Thiwanya

Fantastic thai restaurant tucked away in the Holborn area. Decently prized with great food and service!

It’s fine. Bah, that sounds so terrible! No, but fine can be good, right? Just fine is also not… go out of your way levels of awesome.
So my thoughts on Thiwanya, both pros and the slightly more… constructively critical:
— they have a really nice broad range of Thai dishes
— their prices are reasonable, though the portions aren’t gargantuan; also, they are somewhat deceptive insofar as nothing comes with rice so that’s always a + cost
— they accommodate large groups nicely, and take reservations. Back in my MSc. days it was a grad student go-​to for its proximity to various schools and good transportation links (oh, and price) (oh, and fact that they generally let you take your time, unless they are super slammed)
— lunch menu is a great deal, though I am rarely around Gate Street these days to think of it
— service is mixed. Sometimes super-​attentive, sometimes have-​to-​get-​up-​and-​talk-​to-​someone-​yourself inattentive
— due to language issues, fairly consistently have some ordering miscommunications. 2 orders of spring rolls instead of 1. Egg fried rice instead of plain. A mysteriously appearing soup. A meat add-​on instead of tofu. None of this is a problem (save for the vegetarian staring down a plate of beef) and, in fact, might speak to Thiwanya having strong powers of anticipation (WE TOTES NEEDED THAT EXTRA ORDER OF SPRING ROLLS). Just something to be aware of.
Otherwise, yep, the food itself is fine! I don’t crave it, but when I’m there I also enjoy eating it. Spring rolls are pretty classic indulgences (fried!), the chicken satay is nicely cooked with a peanutty sauce, the curries are a good option (their selection under «Chef’s specials» is a good place to start) and their pad thai is… well, often kind of gloopy with the rice noodles glumped together, but it must speak to something in me because *I keep ordering it*.
Unilocal note: if and when they have their homemade coconut ice-​cream: (i)SCREAM FOR THAT!

Really solid food and pretty good service. The flavors were excellent and the menu was enormous. Portions were a little modest to my taste, but everything was done very well.

I travel to bangkok often for work so I’ve gotten use to the local Thai food. I was prepared for disappointment because we chose this place 95% for location & 5% for not the meat place next door. We were pleasantly surprised when we saw some Thai students eating there. Then some Chinese can who seemed to be classmates of the Thai students came in. We only had a few things but I tasted bangkok. All the dishes. Beware, like in Bangkok, the portions can be small. But it’s how it’s supposed to taste if you want to taste Thai.

They have a little takeaway stand in the back of the restaurant, ideal for grabbing a box of curry or noodles or rice on the go. There aren’t a lot of good Asian food places in this area (Wasabi doesn’t count) so Thiwanya is a nice option. I’ve come here many times for lunch between classes, and at around £4−5 for a large portion of food, it’s a great deal. I think my favourite is the vegetarian curry with bamboo shoots.

We went looking nostalgically for Pu’s Brasserie, which a couple of my mates used to visit often during their uni days, only to find it’s been replaced with Thiwanya. We needn’t have worried though — it’s basically the same place!
Seems to have been refurbed to make it lighter inside, and the décor is fairly generic/​easy on the eye. Not a very big place but given it’s tucked away on a side street you’ll probably be ok — on a Tuesday night they had plenty of room for a table for 6.
The food (as under it’s previous incarnation as Pu’s) hits the spot for a Thai place in London — a tasty red panaeng curry and a flavourful pad thai being my highlights. Also ticks the boxes that 1) the food comes out very speedily, and 2) it’s reasonably priced (in fact it came to less than the cocktail bill at our previous stop which was a bit of an eye-​opener eek!).
My only niggle is that the staff strayed onto the slightly weird side of attentive and stood on top of us a bit. Otherwise it’s a good value thai option in central, and all the better if you enjoy eating with an audience!

I have only ordered the vegetarian Pad Thai, but when I asked for it spicy, they generously accommodated. I get a decent aromatic, full-​flavoured dish that many other Thai places can’t seem to execute. It’s not the absolute best I’ve ever had, but when it comes to value for money and friendliness of the staff, this is a pretty good option.

Good Thai food at a reasonable price. Service was fast and efficient. Restaurant is small inside so check on a reservation Thursday, Friday or Saturday.
Located close to the Holborn Tube stop but away from the noise and bustle of Holborn.
A group from work went on a Monday night for the set menu which was £25 per person — this includes an assorted appetizer platter per 2 people, a coconut soup (very good) with shrimp or chicken and several assorted main courses and white rice. The restaurant offers Tsing Ha (you guessed it, Thai beer) and a wine list.
Not a bad value for central London; we didn’t finish all the good they provided because of the large portion sizes and many courses.

The food was AWSOME. A very small intimate restaurant, with very good food. A nice selection of all things Thai. We had all vegetarian, but the other selections looked delicious, too. They even prepared a tofu red curry (not on menu) by request. The price was also reasonable including a bottle of wine and desert.

My favourite Thai place in London so far! It’s down the road from work and the queue for their lunchtime take-​away meals is often ridiculously long (though worth the wait!). Have been for dinner several times, try the red curry.

My first time here was with my husband’s colleagues, 6 of us came for dinner on a weeknight after work. The place was full but luckily they had a table waiting for us. I wouldn’t have found this place on my own because there’s constructions going on in front and the restaurant is tucked behind some roadwork.
We shared a bunch of appetizers, my husband and I shared pad Thai with Prawns and Penang curry with beef, both were really good. Price is reasonable and service was great. I’ve been back for lunch since, they offer an express lunch menu and a 2 course lunch menu, both are great value. I recommend this hidden gem.