The Crazy Bear

i went to the crazy bear for a birthday a few nights ago and i thought the service was fantastic, the food was great

worth visiting the toilets!

definately go again. you will not find somewhere like this!
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Heather Brazier
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, October 10, 2008

I had only heard about Crazy Bear via searching on the internet but having looked at the photographs of the crazy loos and seductive tables I knew it was something special. I took my boyfriend there for his birthday and it was delight. The food is amazing, with a good choice of vegetarian options, and fairly large portions. The decor is truly wonderful and really highlights this restaurant. When making the reservation I had arranged for a birthday message to be iced on the dessert but after eating the lucious mains we decided to skip dessert, but we still received complementary dessert!! Thats service and dedication!!
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Great staff! Great food! Great service! Need to say more? The best place you can end up in London!
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CICCIO
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, May 24, 2008

I love this place! Great food, very funky decor and fabulous cocktails. Staff are generally cute too ;) Have fun finding the loo - first time i went I ended up stumbling into the kitchen!
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ems - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Thursday, April 24, 2008

Very disappointed with the restaurant - went with high expectations of decor and food - neither of which I thought was up to much. Style over substance..... food was rather bland Thai, decor on the edge of funky/tacky and I would guess if the place was a bit better lit would be more tacky than funky. We had a table of 5 and found that our table was the same size as the ones for 2 - in fact all tables at the back where we were, were very cramped; if you go as a couple you have to sit side by side as they have crammed tables either side of a narrow passageway. Oh yes the toilets are interesting - more funky/tacky combo but incongruously a cheap black plastic toilet seat!

Won't be returning.
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Chris
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Wednesday, April 02, 2008

I decided it was time to try a new Thai restaurant so had a read online and decided to try The Crazy Bear. I didn't know what to expect as I was going entirely from online reviews which were to be fair...mixed. So my girlfriend and I trundled along an hr or so early in order to test out the bar which was very nice indeed, the cow print seats immediately sold it for us but also the attentive and polite staff and the fact that you could not only breathe in there but also hear yourself think. I am comparing this bar to the bar in Hakkasaan which may as well be a corridor in a submarine for all the space you have, very long and thing so much so that you might as well be trying to have a drink on the packed Tube, and the hustle and bustle of being right off Oxford Street meant it didn't make for a very relaxing atmosphere. Quite in contrast to The Crazy Bear whose bar is quite spacious indeed for this type of restaurant. Considering I had just paid £3.50 a pint at an ordinary pub just across the road I thought the £4 price was reasonable although wine as you'd expect was a little above average price but all in all happy to pay those prices for the chilled out scene in The Crazy Bear. That said we arrived before 7 and as we went up to our table at 8 the bar was beginning to fill up.

What immediately struck me was how private each table felt even though you were only inches away from the next table, a clever trick of lighting and seating arrangement I expect but the effect was a pleasant surprise, after so often bumping elbows with other diners in other restaurants. My girlfriend and I sat at a table designed for 4 but set for 2 which meant we had plenty of room. Although glancing across the restaurant we saw that 4 people at a table was a bit of a squeeze. Our waiter was very attentive and polite and actually seemed to want to help rather then seem like he was being forced to help. Before we ordered we sampled the toilets and as is customary with these Eastern Restaurants they decide to hide the toilets behind secret mirrored doors, luckily they had a member of staff on the look out when ever anyone followed the toilet sign and ended up at a dead end. They were there to show them the hidden doors. The mix of surprise and worry doesn't end there, once inside you find that the walls, floor and ceiling are either mirrored or glass which make deciding where you should stand a little worrying but after a while you work it out and then are hit buy the cleverness of the whole thing, as you'd expect the sinks are another challenge but a little more obvious then the urinals. Oh and my girlfriend said that I should mention for any women reading that they use Molten Brown toiletries in both bathrooms. But the best bit about the toilets is as you are getting ready to leave and you notice that the bloke who has just entered looks utterly bemused is the feeling of smugness you get knowing that he feels like a wally!

We decided as it was our first visit to The Crazy Bear that we would play it safe on the food front. I ordered Shrimp Crackers and Chicken Satay to start, my girlfriend vegetable rolls. The portions of all three were large indeed for starters, I had 4 skewers of chicken which is usually unheard of in these places. For main I ordered jasmine rice and green chicken curry, my girlfriend jasmine rice and duck in tamarind sauce. Again the portions were very generous indeed in fact I couldn't finish mine and trust me that rarely happens. I thought my dishes were excellent and even though I went for the bog standard thai these easily scored highly. My girlfriends duck was a little on the rare side and as a result a little too chewy but not a disaster. As we were so full we skipped dessert but it had the usuals cheesecake, sorbet, ice cream etc. Though I am sure as every other "standard dish" excelled so would these.

On reflection a very enjoyable evening and we will definitely be going again.
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Nick
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Monday, February 25, 2008

I went here the other night with a friend of mine for her birthday. I of course forgot to book, but they were happy to take us so long as we gave the table back in an hour and a half. We agreed, thinking most Asian places have you in and fed in under that.

The food here is superb. We started with wok fried baby squid, a small portion of the glass noodle salad and barbecue pork steamed dumplings. All were cooked well and tasted very good. The squid was probably the best fried squid I have ever tasted, it was not the usual rubbery texture found in most places. For mains we had the yellow prawn curry and the red duck curry. The sauce that the prawns were in was so moorish, we wished we had some bread to soak it up with!

Having said that, our evening did not go very well. To start, they seated us in a row of tables in touch, not good for someone who has troublewhich you can only sit side by side. Had I been with my husband, I may have found this slightly romantic. In fairness to the staff, they did move us but I find it hard to believe that they think 2 women or 2 men are going to want to sit side by side like they were dating! The lighting in here is very low, again a nice romance seeing in the best of times. Then there was the 1 1/2 hour rule. It would appear this applies even if you book! By the time they took our order, brought our wine and starters, we had already been there 50 minutes. Shortly after clearing up from our starters, a nice woman approached our table ready to wish us and our wine off to the bar downstairs! We told her, very politely, that we had not even eaten our mains yet, to which she seemed mildly annoyed.

In the end we raced to finish our mains and they had there table back 15 minutes later than expected. We had no pudding and were wedged into a corner in the bar downstairs to finish our wine. I will not be in any hurry to go back here again.
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luv2eat - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 4
Sunday, February 10, 2008

Whilst I was impressed by the decor, the weirdest toilets in town and some lovely cocktails on a recent night out, I was really unimpressed with two factros: (a) the food, whilst nice is too expensive for what it actuually is. It should be at least half-price as you could easily visit Buseba on Store Street and get a much higher quality meal at half the price and (b) our waiter who incessantly throughout our emal kept reminding us we had to vacate our table. We were rushed throughout and felt aggrieved that what should have been a nice birthday meal was ruined due to the fact that the restaurant had not alloted enough time for each sitting. Worth checking out but Inot worth going out of your way for
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Andrew
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 6
Thursday, December 20, 2007

I took my girlfriend to Crazy Bear last night for her birthday. I didn't quite know what to expect after only knowing about the place from reviews here. We arrived early and made our way downstairs to the very cool bar. It's plush and comfy with leather stools and low lighting without being over the top. The table was ready for us before our alloted time and we were invited upstairs to the restaurant, the waitress bringing our drinks to the table.

This place has unusual character as much like a small club as a restaurant. Don't worry though, the music is soft. It's dark and intimate with just the right amount of people in the full restaurant to feel bustling in a good way. The tables are leather topped with unusual lamps fixed in the middle of each table providing the main light source. (This sounds weird but it works)

We were sitting next to each other on a banquette which is also added intimacy along with comfort.

The menu has a good range and it was notable that they would happily adjust most regular dishes to a vegetarian version on request. We started with glass noodle salad and vegetable rolls+hoisin sauce which were both tasty and fresh. Following this we had Tofu and cashew nuts and sea bream fillets with chilli along with a side of stir fried vegetables and rice. Rich flavours and fresh herbs were plentiful in both mains. We could tell all the food came to us straight from the pan/oven without delay. The rice even came in its own bamboo steamer to keep it warm (nice touch).

The staff were all smart friendly and helpful but not overly fussy. They even personalised a message on the dessert and provided a candle at no extra cost. This isn't an overly formal place, nor is the food overly designed in the way it is plated up. However the overall experience is special due to a high degree of care and attention across the board.

To me this is the perfect special occasion or take a date restaurant. You feel looked after in a nice environment with good food.

ps. Enjoy the difficult to find and highly reflective toilets!
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Cliff
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, November 15, 2007

Love this place. We always have a good meal followed by some drinks in the cosy cocktail bar downstairs. The staff are so friendly and professional. The food is good and the drinks excellent.
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Larry
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, October 09, 2007