Saba Thai Restaurant, Baggot Street, Dublin 4

Saba is a Thai and Vietnamese restaurant on Baggot Street. Saba means “Happy meeting place” in Thai, and offers traditional Thai and Vietnamese dishes at great value with great service in a contemporary setting.

Executive Chef Taweesak Trakoolwattana, known as Tao, brings extensive culinary experience and a distinct passion for traditional Thai and Vietnamese dishes to the Dublin dining scene. Since Saba opened in 2006 it has won many awards, due to Tao’s refusal to compromise authenticity with fusion recipes, remaining true to Thai and Vietnamese heritage.

Tao’s focus is on fresh, healthy ingredients and rich authentic flavours, but that does not mean that there is an interesting twist here and there. Saba also loves to push to test diners palates with an array of unusual ingredients like the intense betal leaf herb, banana flower and nutritious red Thai rice.

Fresh Thai and Vietnamese herbs, vegetables and fruit arrive on a weekly basis from Bangkok to Saba – sourced from co-op farmers to ensure fair prices for farmers. All the beef, chicken and seafood is sourced locally in Ireland and the tea, coffee and sugar is organic and fair trade.

From the start Saba has ensured that its cocktail list keeps pushing the limits with tastes and flavours which reflect and compliment the food. The team of mixologists are always ensuring that the favourites from around the world are promoted while also continuously seeking inspiration from the ingredients and creating their own wonderful cocktails. Saba has recently won the Cocktail Bar of the Year 2010 at the Santa Rita/Sunday Life Magazine Restaurant Awards and “Best Cocktail Bar” at the National Hospitality Awards.