The Number One Cafe

Cheapest Best Thai Ever.

Lovely service, we ate at 9pm and didn't leave till nearly 11 - when they were trying to close. although no one even tried to hurry us along. Because its BYO, we were getting a little carried away. We had 2 starters each plus a main, and shared a bottle of wine and it came to £25 for 2 of us. So spicy and authentic tasting. Loads of kaffir lime leaves and galangal.

We will be back again and again. what a find!
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Naomi R
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, May 26, 2009

If you're looking for the best Pad Krapow outside Thailand, it's here. OK, the meat isn't minced as prepared in Thailand, but the flavour is spot on. And so is the heat. It's got a proper kick, proper sweaty stuff. Get your Singhas from next door, book ahead, and go enjoy..
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Tonsai - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, April 17, 2009

Been there twice. Superb!
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Aemil
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Monday, March 23, 2009

My husband, me and our 3 yo son went to this cafe last week. What a bad service!!!! I've read a lot of good reviews on this site that's why we thought we wanna give it a try. Sadly, it's a total frustration.

We made a reservation the night before we went. When we arrived at the cafe, there was no reservation for us, luckily there are some empty seats. No problem there. We sat for nearly 20 minutes, nobody came to take our orders nor give us plain water or some prawn crackers ( i think) as they would to the others who oddly, came AFTER us. There were like 2 big groups of people, 2-3 small groups came right after we came. And they totally ignored us. We really felt like just wanted to get up and leave. But we didnt. We thought we want to give it another chance. So we called the waiter (for the rest, the waiter and waitress dont have to be called, they just go to the table and take orders) and place our orders. Our son who's like other 3 yo boy, playful yet not hyperactive, 2-3 times got out of his chair and went for a 'tour' to the other side of the cafe, (he was bored even though we tried giving him some things to play with), and the waitress told me with a very unfriendly face and rude way, to keep our son at his chair (she made a few sharp stares a few times at us before). Unbelievable..! I''ve read comments that this cafe is child friendly, well, i guess not. Even If our son was misbehaved in a way that disturb the other eaters, she still have to tell us politely. Positively, food came very quicky after that. Maybe they wanted us to go out quickly.
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natty
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Saturday, March 07, 2009

On several trip to London, I finally found a spot when I really enjoyed all the selection we made. Can't really remember the name of dish in Thai, but we had 3 different appetizer to start with, followed by young papaya salad, clear tom yam, deep fried sea bass and stir fried bean shoot (taugeh). Everything was the right portion and we finished it all.

Will come back to try something else in the menu card. Try asking for something that not in the menu....if you lucky you may be surprise what you have discover.....
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Roy Kirkham
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Saturday, February 21, 2009

Number One Cafe is very much local to me. They expanded a couple of years ago and updated the decor. They even had a review by the Guardian recently. So has it changed at all?

We ate there as two families of four with kids from 1.5 to 9 years old about a week ago for a "Chinese New Year" celebration (end of Jan 2009).

We had asked for everything to arrive at once because the kids mostly fill up on the mixed starters (wrapped prawns, prawn cakes, veggie spring rolls, chicken satay w/3 sauces). We also needed a bowl of hot water for the rice based vietnamese pancakes we had bought for the wheat allergic 4 year old (for the crispy aromatic duck). The baby was throwing down cutlery like a crazed circus act and I only got to pick it up about 1/2 the time as they were quite attentive. And we'd bought our own bottle of white and they provided 4 glasses (BYO). One of the kids broke a glass (they had various juices and in a very unpretentious manner, the whole bottle is provided-about 350ml) and this was quickly cleared up too.

Service was still very good after all this.

Singapore noodles had a nice bite. The Colley Chunks in sweet and sour sauce was well cooked and nice and crispy on the outside. Yes, the crispy aromatic duck is a departure from standard Thai fair, but the rest is quite authentic. We usually get the Nasi Goreng Campur but as it's quite spicy had to get standard egg fried rice.

One of our best local restaurants!
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Charles - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, February 03, 2009

I've been to Thailand a number of times and the main reason I go is for the food, this place is an absolute gem of a place, the food is as good as any place I have been to in Thailand and the value for money is superb.

What really impressed me was how genuinely friendly the staff were, they really seemed to care.

Outstanding!
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Khalid
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, November 10, 2008

Heard so much about the place and decided to try it. We went for lunch today and the food is really good! The kids love the pad thai! The steam sea bass and the Pok Tek were delicious. Will definitely go back!
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hany
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Sunday, November 02, 2008

this is a terrific find hidden away on a side street near the bbc. authentic thai food. buy your wine or beer next door and bring it in. delicious and extremely reasonable prices.
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swimming girl
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 10
Sunday, October 05, 2008

what a great find, authentic good honest food served with a real charm ,they love the kids(which is rare in london) and has a great atmosphere, book a table to be on the safe side, this place is consistently great.

#
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john stylianou
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, September 01, 2008