101 Thai Kitchen

We had dinner at your restaurant on Friday the 19th Aug.

We live nearby and we have been in your restaurant a number of times, as we found the food quality very good. Unforgettably at this visit, we had a very bad experience in terms of service:

My partner had his food served before mine, and after several asking, I received my dish by the time he finished his, with about 30m delay.

We went out to dine together and I must say it was the most frustrating experience. Especially the fact we have been ignored by the staff.

Also we have been offered complimentary greens with our dishes, which at the end it was added to our bill, for an almost £7.

No one said sorry and when we paid the waitress acted like she doesn't understand what we are saying about the greens.

We spent £45 and left very disappointed.

We would not have mind waiting long to get our food together, especially we had starters, but I believe we are rightly upset by this service.

We will not be returning for a while I am afraid, might be never, because of this experience, which is shame, as we have liked dining at this place before.
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Klara
5 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Tuesday, August 23, 2011

This place was recommended to us by a friend of my wife, both of which are Thai and very particular about "their" food.

It was the first place we had Thai food, where I did not have to listen to my other half ranting on about how Western blandness ruined the (arguably) best food in the world.

We have been to 101 several times and found the food consistently good and "tasting just like at home". I think the fact half of guests there are Thai says a lot about the kitchen and the food they deliver, although despite taking spice well some of the dishes left me wanting for a fire engine.

It is not a stunning restaurant, posters of Kho Samui in cheap frames certainly don't portray fine dining, but the basic decoration conveys a somewhat Thai atmosphere which reminds me of some places I ate at in Bangkok.

Staff doesn't swarm over you unless you call for them, so you can actually have a conversation without being interrupted.

To sum up I find the place perfect if you want to experience Thai food the way it should taste. No fancy diamond encrusted buddha in the corner or designer furniture, no arrogant staff trying to sell you overpriced wine. This is a place back to basics; reasonably priced, authentic food for those who KNOW what it should taste like.
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Christian
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, August 02, 2011

My husband and I visited 101 Thai Kitchen on a rainy bank holiday Monday as we were in the area and had heard good things about the food there.

We arrived at around 6.30pm and it was fairly quiet apart from two tables of Thai people (a good sign). The welcome was friendly and we were given enough time to look over the food and drinks menus without being rushed.

We opted for the '101 ways to heaven' mixed starter platter for two which was reasonably priced at £7.50. The platter was mostly good, with the glass noodle filled spring rolls proving the biggest hit, although the the sweetcorn fritters were a bit dry and falling apart as a result.

On to the mains, we tried the chicken panang curry with steamed rice which, although the sauce was quite thin, was packed with flavour and heat and very good indeed - there wasn't a scrap of it left at the end! We also had the obligatory prawn pad thai (usually a good benchmark by which to judge Thai restaurants) and this was good too - tasty and just right for a chilly evening!

With a bottle of house white (£10.50), the bill came to £33.70, with service not included - very reasonable for the level of food received. By the time we left just before 8pm, the place was two thirds full and had a nice, relaxed feel to it.

All in all, Thai 101 Kitchen is not really a 'destination restaurant' but definitely a great local pitstop when you want to be fed well without breaking the bank... We'll be back!
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SJP - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, May 31, 2011

I cannot believe that the reviewer who gave such bad marks (or was that no marks?) to this great Thai restaurant went to the correct establishment. We went here on the recommendation of a friend involved in a Thai-language publication, and were not disappointed despite the trek for 2 East Londoners. Most Thai restaurants in London are rubbish - only the stalls at the annual Songkran festival at the Wimbledon Thai temple are authentic, or the take-away condiments at the Thai grocery shop in Earls Court. So it was a wonderful treat to get decent dishes here. EG: there are several varieties of somtom (papaya salad) including one with little salted crabs (home-made); we asked for dried salted fish with our veggie (fresh spring greens) - not on the menu but they happily obliged; the non-coconut curry with tamarind was excellent as was a scrumptious crispy fish salad. And the tord mon pla (fishcakes) were perfect. All dishes had the that distinctive Thai taste. Service couldn't have been friendlier - on a Friday night with restaurant mostly full. If I didn't live so far away, this would become a regular stop of mine.
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Mike - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Monday, January 17, 2011

Well, I don't know who writes these reviews but this was one of the worst dining experiences we had in London.

The food was truly appalling. The fish cakes were rubbery, bland and chewy. Duck of such low quality that it didn't taste like duck at all, it tasted bloody and wet and I couldn't eat it. Pad thai - how dare they call THAT a pad thai. A greasy, syrupy sweet mess on the plate with most pad thai ingredients missing. My husband ordered a chicken dish, the chicken was not fresh! It tasted like something out of a can, it had no resemblance to the taste or texture of fresh chicken. Our bill came to 33 pounds and we might have as well thrown it down the gutter.

There is not one positive thing to say about the place. When, at the start, we asked the waiter to suggest an authentic Thai dish, he said "spring rolls"....oh Dear. The spring rolls were of the cheapest ready made, frozen variety with almost no filling inside apart from a few strings of something undecipherable. They were dry and greasy at the same time, quite a triumph, I supose. Needless to say that we left most of the food uneaten.

I cannot understand all the good reviews this place is getting. There are only two possibilities: people who go there have no idea about food or, perhaps, Thai people get better food in this place. However, our food was so bad that I cannot imagine that they would have such huge difference in quality for two different groups of people, so it is probably the first suggestion.

In any case, this is the place to avoid at all costs. I only regret that we ended up paying for the truly execrable quality food we received.
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Sophie
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, January 02, 2011

We visited 101 for the second time on 25 September. (See my review below dated 5 September 2008). The service was slow since they were one waiter/waitress short on a busy Saturday night, but otherwise this was the best Thai dining experience we have encountered in the UK by a street. I said in 2008 that 101 was on a par with the Thai Cottage, which remains another favourite, but on this latest showing 101 is actually in a different league both on quality and price. The dishes we had - all excellent, in good portions and reminiscent of those served in many family-run eateries in Thailand itself - included som tum plaa ra with fermented fish sauce, spicy and sour Isaan sausages, crispy fish salad and pad kee mow yellow noodles. The freshness and complex flavours of the salad in particular took us back to our holiday in December last year. An absolute top restaurant of its kind and streets ahead of the competition. The bill for 2 was a shade over £45 and included two Chang beers and a bottle of house wine (the latter still under £10). Pity it's so far from home!
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9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Monday, September 27, 2010

What can I say about this place !!! Truly an amazing experience.... everything right from drinks, the environment, ambience, food is truly thai. The service was superb, the starter arrived in no time. We ordered Chicken Satays with Peanut Sauce, Tom Khai Gai Soup, Dumplings. Starters were absolutely brilliant, especially the soup. For the mains we ordered Chicken Panang, Chicken Stir Fry with Cashewnuts with Egg Fried Rice. One of the best Panang currys I ever had.

For the drinks we ordered thai stimulation drink ( another version of Red Bull) and Lemon Ice Tea.

Bill was a modest 33£ for two people. Quite decent in my opinion for a lovely dinner.
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8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Thursday, August 12, 2010

On a monday at 230pm, 101 Thai Kitchen was quite full, which was promising. We ordered the fish cakes, thai beef salad, spicy prawns and massaman curry. The fish cakes were fresh and tasty. The thai beef salad was good with nice cuts of beef but a little too bland for my taste (I had told them to spice it up, so this was quite dissapointing). The prawn dish was just ok, but the massaman curry was very good....often this dish is quite oily, but this curry was perfectly balanced. The service was efficient and friendly. All in all, a nice Thai meal in a town where good, inexpensive Thai is very hard to find. We would come back.
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8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Monday, July 26, 2010

I live close to 101 and visit regularly. The menu is genuinely Thai - no fushion here. The food, familiar or not, is always very, very tasty. The service is charming. If there is sometimes a while to wait for food its because the place is busy and preparing its food freshly. My experience over perhaps 15 visits in the last half of 2009 is that its worth the wait!

The restaurant is very popular with Thai people and can get busy, so booking is recommended.
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9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 10
Friday, December 18, 2009

This is a gem of a place! Refurbished last year, it is a cosy, friendly and fabulous restaurant. Takeaways are quick and great value too, it's an all round winner.
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Rosie
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, February 24, 2009