Busaba Eathai (Wardour St)

Easily one of the best asian restaurants in London. Awesome atmosphere, fresh and modern. Great Wines - particularly Pinot Grigio Blush. The Calamari is unbelievable and I literally spend most of my week craving it. Busaba is fast becoming my regular as it's hard to remember the last time I went a whole week with out going back. Service is very fast and efficient. Obviously with such popularity it can be difficult to get tables for large groups, but when going in a two or three I have never had to wait longer than 10 mins. Food is served promptly and is of a very high quality. Prices are very reasonable, particularly given the excellence of the food and location of the restaurant. The single only down side I can think of is that there is no dessert menu and it isn't really a place where you're encouraged to sit around after your meal, due to the high demand for tables. Probably my favourite restaurant in London, can't say enough good things about it.
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Wandering Tiger
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, September 08, 2010

I cannot believe that somebody thinks that £8.75 for a thai curry in central london is overpriced, and also that the portions are tiny!! what planet are you on!!. Portions are most certainly are not small - especially the curries. When Im with friends, we have difficulty managing to finish the dishes. Food at Busaba is consistently good - and full of flavour. Would definitely recommend!
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Kate
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Friday, August 20, 2010

Reading through the reviews I think that calling an 8.75 curry VERY OVERPRICED is a bit cheap. I find the prices very reasonable and in comparison to the other chain Thai restaurants in Central London such as Thai Square et al 8.75 is very cheap.

The service is quite awful though, no matter how big our party is or how much we're spending I have always felt rushed and had multiple staff hovering over me and interrupting conversations in thinly disguised attempts and hurrying me up (subsequently I have left a small tip maybe once out of the dozens of times I've been because of the poor service.)

When I used to eat meat - around a year ago, I always had the duck mussaman curry, sticky rice and a side of calamari. The calamari were always the highlight and on most occasions the curry was lovely except more recently where I've felt the duck was either overcooked or substituted for beef (without being told) and overall the whole dish had a funny after taste. Now I'm a veggie I opt for the pumpkin curry, sticky rice and veggie spring rolls or aubergine salad on the side. Curry has always been lovely and the spring rolls are nice (but not exceptional) and the aubergine salad is quite refreshing.

I've never spent more than £20 including a glass of wine and find that quite good. The service, as I said before is usually so awful that I frequently do not leave a tip. The seating arrangements are also quite frustrating.
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Amelie
5 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 8
Monday, June 07, 2010

I came here last night and overall it was very disappointing. The food was very overpriced (8.75 for a thai green curry) and the portions were tiny. The bowl the curry came in was nice and big, but there were hardly any pieces of chicken in there or any other veg, just loads of sauce. The service was unfriendly and difficult to find a waiter most of the time. I wouldn't bother going here again as you can get so much better thai food so much cheaper elsewhere..
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Claire
3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Wednesday, April 21, 2010

atmosphere nice (though a bit noisy), food slighly above average..
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Sunny - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Thursday, April 15, 2010

I've had quite a few meals here now and the service seems to be getting better all the time - much faster and friendlier than previous visits. As always, the thai calamari is to die for - yum!! The food here is tasty and perfect for sharing - a great restaurant for a casual lunch or dinner.
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ollybee - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Monday, February 22, 2010

I would tend to agree that the quality of the food has gone down--certainly didn't enjoy my green curry chicken lunch--I think the ingredients are probably cheap which would explain the overall blandness of the meal. Actually, it was the worst of both worlds because it was bland while you were eating it and then as you digested it some very overpowering flavour came into play--certainly nothing refined about the cooking. Prawn starter was hardly any better--you can get better at Tesco, to be honest Restaurant has pleasant atmosphere and I found the staff to be very helpful. Nor can I complain about the prices, just the food which was very disappointing, and I would not go back. I think Busaba Eathai is on the tourist trail and is mainly concerned with passing trade so not too bothered about keeping a regular clientele--just my guess!
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6 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Tuesday, February 02, 2010

We used to come here all the time but now prices have gone up but the size of the dishes are much smaller. Not worth going back anymore.
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3 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Saturday, January 16, 2010

Popped in here one Thursday night after shopping, what a fantastic surprise it was too. The food was brilliant, we couldn't make up our minds what to have and chose 5 different dishes to have between us, because what I fancied so did my husband and then we picked more to share. The flavours were so good. We thoroughly enjoyed every dish and our taste buds were so alive.

We have been back since and still enjoyed all that we had.

The staff were friendly and dealt with us fairly quickly as it was quite busy both times.
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Lelly
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, December 23, 2009

This place was great but is now best avoided. The food portions have been reduced (but prices increased), the quality is no where near as good as it was and, with the exception of a few, the staff are unhelpful.
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Scott
2 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Wednesday, December 23, 2009