasche gibt’s ab etwa EUR 20,-).
Die Begrüßung ist sehr freundlich, die Jacken werden dem Gast bereits im Eingangbereich abgenommen, zu einer Garderobe gebracht und nach dem Essen wieder zurück gegeben. Der reservierte Tisch wird zugewiesen und die netten, meist gut aussehenden Bedienungen bedienen aufmerksam und freundlich. Sowohl die dezenten Fragen zwischendurch, ob alles zur Zufriedenheit sei oder man noch etwas bestellen möchte als auch am Ende die Frage nach einem Kaffee oder Dessert kennzeichnen u.a. den guten Service.
Klingt jetzt alles möglichweise sehr nach schickimicki, ist aber eher der Stil, wie die Dubliner Essen gehen. (Auch, dass man reservieren muss, ist in Dublin üblich, v.a. für Freitags und Samstags.) Die Athmosphäre im Lokal ist gelassen, gesellig, gemütlich.