Rosa's Spitalfield, City of London, London

Meh!

Just ate here and was not impressed. Had summer rolls which were fine and like most others I had. Then I had a pumpkin red curry: apparently a signature dish. The pumpkin wasn't cooked enough - it wasn't raw but still a bit too hard. And the curry didn't have much flavour. Coconut rice was pretty horrible and had a waxy look to it like the coconut milk had just been poured on at the end.

Overpriced too. summer rolls £6ish, coconut rice £3.50, pumpkin curry £9. All veggie too.

The service was good until we finished and then they forgot about us and I had to ask twice for the bill. When we left, I walked past two waiters and neither said goodbye.

Meh.....unfortunately everything about my experience here was average. We got squashed at the end of a table, the little stools were really uncomfortable, the food didn't have much flavour and I felt it was overpriced.

I won't be rushing back.

Yum! This place is great; a cosy and comfortable environment over two floors with the genuine inviting friendliness of any Thai people. The food is great – try the chargrilled Duck for a delicious dish!

http://hungryinlondon.com/2010/06/rosas-spitalsfield/

Since Rosa’s has opened its first branch in Spitalfields a couple of years ago it has consistently been featured as one of the best cheap eats in time out. I have given Rosa a chance twice and I tend to disagree with time out. I don’t think the food is that great and I don’t think it’s that cheap either.

I am not so keen on the place itself, it feels claustrophobic and very loud, especially when you go there at peak times.

We had Yam Som O (7.15) as one of the starters, a rather generous portion of pomelo salad with prawns and deep-fried tofu. It came with some nice but quite heavy/creamy sauce. Even though we really liked it, it was very filling, something one is not quite used to from Thai salads.

The vegetable Tom Kha (5.10) was served with loads of fresh vegetables and even more lemongrass. Not the best Tom Kha I’ve ever had but really quite tasty.

As a main we went with another classic – Pad Thai with prawns (8.25) which was light and very nice even though there was something not quite right with the consistency of the prawns, we left most of them behind.

And then the disappointment of the evening: The Thai Green Curry with chicken (9.50) was one of the worst Thai curries I’ve had (if I don’t count my own attempts to cook Thai curry) – watery, bland, not at all spicy – it was lacking any depth or flavour. Green Thai curry is one of my all time favourite dishes so this made me quite unhappy.

3 ok dishes and one that didn’t deliver at all – clearly no recommendation from me for Rosa’s…

They have recently opened another branch in Soho, I haven’t been there. Not sure I necessarily need to go though..

Went to Rosa's yesterday and because the sun I suppose the place was nice and empty.

Compared to other Thai places Rosa's seems little more traditional, and the food is fresh, and wholesome. No complaints about the food at all, no better or worse than any other Thai int he 'hood.

If not ram-packed, definitely worth the meal, but when busy it seems Rosa's is not the place to go based on other reviews here.

Ate here yesterday (Sunday afternoon) after a schlepp around Columbia Rd, enroute to Spitalfields. It's ideal for a cheap bite on a Sunday afternoon; by the time you've walked from Hackney Rd to Shoreditch via the flower market and Brick Lane, you're ready for a cheap bowl of good noodles, which is what they do best.

Pad Thai for three, ginger tea twice, green tea once, all in 25 minutes for £25. Not quite as cheap as eating off a stall, but on a dreary midwinter day, a good deal better.

Try Rosa's II on Dean St, currently masquerading as Noodle: the PopUp restaurant, next to the French House. Makeshift until the January refurb, the restaurant sports pine trestle-tables and - get this - semi-private booths at the rear.

Look out for the photo of two kings, on the wooden wall facing the window, bought at Chatuchak Weekend Market.

If I am completely starving I normally choose to pop into this restaurant. Every time I do the food is delicious and comes out in less than 10 minutes. This is a quick stop over though, the place is always super busy, so don't expect to hang around for more than half an hour and rather finish your evening somewhere relaxed close by.

Not impressed with this place. Read the reviews on time out expected something much better than it was. The service was not great and neither was the food.

I was not impressed. It’s an attractive place (but I’d say more form over function - not too comfy) and that’s about where it ends. I wouldn’t say the food is bad. It’s just not tasty. Even most mediocre, watered-down-for-western-palettes Thai food seems to have a little bit of yumminess about it. Rosa’s (or at least the dish I had) was kinda bland - something I never thought I’d say about Thai food. Oh well …

Very good food, but not the best of places to go for a work lunch: slurping up noodles in front of co-workers… hmmm, and had to stick to faffy fruit juice cocktails.
It’s also rather noisy, as the wood panelled walls bounce the sound around. Don’t expect any quiet conversation. A meal out with friends, yes: forget the smalltalk and concentrate on the food. A quiet date, no. Unless you don’t have anything to say to each other, of course.

Forget saying 'hello’, you’d be better off saying 'sawadee’ as the menu suggests, offering quirky Thai phrases to banter with friends and perhaps order more quickly? That didn’t really happen here, the service was a little sluggish but that was remedied by the cute waitress asking “vodka and lemonade, in the same glass?” I chuckled. Tempura prawns were heavy on batter, light on taste but the thai green chicken and prawn curry was good, I devoured a full plate aside from rubbery aubergines. Certainly low-mid priced, but the cute pink lighting, lack of Thai restaurants in the area and proximity to All Saints will make this cafe/restaurant a moderate hit.

I’m not the kind of girl that usually approves of anything that even mildly feels like gentrification. AND I hate the sterilisation of Spitalfields, which makes me immediately feel quite contrary towards new establishments in this neck of the woods.

That said, my dinner tonight at Rosa’s was the shiznid. Simply decorated, really great service (they even played audience to a magic trick done by my step-daughter) and delicious food. Special mention must go to the seafood curry stuff in the butternut squash. Deeeeelish.

Big up this place. Go there. Be merry.

Once a proper workers caf this place has just had a facelift and looks more like an old school diner. Haven’t had the chance to pop in yet but it looks nice and cosy from the outside and rally inviting.