Fine dining alternatives in London

“The staff were incredibly friendly, welcoming and attentive. We stayed the night for an anniversary weekend in London. Upon arrival they upgraded our room which was a lovely surprise. The room was amazing, the spa was a hidden gem and breakfast was very good too. All for a reasonable price. I would recommend.”

“Just found out about this place walking past so we decided to give it a try. Friendly service, nice interior and the sushi selection was delicious! Will definitely come back.”

“Very delicious food & very cosy restaurant. Affordable & great portion sizes (what we ordered was the platter for 2). The owners/staff were so friendly & welcoming - would definitely recommend!”

“The very best I ate since I moved to London. Authentic Italian food for those who crave and for an unbelievably honest price. And, the cherry on top, the warmest and gentlest crew. Go! You won't regret!”

“We’ve been coming to Haywards for almost ten years now and despite many changes to staff in the kitchen and front of house the standards have never dropped. Under the guidance of owners Amanda and Jahdre they have still manage to produce amazing food with friendly and professional service. Our latest visit was Saturday lunchtime where on arrival we received a lovely welcome from Amanda before she escorted us to our customary table 10. After a little catch up she told us that Jahdre had created for us a special menu that would showcase all the new dishes on the menu. This was a fabulous gesture and one we gladly accepted. We started with homemade Granary Sourdough bread and a selection of snacks including a cauliflower cheese veloute , harissa arancini , goat’s cheese and tomato canneloni. This led us to out first course a Chicken and Ham Hock Terrine with celeriac remoulade , toasted brioche and a homemade piccalilli. This was followed by the Fillet of Pollock with a crab bisque , hispi cabbage. and parsnips. Both dishes were an absolute delight and the flavours complimented each other perfectly. Amanda paired the courses with a Framingham 2021 Riesling from New Zealand. We now moved onto the main course which was a heavenly and rich Braised Pork Cheek with a white bean cassoulet and gremolata topped with a piece of pork crackling. This was paired with a Grand Garant 2020 Fleurie from France. We decided to follow this with a Cheese Course. We then finished with dessert which was a Chocolate Mousse with mascarpone sorbet , coffee cremaux and lime gel a twist on a tiramisu. The pairing for this dessert was a beautiful Australian Muscat from the Rosewood Vineyards that tasted like a light pedro ximinez. Apparently we wasn’t finished there as chef Jahdre sent out an Orange Soufflé with grand marnier caramel and cinnamon ice cream. This was a delight and the flavour combinations worked perfectly together. A coffee and petit fours brought to an end another fabulous dining experience at Haywards with fantastic food , perfect wine pairings and great service. If i ever needed another reason why i think this is the best restaurant in Essex then today’s visit did everything to enhance that. Looking forward to many more visits this year which will at some point include our 150th. Thank You Amanda and Jahdre for a fantastic lunch and look forward to seeing you again soon.”

“Excellent choice for panettone s Ranging from top of the range (dolce and gabbana) to the more traditional range Staff very friendly and knowledgeable.”

“Service was great, very attentive servers. I had succulent lamb chops with incredible side dishes. Best Turkish restaurant in Lewisham.”

“Really tasty thin crust baked in a proper pizza oven. One size fits all, simple but well done. Definitely recommend.”

“The food was amazing and fresh. The service was great. There was ten adults and at least ten children so you can imagine how loud our group was. The staff dealt with us professionally courteously and they were great with the kids. The portions were a good size and we had so much left over. The taste of the fresh food was on point. Will definitely recommend and return in the near future.”

“A really nice combination of a Café and Restaurant. The food is excellent. I had the Penne with Spicy meatballs and it was very tasty and well presented. I understand this place is under threat of closure . I think people should work hard to protect this kind of establishment, so much better in quality and taste than the chain fast food places.”

“Very good service and the food was excellent. I can say that is the 100% souvlaki that i ate in Greece. Very clean and tidy kitchen and value for money. I recommend it for sure.”

“The menu leaves you spoilt for choice everything sounds devine. I have never had lamb doner in a burger and must say it is just amazingly delicious... I have also been wanting to eat cheesy fries for a very long time but can not find any place that does it the way I would like it to be until I came to Burg:r. The cheesy fries is just so mouthwateringly good! Thank you to the chef as the quailty of the food is just brilliant and delicious. Will definitly go back again and try something new on the menu.”

“Came here for our work Christmas meal, excellent service, excellent food. Considering there were 40 of us, all food was hot and served together. Entertainment was great. Thank you Guiseppe and Team!”

“Amazing food and drink. The service was second to know and Timi was so hospitable. Defo recommend.”

“I happened upon this gem and so glad I did! The staff were so kind and helpful! The food was incredible! I wish I could have tried the entire menu! My server recommended the chai and Pau Bhaji which I would also recommend. The spices and flavors in everything were impeccable.”

“Me and my boyfriend visited for his birthday yesterday and the service was absolutely amazing. All the staff were friendly and attentive. They gave him a free glass of prosecco and dessert and it made his day. 100% recommend!”

“Great location, tasty food, amazing shisha, very very very friendly & helpful staff, high recommend.”

“Such a cute cafe. Friendly & charming. I love that it’s still retained the feel of the old building - feels like its good a story and a part of old London :-) coffee was super good too. Really enjoyable. Cakes & food looked tempting too, so I’ll have to go back for sure.”

“Very nice and cozy restaurant in the area with the beautiful foods and friendly services. Every time we visited the restaurant , we try the different menus, all dishes was delicious!!”

“The best Thai restaurant I have ever been to (in the world, including Thailand) . Thai red was delicious. My partner doesn’t like Spice , so the chef made him a custom mild Thai green. Very kind of him. He even came out to speak to us later. Service was excellent . Stuffed wings were small, but delicious.”

“Love this place. Food exceptional plus it's bring your own beer/wine.”

“Looks are deceiving as the sign board looks rusty but, mixed grill platter is so juicy and full of flavours. Their rice and bread are so fresh, run by bengalis but food is authentic turkish. I can not fault their food. Salad wad really good. My only improvement area would be to work on their chilli sauce other than that 5 stars. I'm a regular noe.”

“I took my son out for the buffet all you can eat meal yesterday (Sunday 7th August 2022) His birthday is on the 9th so i did some research into all you can eat buffet restaurants in the area and a google search came up with Thai Orchid. The reviews were excellent so i decided it would be the perfect place for us to try. WOW, it was a real revelation, an Aladdin's cave of Thai art, elephants and food. Immediately you are hit with a real cacophony of amazing aromas and an amazing selection of food delights waiting to be enjoyed. Our waiter was a real character, he took us up to "business class", which was upstairs. There was lots to choose from and all the available space was well utilised. However, the choice wasn't thankfully overwhelming, i think there was about 50 dishes from starters to mains to choose from. We chose a plate of starters each and our waiter was on hand to take several pictures of us with our food, a nice touch. We returned to business class to find that this part of the restaurant was filling up nicely. We ate our starters which were a real treat to start the proceedings. My son and i needed a well earned breather before heading down for our next plateful. We are real foodies so discussion was how good the food was. We went back downstairs and the restaurant was full now. There wasn't an empty seat in sight. This is a really good indication of how good a restaurant is in my opinion. I got talking to a few people and they were there for the first time also. We all agreed how good it was. We ate so much amazing and flavourful food it was unbelievable. I would recommend a bowl of the thick satay sauce, which was loaded with nuts, lemongrass and of course coconut milk, an amazing accompaniment to lots of the dishes or just to serve as a dip for the starters. We wished we could have taken a container of this home but alas not. Our waiter took more pictures of us eating, again another nice touch. I didn't mention, all the tables are glass topped with the most amazing wooden carvings underneath. Certainly lots to discuss while we were there and lots to discuss afterwards and definitely an all you can eat buffet experience to be savoured for a long time to come. I would say personally that we have filtered out a lot of truly awful all you can eat buffets, but this may now have taken the new crown for us. My son and i were literally gobsmacked by the outstanding appearance of everything, the décor, the food and of course the friendliness of our waiter. My son said I'd chosen an amazing location and restaurant and we both agreed we will be returning again and again and possibly again. Thai Orchid also offer a menu service and now also a take away service, both of which I'm sure are just as good. There will always be people who have good and bad experiences and people whose taste expectations dont match the restaurant and yes you have to go there to find out but i speak for myself as well as my son when we say that this was a truly unique all you can eat buffet easily within reach locally. We have nothing bad to say at all, however the only time for the buffet is 1200-1430 on a Sunday, which for some might be too early, but judging on how rammed the restaurant was it certainly didn't put anyone off and at £20 per person was excellent value. The other great thing is the restaurant is located opposite the Thames at Maidenhead so you have a nice place to walk off a full tummy afterwards. This is a completely genuine review, written without bias. I write from my personal experience and thought it was that good, i should let everyone else know too how good it is too. I guess if you don't like or appreciate Thai cuisine then this isn't for you, but if like my son and i and all of the other happy customers yesterday we loved it. Thank you Thai Orchid, we will most definitely see you again”

“Nice local shop with friendly guys working behind counter.”

“What a wonderful find. Lovely, friendly people, excellent food, very reasonable prices. A taste of Turkey in West Wickham. Recommended.”

“I've only used Gaab Kao for takeaway, both delivery and collection, but it's a great Thai restaurant. Friendly staff, great prices and delicious food. In my opinion, the best noodles in town!”

“Lovely lunch, the shellfish ( prawn cocktail) was super tasty and served in the prettiest of bowls. The monkfish and prawn curry spicy but not too hot and a really good consistency. My partner had the fish stew which he loved. Our friend had the fish pie, this was delicious, comfort food with elegance.”

“The food was awesome everything was fresh. Excellent customer service and hot food. We had a lovely warm place to enjoy the mouthwatering salad and ribs s and all the rest of it....a lovely clean family friendly restaurant worth the travel.”

“A friend took me here promising the biggest burgers in East London, and it turned out a great dinner. Mine was a huge burger, with amazing toppings and very fresh ingredients. Generous portions and friendly staff. It does get busy so go early to get a table.”