Thai Food from a Hidden Nook

Following our breakfast at a pub (see: The Landmark Pub), my wife and I were able to get into our hotel in Dublin, which allowed us to drop off all our stuff, grab showers and then sleep. By that point we’d been up for nearly twenty-four hours and sleep was all we really wanted. Jetlag is a bitch and it caught us hard. By the time we were finally awake we really just wanted to slug our way around the city for a little while before finding a place to eat and then, naturally, going back to sleep.

Something no one really discusses about international trips is just how hard it is to get adjusted. Honestly, by the time we were finally operating anywhere close to Dublin time (aka Ireland Standard Time) our week in Ireland was basically over and it was time for us to get ready to head back out. A trip like this really needs two or three weeks if you want to spend most of it awake when the rest of the city is lively. Especially in a place like Dublin where, as we quickly learned, the city doesn’t really come alive until almost nine in the morning, and by nine in the evening it’s already rolling up its streets.

Thankfully we were able to find a place to settle in for a meal and it happened to be a Thai restaurant. We were staying near a shopping district, a nice area with a full pedestrian walking quarter, and the area was packed not only with stores (one of the first times I’ve seen a Disney store in a while) but also a whole bunch of restaurants. The one we settled on, the Chili Club, was actually nestled down a little out of the way nook down an alley from one of the main streets. If the restaurant we’d originally been looking at, an Asian street food shop, hadn’t been packed-to-bursting with customers, we might not have even turned the corner and noticed this little Thai eatery down the ways. But we were glad we did.

The Chili Club is a smaller establishment, capable of seating maybe eight (small) groups total. We got there right at the beginning of the dinner shift, around six or so in the evening, so we were able to have the place to ourselves for the first half of the meal. It allowed us to enjoy the quiet of the shop while some lightly jazzy electronic music played over the speakers. It gave the restaurant a nice, pleasant vibe, elegant but unconcerned with being too posh. It was the right vibe for two travelers still struggling with being awake at that time.

The menu featured a pretty standard mix of Thai dishes. There was the usual assortment of appetizers, soups, noodle dishes, stir-fries, and curries. Since it was Thai food, my wife and I felt pretty comfortable with the menu, knowing about what we wanted to order almost as soon as we sat down. Even then, though, I knew that we could expect some interesting twists on familiar items simply because we were in a different country and even things we’d think would be standard might not have been. This was revealed pretty early with the appetizer we picked out.

Satay Chicken is a standard dish. Chicken on a stick, seasoned and marinated, then cooked and served with a side of peanut dipping sauce. Except here the elements were mixed up just a little. For starters, the marination was a little sweet (from honey) and a little savory (from madras curry powder and turmeric). It also wasn’t served with its sauce on the side, but instead poured on top of the satay. That sauce was chunkier than I would have expected, with big pieces of peanuts included, and it gave the whole dish a very different composition than what I envisioned in my American brain. It was great, though. The dish, while not as sweet as you normally get here in the States, was flavorful and hearty. The combination of flavors was light but the composition all came together really well. This is easily one of the best versions of Satay Chicken I’ve had in some time.

Once the starter was finished we moved on to our dishes. My wife got Ginger Chicken, which isn’t something I see too often on Thai menus in my area. Served with white meat chicken, fresh ginger, bell peppers, mushrooms, and onions, all in a light stir-fry sauce, the dish was delightful. Bearing in mind that I don’t even normally like ginger (especially not as the forward flavor in a dish) I found this to be a really tasty meal. My wife, who loves ginger, really enjoyed the light spice of the ginger and how it played with the slightly sweet brown sauce in the dish. She didn’t expect to eat it all… and then she did.

Meanwhile, I got a fairly safe choice with the Red Curry with Chicken. I like a little heat in my dishes and this was marked with three peppers on the menu, making it one of the hotter items on the menu by default. The dish was served with white meat chicken, bamboo shoots, bell peppers, green beans, and fresh chili and basil, as per the menu, but I also noticed zucchini in the dish as well, which isn’t commonly thrown into the American version of this dish.

I really liked this curry. It was smooth and flavorful, with just a hint of heat. The mix of vegetables was great, leaning more towards the veggies than the meat, which is another difference between this meal and what I normally get Stateside. If I had any complaint it’s that for three peppers this dish could have done with a little more heat. It was fine, and spicy enough that I didn’t have my wife sample it (since she doesn’t like heat unless it comes from ginger and/or garlic) but for my tastes it could have been hotter. In fairness I could have ordered it “Thai Hot”, but at three peppers I dunno if that really felt necessary. I guess if I ever ended up in Dublin again and I wanted this dish from Chili Club I absolutely would have to try Thai Hot. Something to bear in mind for next time.

Unfortunately by the time we were done gobbling up all our food (which was delicious), we didn’t have room for dessert. I did want to sample a bit of what they had, like their lemon cheesecake (which came served with a mixed berry compote and sounded fantastic), but I simply had no room. They actually had a number of desserts, none of which sounded particularly Thai (like a warm fudge cake, banana banoffee pie, and banana fritters… most of which I would have avoided due to my absolute hatred of bananas), and I could see others enjoying these treats despite them not fitting the “theme” of the restaurant.

Overall, though, we really enjoyed the Chili Club. This hidden little gem has a lot of great items to offer, and everything we sampled tasted fantastic. There are little twists to the dishes you might not expect if you’re used to the American versions of these meals, but I actually consider that a good thing. You’re in a different country so you should experience their perspective even on familiar meals. The Chili Club has that, while still crafting really excellent food. This is certainly a place where if I ended up visiting Ireland again I would go back. It’s some of the best Thai food I’ve had, hands down.