Busaba Eathai
106-110 Wardour Street
W1F 0TR
Date of Last Visit: Wednesday, December 16, 2009. (Yes, I've been sitting on a lot of posts!)
The Victim: Me
The Damage: £20
The Background: I used to think that 20 vacation days was pretty generous. Because you know, in America, you're lucky to get 10. If you're really really lucky, you get 15. (That being said, the US has more public holidays than the U.K. 10 in comparison to the U.K.'s eight. And we don't have any droughts…you know, like the drought between now and April, and the other drought between AUGUST AND FREAKIN' DECEMBER. WTF?)
I don't know about you, but I need some days just to get shit done. Weekends just don't cut it. By the time Saturday comes around, I'm exhausted. And I have to go to the dry cleaners. And the grocery store. And then it's 4 p.m. and the day is over. And then Sunday becomes this black hole of back-to-back Come Dine with Mes.
So it was that I found myself in HELL. Oxford Street on a Wednesday, less than ten days before Christmas. My whole idea about picking up some cute Christmas stuff at Liberty? Ruined. Liberty was decimated. Decimated! It was insane. I'd left things too late.
So I took myself out to lunch. At Busaba Eathai. And it was okay. What I liked most about it was the way it smelled. It was like a spa.
What I liked least about it was the fishcakes. I always try to eat Thai fishcakes and they always taste like rubber. Must stop doing this.
So then I had the Pad Kwetio. It was okay. Was it the best pad kwetio I've ever had? That's hard to answer because I've never had pad kwetio before. But was I eating it thinking, "So is this is the best thing ever"?? No. (For the record, that's the feeling I have whenever I eat the char kway teow at Sedap.)
The Verdict: Go for a massage first. And then go to Busaba Eathai. And then you tell me.
22 comments
I think their food is decidedly boring. Can’t understand the lines. And lines way too long.
I think people are lined up for the vibe.
This is funny! I’ve discovered a late in life dislike for Thai food so this will be easy to cross off my list.
Thai in London is generally disappointing I find. So far I think the best place is Patara Thai but that is quite expensive.
Well I do like Thai, but Busaba didn't live up to the hype
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This restaurant is not the best for Thai food in London, it’s just good if you’re tired after a day of shopping in Oxford Street and you fancy some Asian food. The best Thai I’ve had has been in small inexpensive restaurants – Thai Aubergine in King’s Cross and Mama Thai near Elephant & Castle.
S
http://notjustmedical.wordpress.com
Thanks for the tips! Thai Aubergine isn't too far from me so I'll have to check it out!
Krista
How hard is it to cook a fish cake? WHy do they always look like that one!!!!
Rosa’s in Shoreditch is lovely lovely Thai, and Isarn nice too. Rosa’s opening in Soho soon I believe, get on guest list…
Rosa's is nice. I kinda got food poisoning there and couldn't get out of bed for four days though. They were very sweet about it, which was good. Offered to send me flowers and everything.
I don't know. If I ever learn to cook, I will make Thai fish cakes a priority.
I do like Patara. Also spa like!
mmMMMmm sedap char koay teow~~
I agree on the fish cakes. Had these once here, and never again. Would recommend the butternut squash dish though, it was delicious.
Fish cakes are always awful, anywhere – except The Ivy (but that’s a different story). The grilled calamari at Busaba is always good. I think it’s one of the better Thai options around central London – out of an admittedly dismal selection.
The best thing about Busaba Eathai is the pandan tea with coconut biscuits. And perhaps the stir-fried squid. Another vote for Patara! Another one I like is Chaopraya Eathai which is also near a Busaba and Selfridges.
Busaba also does great juices!!
fyi. thai fishcakes are meant to be chewy. if not then they’re not authentic.
and ‘pad kwetio’ isn’t really thai, it’s some mash up of some chinese noodles with a hint of malaysian and singaporean influence. try their sen chan pad thai – that’s done well.
maybe you need to explore ur thai food a wee bit more 🙂
Yeah, I know they should be chewy. But not like tire rubber, right? That's what these felt like.
Thanks for the info re: pad kwetio and sen chan pad thai.
I’m with Greedy Diva…the calamari at Busaba is incredible. Forget all your preconceptions about what calamari is, and just order it…you won’t regret it.
I love Thai food and tried Busaba Eathai a couple of times, years ago, but am not a fan – not of the queues nor the food. You can get really good Thai food from lots of places in Soho so I don’t understand why people go to Busaba.
In your photo, the tod mun fishcakes look burnt and dry. While they should have a rubbery, squidgy consistency they shouldn’t *taste* of tire rubber. That’s not good.
If you can give tod mun one last try (ok, it’s my favourite Thai food so it’s hard for me to believe that someone might not like it, if it’s made properly), Mangosteen on Ganton Street make fab fishcakes.
See: http://louble.wordpress.com/2010/09/14/mangosteen/
Or, failing that, here’s a great recipe (from Rick Stein) to make them at home, then you can adapt flavours to suit your tastebuds:
See: http://louble.wordpress.com/2009/10/10/padstein-one-year-on/
Enjoy! :O)
Best Thai fish cakes I ever had were in a quaint pub in Devon! Not sure how they made ’em, but nothing’s ever come close to how good they were.
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