Amaranth Thai Market

This is the best Thai food I have tasted in London and we are extremely lucky to be within 5 mins walk from this fab little place.

Decor is a disaster but food is super delicious and service is friendly and efficient. great place for big groups but a bit cheap for a romantic night out for 2 (romance probably deserves better decor really!)

anyone that says its expensive has got to be kidding - London is expensive but for such great asian cuisine we think this place kicks butt! (and as we used to live in Hong Kong and travel extensively throughout Asia inc Thailand then we are pretty good judges!)

Their Thai supermarket and take away service nearby are also brilliant!!
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KC
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, June 25, 2008

My favourite London restaurant without a doubt. I have eaten here several times a week for about 4 years when im in the country. I have spent several years in Thailand and this is as close as it gets in London, indeed out of Asia I expect!

Service is great - fast, efficient, helpful and Thai! It's a BYO so you can pop across the road before the meal, or indeed during it if you run out, to get drinks!

The food really is great, and cheap: there are cheap set menu's for those who are unfamiliar with the cuisine and a good selection for those who are familiar. A lot of imported ingredients (they run a little Thai supermarket down the road) mean that you get the authentic tastes. Dishes are not too hot but they are happy to make them more or less spicy on request.

The prawns are great (in red curry), as is the beef penang! The supreme mixed starter is a bargain and amazingly for a Thai restaurant the deserts are really very good and include a mix of Thai deserts and more familiar western deserts.

It gets busy and you do need to book in advance, although I have never had a problem getting a table I always try and book before 6pm on the day I am eating there at the latest. Larger groups will need more lead time.

It can get noisy, when there is a larger table being catered for, but that’s because it’s a small, basic place. To get around this try eating earlier, or opt to sit downstairs (not as nice as no windows but not as noisy).

Next door they have a takeaway so even if you cant get a table you can take it home!

When eating in the two of us spend about £35-£40 including starters("supreme mixed"), mains(3), rice(2) and desert(2).

Brilliant!

(and if you speak some Thai you can get a good laugh out of the surprised staff!)
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Dan
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, November 06, 2007

My favourite London restaurant without a doubt. I have eaten here several times a week for about 4 years when im in the country. I have spent several years in Thailand and this is as close as it gets in London, indeed out of Asia I expect!

Service is great - fast, efficient, helpful and Thai! It's a BYO so you can pop across the road before the meal, or indeed during it if you run out, to get drinks!

The food really is great, and cheap: there are cheap set menu's for those who are unfamiliar with the cuisine and a good selection for those who are familiar. A lot of imported ingredients (they run a little Thai supermarket down the road) mean that you get the authentic tastes. Dishes are not too hot but they are happy to make them more or less spicy on request.

The prawns are great (in red curry), as is the beef penang! The supreme mixed starter is a bargain and amazingly for a Thai restaurant the deserts are really very good and include a mix of Thai deserts and more familiar western deserts.

It gets busy and you do need to book in advance, although I have never had a problem getting a table I always try and book before 6pm on the day I am eating there at the latest. Larger groups will need more lead time.

It can get noisy, when there is a larger table being catered for, but that’s because it’s a small, basic place. To get around this try eating earlier, or opt to sit downstairs (not as nice as no windows but not as noisy).

Next door they have a takeaway so even if you cant get a table you can take it home!

When eating in the two of us spend about £35-£40 including starters("supreme mixed"), mains(3), rice(2) and desert(2).

Brilliant!

(and if you speak some Thai you can get a good laugh out of the surprised staff!)
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Dan
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, November 06, 2007

I had been meaning to visit this restaurant ever since friends recommended it quite highly a few years ago. Four of us had dinner here mid-week in late July and I was thoroughly disappointed.

The venue is supposed to be excellent value for money, and encourages patrons to opt for one of the shared set menus to benefit from this fully. I found this option to be outrageously expensive - £20 per head for a very simple starter followed by some standard Thai mains, which although quite tasty, certainly did not justify the price.

Service was ok, nothing special, although I was quite pleased when one of the waiters finally asked a group of ~ 12 young women to tone down their screeching and excessively loud conversations. The acoustics in the restaurant are very poor - bare walls and glass frontage mean that noise isn't absorbed and instead bounces round the room, not a great place for a quite, intimate meal!

On the plus side patrons are able to bring in their own wine for a small corkage fee...which should, in theory keep costs down, but didn't!
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zimboholly
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Thursday, August 16, 2007

I agree, I have been a regular customer for over four years. Its always buzzing with activity, which at first can be off putting, but so far have never had a bad meal or poor service. You should definately go for the experience of this lovely little restaurant.
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Jo Riley
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, April 27, 2007

Without a shadow of doubt in my mind this has to be one of the best Thai, if not the best Thai restaurants in London. The food is as good as you will get in the country itself, and if you fancy cooking some yourself buy the best Thai ingredients from their grocery store. I am a local in the area and always take guests there whenever I can and no-one has ever walked away without being full to the brim with top quality food.
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manoj
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Friday, March 30, 2007

Great little restaurant this, for simple but excellent Thai cuisine. Service is great, atomosphere is buzzing as it's always busy - because it's great value for money thai.

Best of all it's BYO with a handy wine shop just round the corner.
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Lorraine Branch
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, March 30, 2007

I have been going to Amaranth on a regular basis for 3 years now, and I strongly reccomend it. The food is very good (even though I must confess that it used to be even better up to about 18 months ago) and the "bring your own" policy means you are never confronted with a huge bill at the end of the meal... Any night of the week you have to book, it is that popular, and whenever possible, ask for a table upstairs!
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Maura - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, January 16, 2007

We went there as a last minute attempt at dinner out - it is really popular so you will have to book in advance. Food was so good that we often pop in for take aways! Highly recommended although they don't have a liquor licence so take your own.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, November 23, 2006

I love the laid back atmosphere and the fact that you can drop in with a group of friends and make an evening of it, never being rushed or fussed over. The food is really good, and the atmoshpere in my opinion is what you make it. Not the sort of place for a couple to go but for a group it was brilliant.
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Nicole
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Friday, December 02, 2005