Time Out has teamed up with tastelondon to offer you a fantastic one month free trial
-
Rosa's
-
Budget choice
-
-
By Guy Dimond
No Thai restaurant is complete without a portrait of the king, but Rosa's has a picture of The King. Elvis Presley met King Bhumipol and Queen Sirikit of Thailand while filming 'GI Blues', and a portrait in the window proudly commemorates the event. It is just one sign that Rosa's is a refreshing departure from the norm.
Although the dishes are (mostly) the familiar roll call, there is a freshness and honesty about the cooking. Take, for example, the som tam. The grated green (ie. unripened) papaya of this salad is often substituted with cheaper carrot or cabbage in the UK, to bulk it out. Not here: the Rosa version is all papaya, mixed up with long beans, cherry tomatoes, chilli, small shrimps and, in this case, cashew nuts. The flavour was in the style of central Thailand – that is, sweet and mild, and lacking sufficient sour notes for our taste. This was easily remedied: a waiter brought a saucer of fish sauce (nam pla) on request, to drizzle.
The dish called ta lae pad cha is a stir-fry of seafood, with the clear and distinctive ginger-like flavour of lesser galangal shining through the yellow chilli paste and whole black peppercorns. Pad thai was, curiously, the only slightly disappointing dish we tried, in that it was an average version.
Pad makhuea (stir-fried aubergine) was a stunner though: meltingly soft chunks of aubergine, cloaked in a yellow bean sauce with chilli, garlic and crisp leaves of sweet (ie European) basil. The arrangement of our other dishes was, in the Thai way, quite beautiful, with carved vegetables and garnishes in greater abundance than you might expect for dishes costing around six or seven quid.
Rosa's has a shared table set-up that rewards booking, or early arrival if you're in a small group. It's good-looking for a low-budget place, with wooden architraves cunningly turned into wall sculptures, attractive lighting and a moodier, more spacious dining area in the basement. Go when you’re pining for the tastes of Thailand.Time Out Issue 1988: September 25-Oct 1 2008
Time Out reviews restaurants anonymously and pays for meals. Of course, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or independence of user reviews.
|
|
Advertisement
Details
- 12 Hanbury Street, Brick Lane, E1 6QR
- Area: Brick Lane
- Tel: 020 7247 1093
- www.rosaslondon.com
- Category: Thai
- Travel: Liverpool St tube/rail or Whitechapel tube
- Times: Open 11am-11pm Mon-Thur; 11am-12midnight Fri, Sat; 11am-11pm Sun
- Price: Meal for two with wine and service: around £40
Map
Most viewed restaurants
Date of the day
JustGiveItATry
Well if you like what you read about me I guess we are already halfway. ,so just give it a try!
|
|
More ways to enjoy Time Out
-
Weekly London newsletter
The best of London in your inbox
-
Time Out Widgets
|
|
I've been to Rosa's twice now and liked it a lot, especially in the evening when the lights add more atmosphere. I can be a snob about food and service so this was my review:
- good food (much better than the brick lane Indian restaurants) perhaps not the best Thai in London but price vs taste ratio good for me. Pad Thai blew my head off hot, cod satay was interesting
- service was attentive, tho did have a snarl off one guy when we werent ready to order
- got the impression this is a pop in and eat place rather than somewhere you book for a special dinner.
In summary, go with a mate before you head out for the night or want somewhere low key.
Saturday night, table booked for 7pm with a bunch of girlfriends. they call me at 6.15pm to tell me that if we will not leave the table for 9 pm they will cancel the booking. glad we didn't go - don't want to support such appalling business ethics!! on this ground alone I would go to somewhere different...
Interesting flicking through the reviews how this place seems to polarise people... most are either 5 stars or 1. Makes me wonder how genuine some of them are. Was looking forward to something special based on the review above but sadly I'm firmly in the one star camp. The 'fresh' spring rolls (not really a Thai dish granted) were badly presented and seemed like they had been sweating out the back for an hour or two... not at all fresh. The red curry was insipid, with no complexity, and the meat was bland and tough. Maybe bad choices... some other dishes looked a lot more appetising. Not even particularly cheap. Surely not amongst the best Thai in London? Been to many better places abroad in the past.
Great authentic food and lovely service. Will go there again for sure. Reasonably priced. Very recommended!
Been there once and loved it!!! Best Tha food I've had outside of Thailand. Service was great overall and so was my fish dish.
Love the food and service, but i have to say it is a tight space so dont expect a movement while you eat. i would like to give it my best , also im a big fan of independence, i hate chains so def, go to Rosa's and try it. Worth it!
Rosa's is one of my favorite restaurant. Nice place and nice food. Highly recommended!
Been there a few times and never been disappointed! Really nice place, staff and food. Would recommend it!! Thank you.
I've been there many times, love the food that's amazing. Service is fine and the atmosphere is so lovely. Surprisingly, last time I were there, I met Keira Knight by chance. Gosh, such a popular as TO rating.
good affordable thai food, very tasty and lovely staff. food taste great and is probably one of the best hidden gems out there for thai restaurants, i highly recommend a visit.