Rosa's

We visisted on a Saturday evening.

I really liked the restaurant's layout and decor which is cool. We got a booth to sit in which I liked. It was quite close to the kitchen so quite noisy although it didn't bother us.

The food was good but nothing special and quite pricy in comparison to other thai restaurants that serve much better food for much cheaper prices. I had two "signature dishes". The starter were the spring rolls which were good and the main was a seafood dish with probably some of the toughest squid I've ever tried to eat, very chewy and almost inedible. The rest of the dish was great but the squid really let the meal down especially given that it was supposed to be one of their signature dishes.

Service was decent and I was impressed by how the staff were reasonably attentive despite us being in a booth and out of sight.
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Annie - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Some bizarre reviews here to say the least.

I try and go for lunch one a week and although the service can be a little slow and confused, the food is excellent.

Its not as another reviewer commented "haute cuisine" but it is good thai food and is a far cry from the "mums gone to iceland" rubbish you get on the average high street.

give it a try,its always packed for a reason.

As a side note they were nominated for the Gordon Ramsay best thai restaurant category on the f-word.
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noodles
7 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Friday, April 09, 2010

I've been 3 or 4 times and the food is always pretty decent. The menu choice is exciting with things you don't usually see on a thai menu (rib eye, rack of lamb, sea bass fillets). I think its important people manage their expectations here, it seems aimed at your casual local, rather than haute cuisine. The staff and service is very casual, but relatively fast.

My main criticism would be that the food is priced just a little too high for a casual meal. It is not exactly a cheap eat place, and think they could knock off £1 of most of the prices.

In any evnt the lamb chops done thai style are amazing, and the soft shell crab is fantastic too. Squid is a bit oily however. The mains hold up fairly well too.

Other than that its a decent modern take at thai, you can do a lot worse, but maybe you could do a little better too.

By way of context, I am a massive fan of Ekachai in the arcade near Liverpool street, the food, price, service and quantity is faultless there BUT they rush you in and out of there like goddamn wagamama on crack, and that hurry-the-hell up so we can give your table to other people approach might be alright for a quick mid week lunch, but its sucks for dinner... so Rosa's is a relaxing alternative that feels a little less mass produced.
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Lenoir
7 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, November 24, 2009

We've given this place a wide berth ever since trying it on its second day open and being very disappointed. After seeing positive reviews, we gave it another shot last night and the verdict was the same: simply awful. How this place manages to stay crowded is simply beyond me. The service is consistently surly and inattentive and the food is appalling. I tried the Pad Krapow with pork--a standard dish where the quality of ingredients shows through easily. What I got was several pieces of dull gray pork slathered in the type of watery brown sauce usually found in cheap Chinese takeways. There was not a hint of the promised Thai basil; the overwhelming flavour was chili (which fortunately made it at least palatable). My partner's Pad Thai was exactly the same as the first time we tried it: no hint of the ingredients you'd find at a higher quality place (dried shrimps, zingy tamarind) but merely a stripped down version that you'd expect to find in the ready meal section at any supermarket. What's more, despite the menu claiming limes, the dish is served with a lemon wedge for garnish (cheaper option perhaps but inferior in my view).

Some of these flaws might be forgivable if this truly was a "cheap eat" but prices are the same (if not higher) than many stalwarts like Busaba Eathai and even Thai Square. My main was 8 quid plus 3 more for steamed rice and another 3 for a small pot of jasmine tea. Many of the starters (spring rolls) are 5 pounds or more and curries are over 10. You can do better than this. If East London had more Thai places, I doubt this place would last. In the meantime, I'd give this a miss and head to Busaba or Isaarn in Islington for Thai or better still for a truly "cheap eat" keep going east for a few more minutes past Liverpool Street and partake of the excellent Vietnamese places on Kingsland Road (Viet Hoa, Sonq Que).
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- View all reviews by this user
2 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Sunday, November 15, 2009

I have no idea what some of these bad reviews are talking about. Maybe its only people that like to moan that bother to post reviews on restaurant review sites. Having seen some of these negative comments I felt I had to write my own review.

I think Rosa's is the best Thai restuarant in London for value for money and taste. I have never been less than impressed by any of their dishes. The chicken satay is amazing to start and the Duck in tamarind and Lamb yellow curry are must tries. Have brought various friends and family to the restaurant and they have all loved it!

Service is decent and welcoming in a very thai kind of way.
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Rupert
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Friday, November 13, 2009

THEY MAY CANCEL YOUR BOOKING LAST MINUTE. Was meeting 4 friends and we had not seen each other for a long time and had lots of catching up to do. Called Rosa’s early Saturday afternoon to book at table for 7pm. The lady asked if they could have to table back at 9pm. I said no, we don’t want to rush. The lady said ok, no problem. I double checked before hanging up “we don’t have to leave at 9?” the lady said ‘no’. All good. I am just about to walk out the house at 6.15pm when they call me on the mobile to tell me that they are busy and if they can’t have to table back at 9pm they will cancel the booking. They did not apologise for the inconvenience, they did not say sorry, maybe we can treat you to dessert, they were just rude and said leave at 9pm or we’ll cancel. So rude! Saturday night at 6.15 we had no table reservation and everywhere nice was already booked. We did end up having a lovely evening at Banana Tree in Angel, but very disappointed and annoyed to be treated so badly before even having arrived!
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Lina
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, July 26, 2009

This was my third trip to Rosa's and I'm afraid it has gone downhill.

The starters of grilled cod in a peanut satay sauce and spring rolls arrived. They were both okay, but the cod wasn't really grilled as covered in a batter and must have been deep fried as very oily. On the whole, the starters were quite tasty though.

For main course we had the prawns with asparagus. The whole dish was tasteless and not what you'd expect from Thai food. The sauce was bland, the prawns simply steamed with no additional spices for flavor. Also had the smoked duck. The meat seemed to be of good quality but you wouldn't know as it had been overcooked and was extremely chewy. Again there wasn't a sauce to compliment the meat so it was very bland. We've had this dish on a previous visit and the meat was tender, tasty served with a delicious fruity spiced sauce. Not sure what's happened to this place but we were disappointed. We will not be rushing back in a hurry. A real shame as we live locally to Rosa's.

I'd also like to say that it was quite expensive for a bad meal too. Approximately £50 including the tip for two starters, two mains w/ rice and two bottles of beer. I'd recommend going to one of the many Vietnamese restaurants on the Kingsland Road nearby. Much better food and value for money!
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JM
4 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Thursday, July 16, 2009

For group booking of 27px, we were guaranteed 20 pounds worth of food per head from their buffet menu but instead, in some instances didn't even had one item or barely more than a table spoon of each item, despite the complaining. Was given false promises about booking of the entire downstairs, corkage and the service was miserable. Bad business ethics. Didn't deserve our custom.
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3 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Wednesday, February 11, 2009