Cookie FM Nirina Siam Thai #Siam21 Candlelight

Last Wednesday (October 21st) I was invited to celebrate Siam Thai’s big 21st birthday, to celebrate their many years in the business. Hosted in the rooftop bar of their Dundrum Town Centre restaurant, Candlelight, the event was organised by Emma O’Farrell, and promised lots of fun, delicious food & cocktails and authentic Thai decor. Having held my Mam’s post-funeral dinner at Siam Thai in April 2012, I was more than happy to be part of the celebration as this restaurant will forever hold a special place in my heart.

Siam Thai‘s philosophy is to sell delicious and remarkable Thai food, that meets the highest standards of quality and freshness and combines both modern, creative and traditional Thai styles of cooking.

The main restaurant boasts beautiful Thai decor and ornaments around the dining area, and the atmosphere is always a happy, busy buzz. There was also a birthday cake on display at reception to mark their 21 years of hard work.

For the business’ 21st birthday, Eoin Flanagan and his sister created the Candlelight Bar at their restaurant in Dundrum. The bar has an atmospheric setup, with plenty of seating areas but also open spaces for standing groups and for late night dancing, dimmed lighting and a DJ booth.

The Candlelight Bar is a modern 1920’s speak easy style late piano bar with music from Thursday to Saturday, the perfect spot to sip a signature cocktail. The bar features Siam’s own line of Thai tapas, Candlelight’s bespoke cocktails and craft beers, as well as a large list of delicious wines. It also has a grassed balcony with comfortable seats for alfresco dining and drinks.

Their award-winning mixologist Darren Geraghty works in-house at Dundrum, and his cocktail creations, Coconut Shy and Loop The Loop, were beyond delicious. The evening’s cocktail specials were a true delight; the former had flavours of coconut, vodka, rum and nutmeg throughout, with a mint dark chocolate square melted to the side of the glass for a little nibble. The latter cocktail was to replicate its name’s ice lolly, and my gosh does it deliver! The flavours of chocolate, lime and…well ice cream are truly out of this world. I don’t know how they did it! We were also treated to their delicious Thai cuisine, which included: beef massaman curry, chicken panang curry, vegetable yellow curry, chicken cashew nut and beef ginger – my personal favourite was the chicken cashew nut, but all dishes were flavoursome with fresh vegetables, rice, tender meats and fragrant sauces.

Eoin gave a speech towards the end of the night, thanking everyone for coming and celebrating with him. The history behind Siam Thai is all down to Eoin’s father, who founded the restaurant & business, opening the Malahide restaurant first. At the time it was also the first Thai restaurant in Dublin, and one of the first in the country. I really love that Siam Thai is still Irish, family-owned and family-run, and Eoin stressed that it’s important to them that all of their chefs are Thai, because that’s how one achieves true authenticity. I couldn’t agree more!