Rosa's Soho

Had a great birthday dinner here for a friend. I had a very nice Spicy Beef Salad and the Spicy Seafood Hotplate. The food was overall very good, but it didn’t stand out against other Thai spots in Soho and the price was a little higher.

The staff was quite nice, but the other diners were quite rude. We were a birthday group and we were quite jovial. We were not drunk or wild, but a couple came over after they had paid and told us that we were too loud and “ruined their evening”. They would not accept our offer to buy them drinks and stormed out. Shame.

Lovely food and the staff didn't rush us out, which is something I always appreciate. I had a pumpkin curry that managed the perfect balance between spice and sweetness, we also had thai calamari (not superlative), black pepper venison, chargrilled seafood and more. I'd give it one more star but its a tad on the pricey side.

Good food but seemed very expensive for what it was. Good to go in a crowd and couldn't fault the staff. Nice atmosphere, only let down by the cost.

Nice little place in the middle of Soho. I went here as an alternative to Busaba. I received a pineapple juice straight out if a carton, too sweet and horrible. Tap water will do next time. Starters of prawns and calamari were ok, nowhere near as good as other establishments in the area like Busaba and even Wagamama. Service throughout the evening was good. The green chicken curry was really good. I will be back .

Yum, yum, yum - I love Rosa's! Try the chargrilled pork - it's chargrilly delicious!

update: August 9 2010: Food still great, but prices seem somewhat steep these days. £2.95 for ginger tea - hot water with ginger floating in it - seems pretty steep, and the £8.50 (Four Prawn) Pad Thai didn't seem such great VFM. Gentle reader, how many prawns make a Pad Thai? Going to Busaba for a comparison this evening... watch that space.
.....
I was psyched when this place opened as a pop-up in December '09, as the Spitalfields restaurant has long been one of my favourites.

Maybe Rosa's is suffering a bit from a different clientele, or has yet to settle in to its new location, but service is occasionally a little patchy - they're not too good at being busy and attentive - so it can be a bit too long to be acknowledged if you're waiting for a table.

Food ranges from great (the calamari, prawns, etc) to a tad mediocre (pad thai, fish curry served in an undercooked butternut squash).

Staples are good, and signature dishes are well worth a try. Of three visits, two have been great and one 'so-so'. Best seats are for two, along the wall as you go in. Avoid downstairs - there can be some pretty hideous group feeding going on down there!

Rosas has cute decor and super sweet staff. Sadly the food doesn't quite match the surroundings. It's all just a bit well..bland tasting mostly of coconut milk with none of the additions like fresh herbs e.g. holy basil or pea aubergine that would really make it sing. There's also no chili on the table that you can use to pep it up and if you ask for it you get charged extra. It's also quite a lot more expensive than our local Thai with most curries coming in around the £10.50 mark. For more authentic Thai I would recommend The Churchill Arms (I know it's in a pub but trust me all the chefs are Thai!) or Yelo.

Sweet restaurant. The waiting, bar and kitchen staff are all very friendly. The coconut juice tastes fresh and has pieces of coconut - was very refreshing and just what I needed after 1hr's walk. The Gaeng Gari Gaeh (grilled lamb) had a nice peanut sauce, but this became a bit too sweet after a while. The lamb chops of this dish were very nice though. The Gaong Dang Nuea (grilled Venison curry) was a nice red curry but needs to be a bit more strong in flavour (suspect that the traditional version has been tempered for European palates). Having over ordered, the staff packed the untouched dishes to go without any quibbles. Check this place out for Modern Thai food.