PRESS / SABA REVIEWS & FEATURES

TOTALLY DUBLIN, Deborah Sweeney

November 2007

There are more than a few good Thai restaurants around Dublin city and the inception of Saba on Clarendon Street only serves to make that list a little bit longer. Situated where the old Rakdoot Tandoori restaurant used to be ( and not where Tzar Ivan's was, or in fact still is, as a lot of people seem to think), the transformation and modernisation of the place is likely to be the first thing that strikes you on entering the newly renovated building.

The interior is awash with warm and muted tones of red, orange and black and the clean lines are indicative of a minimalist approach to design. The back wall houses 20 or so large framed photos of Asian folk on bikes, which works very well, however it is a reminiscent of a Wagamama-esque kind of style.

To start we had a very generous portion of satay gai, which comprised four big, fat, meaty chicken skewers, which were deliciously flame grilled and served with the appropriate satay sauce. The hoi sin duck rolls were equally tasty and came ready rolled in soft floury pancakes with julienne of cucumber and celery. For mains we both opted for wok fried dishes which may have been a little unadventurous but having eaten in Saba the week before I found the green curry a little too sweet for my palate and the supper hot 'Boom' a little too strong for my digestive tract!

We dined on a pork Phad Nam Prik Pao and a beef Xao Hao Lo which are basically stir-fried dishes laden with veggies, cook to a tee and served with deliciously stodgy, sticky white rice. Saba is currently (at the time of writing) awaiting its full bar licence, which is expected any day now, and so wine, beer, saki and saki cocktails (if you dare) are all that is to be had. WE opted for a 2005 Morgon Touraine Sauvignon Blanc, which is particularly light but goes down a treat with Thai food. For dessert we had a warm apple tartlet served with vanilla ice cream. It was flavoursome enough, but definitely overshadowed by the mixed fruit platter of papaya, lychees, pineapple and strawberries which is served as a mouth-watering end to a mouth-watering meal.

The staff at Saba are extraordinarily attentive and if such a level of assiduousness can be maintained once the place gets a little busier, the management will definitely be on to a good thing. With Elaine Normille, whose face you may recognise for RTE's 'The Restaurant', at the helm, the chances are that they most likely and probably are.

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