Busaba Eathai (Old St)

Had lovely food here last night but there were a few issues:

Firstly when I called to book I was informed that they don't accept bookings, but they seat people based on first come first served so once your WHOLE party has arrived they will seat you. Fair enough. But when we arrived there was no bar/waiting area, even though we had ordered some drinks we had to sit on a little bench next to one of the tables. At this time there were at least three empty tables available that I could see that would have been big enough for our party of 11.

After about 15 minutes one of the waitresses told us we could sit down but that if our party didn't arrive soon and if they had people waiting they would ask us to get up and wait. The attitude in which she spoke make us feel quite uneasy as we knew there may be a delay in some of our friends arriving. And she did come across very pushy.

However on saying that the food was lovely. I had the spicy prawns and fried rice and a few sides to share. And it really was delicious. However the service needs to be improved. And also maybe a bar, and take bookings!!!
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7 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Sunday, May 27, 2012

All food was a little bit cold (2 starters and 2 mains) which we raised with the staff. The manager was very apologetic and offered to replace our full order. We didn't want to waste the food we had already been given (knowing that it would end up in the bin) and gave our opinion more on the basis of future visits and customers. Overall excellent customer service, and the food has fantastic potential.
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6 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 4
Thursday, February 09, 2012

Worst Thai food I've ever had! (And I've eaten Thai food in various different countries)!

I got the Mussaman duck and not only did the meat consist on mainly fat but the sauce had a powdery taste. I doubt it was freshly made. My husband's food was ok, but not as tasty as Thai Thai, which is further up the road near old street station.

Waitress had an attitude and I felt greedy asking for an adult sized portion of rice, so I didn't. Portions size does not equate to value for money. So bad, we ate the plain rice before leaving. Avoid!!!!
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Ami
2 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Saturday, July 16, 2011

I love Busaba and I am so happy that they opened one in Old Street! The food is so yummy and the friendly warm atmosphere makes it even better. If you are after an affordable Thai cusine in East London this is the place to go....the squid and curries are amazing.
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Lou Lou - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, May 19, 2011

Oh dear. Busaba has gone off the boil.

We found the portion size has got much smaller since my last visit to this Thai chain. The local Vietnamese restaurants are much better value.

Taste is kind of still there but again not quite as good as it used to be.

I don't think I'll bother any more. What a shame.
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Telboyofpeckham - View all reviews by this user
3 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Saturday, October 16, 2010

Extremely dissapointing...

The menu was complex and deviant in its design and this started us with bad taste on our palettes before we'd had a chance to read an enticement into them.

We ordered a mango lassi and a lemon iced green tea. The drinks came and they did not fit the billing. This made me feel like we were paying not for the quality of our food but for the quality of our overheads.

For our mains we ordered coconut prawn and chargrilled chicken with sticky rice with a side of calamari, the food came out after the rest of our party and following in an almost uniform trend, was underwhelming.

My partner's meal had barely started on her before passing on it. We really feel that this experience was a blunt and bland taming of what should be full, vibrant and colourful cuisine.

I would not reccomend it and i would almost certainly not visit another Busaba restaurant through choice.
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3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Monday, September 20, 2010