The Paddyfield

We did not have a very good experience at this restaurant with our recent booking for the following reasons.

1. We were a large group which it said on their website they could cater for but there was not enough space for us all to sit and we had to persuade them to add an extra table for our own comfort.

2. The price of the menu on the website is well out of date and most of the dishes were £9.99 instead of £6.90 which it says on the website.

3. None of the food came out at the same time so some people had finished their starters whilst others had not been given theirs.

4. At least four of the dishes were wrong and some dishes did not include the ingredients that they said on the menu.

5. Starters were small and the quality of the thai/vietnamese food was poor.

6. A 15% service charge is added to groups of 3 or more and the bill is not itemised.

7. Restaurant was cold and unwelcoming.

Would not recommend this restaurant for groups, or good food but the waiters were pleasant and the byo corkage fee is cheap.
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3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Monday, December 12, 2011

A once cheap and cheerful place that got greedy. Small portions of overpriced, but average food.
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brixton75
4 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Monday, November 21, 2011

I went to the Paddyfield last week. I hadn't been there for nearly two years. The food was unfortunately not as good as it used to be. And the price is also quite expensive for a "cheap eats" place. We ordered the fish cakes to share. There were only three on the plate. I was expecting about six, which is what you would get in other restaurants. The head waiter/owner then put down a bowl of the seafood salad starter for us, and told us that it was "free". The seafood salad was quite nice and had lots of seafood in it, however, the flavour was ruined by the heavy use of garlic in the dish. It left a bitter aftertaste, and ruined my taste of the main course.

For the main course, I ordered the chicken coconut and basil stir fry with the coconut rice. My partner ordered the seafood pho. My main course was average, and not as fresh as it could have been. It tasted like it had been cooked a couple of days previously. Also, there was no basil in the dish, even though it had basil in the title! My partner's main course, the seafood pho was pretty much made in front of him. The bowl of hot water, seafood and noodles arrived, then the waiter came back with a plate of chilli peppers, herbs, ho sin sauce and another sauce, he then proceeded to put the things in to the bowl, and told my partner how to eat the dish. My partner has been to Vietnam before and lived on pho while he was out there. Although he thought that this one was ok, it wasn't a patch on the ones that he ate over in Vietnam. He even went as far as to say that the Wagamama's equivalent of pho tasted better than Paddyfield's!

One thing that did annoy me was that the "free" starter was not actually free. It slyly worked its way into the bill through the 15% service charge, and as an unknown item that was added to the bill. We were too polite to make a fuss, so we paid for it, and left. So, the bill needed up being £9 more than it should have been.
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Ballu Sesay
4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 4
Monday, November 07, 2011

I have driven past this place many times and always wondered what the food was like as it always seemed busy and after speaking to my brother who said it is a place I have to visit I then decided it was time to go.

Me and my girlfriend were greeted very polity by the waiter who then asked us were we would like to seat as the place was not busy. After deciding what to order the waiter came over and then recommend my girlfriend who is a vegetarian the yellow curry dish which she then asked if they could add other vegetables and he was more then happy to do that. He also said he would give us free rice and then came back later with a complimentary vegetarian salad for us to try. It was very tasty and the portion was huge; not sure what the other readers are on about saying portions are small, they must normally eat out of a wheel barrow. We also ordered the vegetarian spring rolls which are the best spring rolls I have tasted and for my main I ordered the chicken, fish and prawn soup which was lovely, again huge bowl not one I would use for my frosties in the morning. We were also ordered the spicy vegetarian noodles which were lovely and went well with everything we ordered.

Whilst we were there a lot of regulars came as he was greeting them on a first name basis. I didn't think it was over priced at all and the service charge is a must as I think people would abuse the genoristy by tipping £1-£2. I gave an extra 5% tip as it was totally worth it.

People are very friendly, food is excellent, very tasty, very spicey (being Indian so that helps) and we are definitely coming back here again to eat...
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Sam K
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, October 10, 2011

Ate here on saturday night for the first time and the place was packed. The food was great, nicely spiced and very well cooked. I had Xao Sa, chicken and noodles, which was delicately spiced and not too hot, and my boyfriend had the seafood pho, which he liked, but was probably too hot! They did ask and he said medium hot, so who knows what it would have been like if he had just simply said hot!

The service was friendly and pretty good, although we did move tables and this seemed to cause them a bit of confusion! Also the service charge (15%) is automatically added on for parties of 2 or more, so everyone I assume. I prefer adding my own tip as I can then reflect what tip to give.

BYO was a good idea, so made for a cheap meal.. I think we'll be returning!
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Champers - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Monday, July 11, 2011

As you may have guessed from reading the reviewes below this restaurant is like Marmite, either you like it or you hate it. We are in the first group, we like it.

It is a small quirky restaurant, and the owner is a character, he likes it his own way, he tries to recommend what he thinks is best and many times he is right. We go there very often and he always recognises my boyfriend but he never seems to recogise me, we find that very funny. Then he gives us a lot of things for free.

I do not disagree with the reviews below as this character may not suit everybody.

The food is good, specially the seafood Pad Thai, and the Tom Yum soup, but the portions of any of the curries are a bit stingy.

The price is not too bad as we get a lot of the free stuff, which allows you to taste a lot of different dishes.

I would suggest you try it and you decide in which team you want to be :-)
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VMG - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Sunday, June 26, 2011

Over priced, small portions n pushy service!!!when I first went to paddy fields a good fee years ago it was great but naw this place is rubbish!! Toilets are dirty and I felt I needed to have a good wash when I got outa the place! Refurb a must and £9.50 for 6 prawns with 2 pieces of onion!?? Joke-I'd rather spend my money in gazette!! naw that place is fabulous-do not wAste your money-
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Sarah
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Saturday, May 21, 2011

I went to Paddyfield after a friend recommended it, hoping for some delicious and cheap Thai/Vietnamese food. We- another friend and I- were sorely disappointed.

The service was friendly enough, however the food was extremely disappointing and the portion sizes rediculously small and it was really expensive.

I ordered the Beef Pho- Rice Noodle Soup, and right away the waiter said, I'll fix it for you to make it just right. He was extremely pushy and set to work without waiting for me to reply, and he started squeezing in the lime juice and putting all the mint and bean shoots in. I am extremely fussy when it comes to Pho and I have had it more times than I can count- I was brought up on it and have been to Vietnam.

He then asked me if I wanted mild, medium or hot. I replied hesitantly; Medium and then he proceeded to put in some brown coloured sauce (which I later discovered to be Hoisin Sauce) and Chili Sauce and when I tried to ask him what they were and tried to stop him, he said 'No no, trust me' and wouldn't let me get a word in edgewise!!!!

He then left in a flourish and I tasted the soup and the Hoisin Sauce was not at all right for the dish- as I expected. I had to call the waiter down and inform him that I didn't like th Hoisin Sauce and he in a grump said he would get me a new one.

I had to wait another 15 minutes and the replacement bowl turned up. There was these tiny megre pieces of beef, less than 50gms worth I think, in the soup. There was also hardly any noodles.

I was severely disappointed with the tiny flecks of beef and the substandard soup. I was also very disappointed in the very bossy and pushy service, I understand that he was trying to be friendly and do his job but his job is also to listen to the customer and I was really trying to protest what he was doing and he completely ignored me! And it was £9.50 for a bowl of basically broth and rice noodles!

My friend got the prawn red curry and it was a tiny bowl of curry with a tiny amount of rice for about £13 all together. She was still hungry after she finished.

When we got the bill, we saw that an extra £4 had been added but it was not clear if this was service or anything as it was added as if it was an extra item.

It was only after we asked the waiter then he told us that it was Service Charge.

Do not go here, it is extremely expensive for what it is and the food is terrible and the service is too pushy and not considerate,.

We throughly regretted wasting £30 on a mid-week dinner.
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Marieta Park
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Thursday, May 19, 2011

I have to say - I'm utterly horrified and disgusted at the reviews below. The food is excellent, the service fantastic and I've recommended this place numerous times to friends who say the same.

If you haven't yet tried it, don't let the negative comments put you off. This restaurant is the essence of Thailand. The seafood pad thai is delicious with an abundance of seafood in it! The Laksa's and TomYum soups are delicious as well - I'm only sorry that they don't make such a great takeaway choice or I'd have them all the time! We've never visited without being served at least 2 free dishes.

Do visit and enjoy the food, the service and the fact that everyone is made welcome - even if it means moving some people around! I love it.
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Zoe
10 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, April 26, 2011

I thought 'Bun' in Balham was bad until I decided to eat at Paddyfield. I had heard good things but everything from the unbelievably pushy and annoying service to the godawful food was appalling. John Torode reccomends this place. I can only imagine he must have eaten here at gunpoint.

We had summer rolls which included no fresh vegetables or herbs, just vermicelli noodles and the odd small prawn, a diabolical papaya salad which seemed to consist mostly of a bag of Sainsburys Italian leaf salad and was sopping wet. They actually refunded the cost of this and seemed embarrassed to have it on the menu.

Main courses were a Rendang beef curry- unidentifiable as a curry and lukewarm and the worst pad thai I have ever eaten- soaking wet, very few noodles and a mussel which I felt it wise to avoid in the circumstances

All in all up there with the worst meals I've ever had to pay for.

Bento on Bedford Hill does decent Thai Food of an average standard and gives good service at an OK price. Go there if you're looking for good cheap oriental food in Balham.
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Daniel
0 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, March 27, 2011