Marie's Cafe

Some of London's best thai food, and very cheap as well. Simple, canteen-like and authentic. Bring your own alcohol, delicious currys and pad thais. 

I've been eating here since I was about 8 years old and I'm still a regular. As a previous Qyper mentions, it's the best place in the area and if you have a bit of spare time whilst waiting for a train, it's certainly worth walking the short distance from the station for great Thai food at a reasonable price. Having brought friends that have extensively travelled Thailand there, I'm also reliably informed that it's some of the most authentic Thai food that you can find in London which is a plus. It's also great in the evenings and would make a perfect place to dine before visiting the southbank or any of the local theatres. I really can't find fault with Maries.

Great greasy spoon English breakfasts but also wonderful Thai food at caff prices. Sue who runs the place is a star. Open in the evening for Thai food only and you can bring your own booze. A gem!

I’ve only eaten at Marie’s during the evening when it serves Thai food so can’t comment on its daytime greasy spoon incarnation, but what I have had there has always been great stuff.

Excellent value and good sized portions. I really can’t understand what the other commentators mean when they say the portions are too small, spoiled by unnecessarily large platefuls elsewhere, perhaps. Size isn’t everything, after all, and what Marie’s serves is fantastic quality over super size me quantity.

It’s absolutely ideal for grabbing a meal before a visit to the Old Vic. Fast service, tons of atmosphere, stonkingly fresh food, and the best Tom Kah Gai for miles around. No license so bring your own bottle with £1 per person corkage.

On last night’s trip, four of us got through four starters and five mains between us for just over £40 and every mouthful was delicious.

Cheap, cheerful, and heartily recommended.

I absolutely adore this place. It is like moving to Hong Kong from Wong Kar Wai films, just Thai like instead. Old posters of Thailand on old walls, stuff wearing oldschool aprons and everything served on white plates.
The place was full both time I came, you can bring your own wine (dry white goes amazingly way with Thai dishes) and just enjoy the atmosphere. There is something really nostalgic about the Thai stuff, who look (age wise) like family members - extremely friendly. It smells amazing, everything is fresh (had oysters once as well), and the portions are much bigger than anywhere else I have eaten in London. Fabulous green thai curry, probably better than anywhere else around here, reminded me of something far far away from rainy London - of my home, although it happened to be in Eastern Europe. Brought my friends there, and we were eating for hours. Nobody complained, just the opposite, it seemed like they loved us being in there. Absolutely great beginning of the evening.

If you want a quick meal in a friendly family owened cafe...this is the place for you. Easy to get to on Lower Marsh as well. I have eaten here quite a few times and I try to get something different every time. The Thai food is good not great but definately filling, hearty, fast and cheap. Everything tastes fresh and I too have never has any digesting problems eating here, which is always a plus. The menu has alot to offer for such a small place. When busy you might find yourself being directed to the nearest seat even if it's at a table with a stranger or two which leads to some socialization time on your lunch break. I keep going back...try it!

I've just had my lunch here, and I've been meaning to try it for a while now. I like it. It's a speedy little place, which never really bodes well for fine dining. But this isn't fine dining. It's greasy spoon goodness. Hurrah.

Not just greasy spoon stuff though, Thai food as well. The sausages and bacon looked good, but I plumped for Thai. I can't deny that you get what you pay for, so £4.00 isn't going to go very far. But you get a tasty and filling meal and go on your way. And you get it quickly too.

I like it here, there's a charm about the place, and the waitresses are friendly, despite being very speedy in their service. It's simple, it's quick and easy and it's on Lower Marsh, one of the most charming streets in the area.

Come here, eat cheap food, leave a fiver lightly with a big full-up smile.

Another reviewer who'll only own up to knowing this place as a cheap Thai. Given the choice of waiting in line at the Burger King in the station, and making the three minute trip to here ( assuming I could get a seat), I'd toddle down to this externally unpromising little place. The food I had ( some sort of squid curry ) was tasty, and indeed very cheap - a meal for three came to less than £30 all told. The surroundings are unpromising, but I didn't die and suffered no digestive discomfort. Incidentally, you can bring your own bottle, which is handy since they don't serve alcohol, and as I recall they don't charge corkage.

Based on Mara Sam's recommendation and given I was around Waterloo I went there for lunch today.

Let's be clear- if you want any frills this is not your place. It's small, dingy, , tables are packed very close together and at busy times you will have spare places at your table filled by other customers (a bit like Wong Kei's- the famous Chinese near Gerrard St).

The place was crowded, and the waitresses abrupt. In the end I ordered pad thai (my benchmark dish for Thai food). Service was fast, food good and the locals clearly frequent it. Instead of Thai you can have sandwiches and some very dangerous looking fry-ups.

According to the signs they only serve Thai after 6pm and you can bring alcohol with a £1 per person corkage.

Definitely not a place to impress a new client/ date, but a super no nonsense greasy spoon with the added bonus of serving Thai!

I’ve never experienced Marie’s Café during the day (when it offers up all the traditional 'greasy spoon’ fayre), but I’ve been a few times in the evening for a very cheap and tasty Thai.

The place is always packed, mainly due to the prices (you can get a main meail for under £6) but the food isn’t too bad. It’s not going to be the best Thai food you’ve ever eaten but whe you think of some of the hideous pubs now layng on a Thai menu you’d be far better off here. No frills decor, friendly service and you bring your own booze.

whenever i come back to london i HAVE to come here and get chicken stir fry. its a transport cafe run by thais who cook thai food as well… which is to die for btw!
wether its a traditional fry up or phad thai you’re after this is the place!
plus its dirt cheap! a miricle considering its in the centre of london!

I agree with CaribQueen below. The Thai food is very cheap indeed (£5 for most things on the menu), the folks in here are really friendly AND they are open around pub chucking out time. BUT, portion sizes are too small (probably only about 3 bits of small chicken in my meal), taste wise the food was ok (but not great) and it was just a bit too spicy for my liking. Don’t get me wrong, i love spicy food, i just like to be told on the menu if something is going to put hairs on my chest.

I got home last night and had to make myself a cheese sandwich. So, if the question here is Quality or Hype? I would definitely have to say hype.

I have mixed feelings about Marie’s Cafe, which I had heard so much about as one of London’s tastiest Thai eateries. First the positives: the food was indeed delicious (I had the chilli basil noodle with chicken), the menu was pretty darn long (lots of starters, noodle dishes, mains, and desserts), and the prices were rock-bottom at 4-6 quid a pop (less for starters naturally). That’s the good stuff.

Now the less good. The portions are modest. At least for the noodle dishes. And this is very understandable given the price you’re paying. Moreover it’s not such a bad thing cuz it would mean their starter+main at under 6 quid(!) would be quite do-able, nice and tidy-like.

More importantly though, I feel duty-bound to report that although I wolfed down 80% of my noodles before the ol’ faithful Jubilee line arrived (ha!) I was very conscious that I was doing something terribly bad for me at 10pm eating what must have been the oiliest noodles I’ve ever seen, that were certainly not to be digested before 3am.

And lo but I was correct. Soon after I was getting that familiar grease-driven queasy feeling, not unlike the kind of shaky stomach you’d expect the day after mixing and matching your poisons like Richard Simmons let loose in a lycra store near you. That said, the pros stand a fighting chance at getting me back to Waterloo for cheap Thai, but only if they don’t laugh at me mockingly when I ask to go easy on the oil.

I last tried this place about five years ago but didn’t have a good experience.

At that time I had an English breakfast whose beans were overcooked (mushy and congealed) and whose sausages were hard and needed sawing through. I was a bit bewildered a year or two ago to see it listed in something like “London’s Best Cafés” or “The Best 50 Cafés in Britain”.

In view of today’s other reviews, I decided to give it another go. So today I again had their English breakfast, and this time it was a whole lot better. I had their no. 7 breakfast: sausage, two bacon, two fried eggs, black pudding, two slices of bread and a mug of tea. Pretty well all of it was quite competently done (the tea was slightly stewed but drinkable). I was pleased that they got the black pudding right as so often it’s overcooked and dry.

The clientele seems to be a mixture of Guardian readers, building workers and office workers (though these categories can of course overlap: I’m two of the three). The staff are competent (though a bit uncommunicative) and they were prompt in taking the order, serving the meal and taking payment.

The café could do with a bit of a clean, but otherwise it looks fine - I do like the unpretentiousness of the place.

At £4 it was very good value, so I’ll probably pop in again to try their Thai menu.

I used to work on Lower marsh and Marie’s Cafe was always first choice for either a ‘greasy spoon’ lunch or an absolutely gorgeous Thai dinner.

Doesn’t look much from the outside but don’t be fooled, there’s magic going on in that there kitchen.

Quick bit of trivia: this is one of Tracey Emin’s favourite London eateries.

This place is an absolute classic. A greasy spoon during the day and a fabulously cheap thai restuaurant by night. You can also get great thai food during the day too!

As far as cheap eats in London go, this is an absolute must.