What’s on offer?
Zoë Magliocco opened San Sab Blackrock, Co Dublin in March 2024, a buzzy restaurant and takeaway. It’s the third outpost of her Thai food ventures, following Drumcondra in 2017 and Clontarf in 2020. Each location operates independently with Thai chefs in the kitchen, and there is no central production kitchen.
The broad menu covers starters such as chicken satay and duck rolls, Thai soups, salads, wok dishes and curries. It also includes the San Sab spice bag, introduced after Magliocco spotted demand for its Chinese counterpart among DCU students near the Drumcondra location. The chicken isn’t free range – but it is Irish. Prices are the same for dining in, takeaway or delivery.
What did we order?
Thai pork dumplings, sticky pork bao, kua khing beef with steamed jasmine rice, San Sab spice bag, and tamarind duck with steamed jasmine rice.
How was the service?
Ordering online for pick-up was more complicated than expected. It is necessary to register on the site and collection was locked to ‘ASAP’. A quick call sorted it, and staff were very pleasant. There is no online receipt – it’s provided at collection.
Was the food nice?
The Thai pork dumplings (five pieces, not made in-house) were nicely cooked, just barely crunchy at the edges. The two bao buns had lean, sticky pulled pork with a glaze hinting at star anise and a touch of sweetness.
[ Red Torch Ginger takeaway review: Crowd-pleasing Thai dishes make for a safe betOpens in new window ]
The kua khing beef, a southern Thai wok-cooked dish, was good, with layered flavours from Kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, turmeric, galangal, garlic and shrimp paste. It packed quite a bit of fiery spice from Thai peppercorns and bird’s eye chillies. There was plenty of beef, which was nicely cooked and not falling apart. Jasmine rice worked well with the dish.
The tamarind duck, sweetened with reduced Thai palm sugar, had a sticky glaze with tamarind sauce, fish sauce and tamarind seeds. It didn’t travel as well as the beef dish, with the noodles suffering in transit.
The San Sab spice bag was a hugely generous portion. Unlike its Chinese counterpart, it was tame on heat, with no fresh red chillies. The house-blended Thai spices brought a sweet-sour nuance.
What about the packaging?
Mostly recyclable or compostable – cardboard cartons packed in a paper bag.
What did it cost?
€55.75 for dinner for three people: Thai pork dumplings, €5.95; sticky pork bao, €8.95; kua khing beef with steamed jasmine rice, €14.95; San Sab spice bag, €9.95; and tamarind duck with steamed jasmine rice, €15.95.
Where does it deliver?
Open Sun-Wed, 4pm-9.30pm; Thur-Sat, 4pm-10pm. Deliveroo and Just Eat delivery within 4km.
Would I order it again?
Yes, there is plenty to choose from and the kua khing beef is very good.
