Isarn

Fantastic...the grilled lamb curry was excellent. As an Upper Street regular I would definitely recommend this establishment to anyone who had the opportunity to eat here. top draw!
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Peter Drake
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Saturday, December 19, 2009

Pretty moreish Thai cuisine, if it is all a bit dainty. The dining room looks a little unprepossessing from outside, but inside it's quite chic. The service is charming. The best along Upper Street of it's kind.
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Will
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Wednesday, December 02, 2009

I do enjoy nice evening dinner with my husband and family.. I find the food portion is kinda small and the food is expensive.. The decor and atmosphere is nice and dark .. luckily they have a candle lit in each tables.. Nice for special occasion but I think i will not regularly visit this restaurant..

Overall the food is ok.. not excellent.
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enjoyfoodlady - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 5
Thursday, August 13, 2009

We have been to this restaurant about 3 times and have ordered take away about 6 times And regardless of what you read in other reviews. The food tastes great with a real consistency.

The restaurant and the decor itself is lovely, very fresh, modern but not pretentious. And I know some people said that it is expensive and would paid less for their local. But to be honest, i don't know any thai restaurant in london that would use ALESSI glasses and cutleries.

Go and not only go there for the food, but when you said to youself that you want some thai food in great settings with lovely restaurant and great staffs.
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Narut
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Saturday, July 18, 2009

In the past two years or so we've been at ISARN every month and always had a nice evening out. Food is consitantly good the service nice and we never had problems with the reservation. We'll certainly be back.
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Hans
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, July 15, 2009

What's happened to Isarn? This place has really gone downhill fast unfortunately. They seem to have gotten a new manager several months ago who has really changed the place, mainly in terms of the service standards. This was my favourite restaurant in London until recently, and one I went to weekly.

First I will start off with the positive, which is that the food is still great.

However, the service has turned downright appaling. I have TWICE made a reservation only to turn up and be told that we'd have to wait for a table. The first time we waited 20 minutes beyond our reservation time. The second time it happened we waited 20 minutes and then decided to go elsewhere. How any restaurant can let this happen once let alone twice is beyond me, especially as this is not a cheap restaurant. Seems they are getting greedy with fitting in as many customers as possible per evening. We were not offered an apology either time. If you've ever been to Isarn, you'll understand that waiting in their very narrow corridor is not exactly a pleasant experience.

Another shocking thing is that they seem to have gotten rid of all the fantastic waitresses they had before. It seems odd to me that several long term staff members were replaced at the same time the new manager came in. The new waitresses are still polite enough but nowhere near as 'switched on'. One time I asked to check when ordering entrees that the entrees would come with 4 pieces of the item, as there were 4 of us dining. They then proceeded to bring 4 entire plates of EACH entree. How they thought we could possibly order that much food is beyond me - their English is not very good but surely they should clarify if they did not understand? It was ridiculous!

The wine list continues to be completely overpriced and has a very poor price/quality ratio. On top of all this, they insist on adding a 12.5% service charge even when they've failed to deliver on something so simple as a reservation.

I heard some other guests complaining to the manager that they were told they would be phoned back shortly when a table became available but an hour later they never were.

I am now too embrassed to take my friends here and am on the lookout for a Thai restaurant with food this good in London. If the owner reads this - please sort out your appaling service standards so that they match the quality of your food (as they did in the past).
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Tyce
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3
Friday, October 31, 2008

I've been to ISARN a number of times and never came out disappointed.

The sevice is extremely good and the food is very nice with a vast array of dishes to choose from. I believe that the place is well set up for couples and small groups. The small courtyard at the back is highly recommended.

The place is clean and staff is very cheerful. I must add that the bathrooms are well kept, clean and well equipped.

Only thing I would suggest, if I can, is to update the wine list and increase selection.

Well done to all and I will definitely be back for some more.
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Robert P Galea
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Went there recently, the food was ok, largely better than your average thai, but not significantly so, wheras the costs are significantly higher. We had a problem with starters being brought out cold, when we complained, they came back and they were the same ones (complete with bite marks) reheated. We would have sent them back again but were all starving, and besides, they can hardly have been unaware of what they'd decided to do. We thought this was poor service, especially in a restaurant of this price and so declined to pay the service charge.

So far, so ho-hum, but its at that point things became insane. The waitress refused to remove service charge from the bill (even though we had a legitimate issue, and its discretionary in any event), then she called the manager over, who gave us a loud lecture in the middle of the restaurant. During our telling off, he told us that if she didn't get the service charge on any of her tables, the waitress would have to see the manager above him and be shouted at about it!

So the management here shout at their customers and apparently shout at their staff. Shocking service, high prices, food only slightly better than average. Why go?
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Tuesday, October 07, 2008

I dined with 3 friends at Isarn on Saturday 20 October. Our main courses were delicious and well presented. The desserts were just heavenly especially the cheese cake. The service was very good indeed; our waitress was attentive and helpful. The decor was simple and well thought. The restaurant itself is very well located for nearby bars and the Almeida theatre.

The price was reasonable at under £30 per head for three courses with wine. A small point, but I thought it helpful was the bill showed how much each person would need to contribute were we to split the bill evenly between 4. I've not seen this done before and (as someone numerically challenged) thought it useful.

One minor point of caution is that the menu did not show which dishes contained nuts (one of our party has a nut allergy). However, we suggested the inclusion of this information and were pleased to note that on ordering deserts our waitress was careful to highlight those dishes which contained nuts.

Overall I found Isarn a very pleasant dining experience and would highly recommend it.
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Sara
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, September 23, 2008

I took my thirteen year old son to isarn last weekend. He wanted to try thai food for a long time. The food was dull and not very fresh. It was very little portion and vegetables. We had to wait for a long time before anything came around that we wanted to eat. I asked the manager, who didn’t seem very knowledgeable, for some vegetables. He was gone for ages and when I finally called him over he told me they were sold out of dishes.The bill for meal is £48. That compares poorly to my local thai restaurant, which is much better.
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judy
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Thursday, August 14, 2008