Busaba Eathai

I’ve been here a couple of times now and it’s just so good – no queue as with the Wardour Street branch, the staff are really cheerful and efficient, and there’s something incredibly decadent about a doorman who doesn’t behave like someone who’s judging you.

I love the incense and candles as you come in, and the whole spacious decor of the place makes me feel instantly like I’m on holiday.

Last night I had the excellent chicken satay again (great chicken with a little yoghurt, and lovely satay) and the Koh Samui juice (coconut, orange and carrot) which was quite spectacular. My Tom Kha chicken soup required playing that annoying game “Is it chicken, or is it lemongrass?” but tasted lovely.

A fantastic place to eat around Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus, which isn’t exactly troubled for same.

we stopped in and had only a 5 minute wait for the table. it was noisy and busy but that was no surprise. we ordered and drinks arrived fast; food took a bit longer. I had green curry fried rice and my mom had pad Thai, plus we shared a veggie dish. all 3 were good and generous portions. my rice had some real kick to it, the veggies (greenbeans, broccoli, zucchini, cashews, pine nuts) were fresh & delicious, and my mom's pad Thai was satisfying. all that + 1 small wine was £26. we were happy and full, and that was good enough.

decent atmosphere and location, went quite late on a friday night and must have got the dregs of the curry - not much monkfish in one and not much lamb in the other. food itself tasted awesome though however was not impressed with the protein content!

Centrally placed, reasonably priced place for fairly quick eats - food is workmanlike, and perhaps lacks a bit of oomph, but this place is perfect for a quick lunch or evening meal. Assuming you like Thai food of course.

I had a meal there this week after seeing a film in town and I was suitably impressed. The restaurant was quiet and not too busy, I did put this down to the weather given how rainy it had been that day but nonetheless it lead to a very nice, relaxed meal as we had a whole table to ourselves.

The food was more than satisfying and I had a pad thai which had prawns and crabmeat on top which was a new one for me. It was beautifully presented and they were very generous with the ratio of prawns and crab. Perhaps I had a generous chef or the accountant that controls portion sizes was having a night off. Nevertheless I was happy. My partner had some swordfish and coconut rice, we also had a bowl of morning glory which came with dried shrimp. It was very similar to many dishes of greens I have eaten when in southeast Asia and I really liked that everything we ate didn't taste as if it had been overly westernized.

Food from this part of the world is meant to be tangy, salty, sometimes smelly, punchy and full of flavour that really packs a punch.

Busaba succeeded well on this count. I also found myself newly in love with their lemongrass tea - not only does it taste good but it was presented wonderfully and they even brought honey to add if you wanted to sweeten it. The element of ceremony with the tea pot and cup made it a rather lovely affair.

I found that the meal we had was very reasonably priced and presentation was good. We were fortunate enough to be there when it wasn't too busy so we didn't experience any table turning. The waitress was trying to up sell stuff a little but then that is par for the course if in a restaurant.

I will return and would be interested to see what its like when it is busy.

I went here as hoping for a decent but fast pre-theatre meal. What I got was something that was very average, both in food and service.

The food was unexciting. The sides felt pre-bought - I don't trust those spring rolls which all look uniformly the same size and shape as though turned out from a machine. The mains were acceptable but nothing special - under-spiced and nothing outstanding. At £8+ for a dish you would hope that would be better. On top of that, the service was slow. It took about 20 minutes from ordering to drinks arriving (although we were offered the wrong drinks after just five minutes). Everyone was very nice but, again, nothing special.

It felt like the old Busaba experience had been diluted to become a chain-brand in much the same way as any of the other pan-Asian chains (Wagama, Miso, etc). What a shame.

(As a final observation, the toilet signs are very odd: two pictures that don't appear to relate to either gender which means that there are constantly confused patrons hanging about outside requiring staff to keep coming over to explain. As far as I can make out the ">" shaped one is men and the "Z" one is women...")

Checked out this location of Busaba yesterday while on a trip through London,

Food and ambience was up to snuff and what you would hope and expect from a thai restaurant with the reputation that this place seems to have (and with lines out the door). Standard thai dishes with plenty of vegetarian options made it easy to find something. The food wasnt greasy as it sometimes can be but also didnt stand out as being totally amazing. For this price category just about what you would expect.

What really takes away stars from this place, and maybe its just this location was that everything took forever once we had received a seat. Service was amazingly slow when it came time to pay (it took around 25 minutes from the time we asked for the bill until we left) and it also took a good 45 minutes for the food to come to our table after we had ordered it. Our waitress was also quite short and seemed quite rushed and frustrated the whole night.

Conclusion- it could have been an off night but in terms of the wait staff but for standard thai food, Ill probably try somewhere else next time Im in town.