Aobaba in Dublin

14/12/2024: First time here. Very good food. Lovely staff and good service. A nice night there with a group of people

01/12/2024: Very mixed. We booked and on arrival brought to our table which appeared to be given away, so were stood in middle of restaurant waiting for new table for a couple mins, no problem. We were then brought to a booth near the door, we asked could we move up to another empty booth and told ok, but 5 mins later told by a female host that we had to move to a different booth or we could only stay 1 hour as it was specifically booked, so we moved. Starters were good, tiger prawn bomb in particular. Mains were mixed - lamb shank was very good. Crispy duck was inedible though, very chewy and overcooked which was a shame as the rest of dish was quite flavoursome. A male host (who was very good and attentive) noticed and took the meal off the bill. Overall a bit disappointed. It's a few years since I visited Saba, I would have been a frequent visitor to the old Claredon street restaurant. Not sure ill be in a rush back. A huge focus was on turning tables very quickly, being sat by the door I lost count the amount of times the female host announced to people on arrival without a booking "1 hour only though, 1 hour". I guess its start of xmas period but its a bit off putting . Maybe an off day as the reviews are quite good and I never had a complaint before.