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Reviews

Bangkok House is my favourite restaurant of any description in Oxford, and has been for years. The prices haven't risen much over the years. I have been to Thailand many times and true enough the food isn't 'authentic' Thai, as you don't get your eyeballs burned out by chillis when they are cooking them, as you may in Thailand. The food is an 'Anglicised', but I am happy without scorching dishes the Thais eat. I would recommend the set menus where you get a choice of dishes, something with Green or Red curry, which are delicious, without being overly hot. The service - well that is truly Thai: sometimes fantastic sometimes erratic - but go with a relaxed attitude and you'll get along fine. Thai's don't like anger so don't show any. Good value - just don't judge on one dish.

Pompui Man 30 Mar 2009

For a fiver you can choose from many dishes on the Bangkok House lunchtime menu.

VickyJP 5 Jan 2009

I'm Southeast Asian and I worked at a Thai restaurant for a year, so I have a fairly good idea of what Thai food should taste like, and Bangkok House definitely is not the place to go.

I had Siam Wings (deboned chicken wings stuffed with a minced pork/prawn filling) to start and these came coated in batter, rather resembling those sweet-and-sour chicken balls from substandard chinese takeouts. This is not how the dish is supposed to be done. For mains I had grilled chicken (Gai Yang) and Pad Thai. Again, the grilled chicken was terribly disappointing as they'd gotten the marinade wrong, and the chicken was very overcooked. The Pad Thai was bland and boring, without the distinctive nutty taste of Pad Thai and without the subtle "wok fragrance" that makes the dish special. My boyfriend had satay to start. The satay was okay but the accompanying peanut sauce was watered down and tasted awful. He had Duck with Cashew Nuts for a main. It was not very authentically cooked but it at least tasted good, so no real complaints there.

All in all an extremely disappointing restaurant. It will pass muster if you're unfamiliar with Thai food, but for those who know what it should taste like, you will be let down. Will be off in search of an alternative Thai restaurant in Oxford to get my Thai food fix.

chanmaipon 1 Jan 2009

We visited Bangkok House as a group of 16 and paid £18 per head for one of the set menus. Food was served piping hot and was absolutely delicious and there was more than enough to go round. Excellent value for money. Would highly recommend this restaurant.

Impressed 6 Sep 2008

Kind of like a Thai version of the Fawlty Towers dining experience... we took a special birthday jaunt to this restaurant, fondly remembering the carved wooden tables and a nice meal a few years ago. The carved tables are still there and they are looking good - but the service and the rest of the decor seemed somewhat decayed. The evening started badly when we arrived to discover that they'd lost our reservation. However... they had a spare table for four so it wasn't too disastrous.

Unfortunately, the food was disappointing too, especially for the vegetarians among us - most of the items on the 'vegetarian' menu included fish, leaving us with only three genuinely vegetarian choices. The service wasn't ideal either (although one of the waiters smiled a lot and tried very hard) as most of the waiters and waitresses didn't speak enough English to understand my mother's request for fish sauce (nam pla, a common ingredient in Thai food) to be left out of the vegetarian dishes. We did have one delicious dish - a starter, the tom yam het soup, which I'd highly recommend to anyone. Apart from that highlight, vegetarians and carnivores alike all agreed that the food was disappointing - I had some extremely bland pad thai noodles and the other members of the party sampled chicken and beef dishes and a Thai red curry. None of it was deemed offensive but it certainly wasn't very exciting at all.

I'd recommend avoiding this restaurant, despite the lovely carved wooden tables and the one beaming waiter who cheered us all up! You can find much better Thai food in Oxford for the same price.

beeswing 29 Dec 2007

Nice food, especially the soup for 2. We were not rushed out as others have mentioned, but we did go to the second sitting at 9pm. Would go back.

AA. 22 Nov 2007

I went to Bankok house with my boyfriend one Saturday. We arrived early in the evening, at around 18.00, and found that all but 3 tables were free. When we enquired about a table, the waitress explained that we could have one if we left at 19.30, which was find by us. She then proceeded to seat us, in a near-empty restaurant, next to the kitchen and the toilets at the very back at the restaurant. We weren't made to feel welcome at all. Suprisingly, 5 minutes after we had been seated another couple were seated right next to us. There we were, 4 of us stuck in dark corner!

Even though the food was nice I would not go there again because of the poor service. As mentioned previously, the emply plates were ripped from our table as soon as we took our last mouthful, by a waitress that clearly wanted to get rid of us.

When we got the bill, the service was already included. We asked not to pay service, but the waitress feigned ignorance and, feeling that we weren't going anywhere, we paid service and left. We won't be back.

Cecilia 19 Sep 2007

I went to Bangkok house yesterday night to have dinner with a couple of friends. I had previously read all the reviews about it, so I was not really excited to go, but a friend of mine insisted on me trying it anyway. We ordered a menu C (for people who do not know what to order), thai beers, rosè wine, water and desserts. Food was great, so I would recommend it. I know many people were disappointed by the service. I have to admit that they were pretty fast in removing our plates and not all waitresses were nice. At the end of our meal we stayed a little bit longer chatting while I was still sipping my Jasmine tea. They were staring at us all the time like...why don't you leave? They even gave us the bill without us asking for it. What if we wanted another bottle of wine? There were many tables empty and it was pretty late, so what's the rush? It could be cultural, I mean asian people usually do not spend a long time eating and chatting, so maybe for them an extremely fast service is the max efficiency. We went to a pub afterwards and we chatted as long as we liked.

I give an A to the food, though.

Trinity 22 Aug 2007

A friend and I went for the awesome lunch menu and deal, and were not disappointed! A huge range of meals, nearly all for £5, prompt service and staff who were very knowledgable about their food. When my companion enquired about a dish not on the menu the staff were extremely helpful and suggested their nearest alternative. Portions were extremely generous, so much so that we had to ask for a doggy bag to take some home in! Again, the staff were very obliging on this front.
Really tasty, good food, and a welcome change to have such a vast amount of choice on a lunch menu (and for such a bargain price). We will definitely be back.

ALS 15 Aug 2007

I went to Bangkok House with my friend for the Lunch special this week, and found that although the food was delicious, the service was unacceptably rude, and left a bad taste in the mouth.
We ordered our meals, and my friend ordered tap water. When it came with ice, my friend asked for it without ice, and the server (who it turned out was the owner) actually said "Oh you should have said while ordering" in an extremely rude tone. The water was delivered by one of the wait-staff, but she comes back later to say (to my friend who had ordered her meal without rice because she is diabetic) "Oh, you will have to pay for the whole meal" (again in an unpleasant tone) - totally implying that we were some cheap skates who were trying to cheat her of her income! The waiter, picking his que from the owner obviously, also acted like it was a tremendous imposition when we asked for salt and pepper later.

All in all, we agree with the last review by LT and suggest if you want to enjoy your meal a bitter aftertaste that you go somewhere else.
Fortunately for those who love Thai food as we do, there are other good Thai restaurants in Oxford!

BF 11 Jul 2007

Last Sunday at the Bangkok House was perhaps the most upsetting, embarrassing and sublimely ridiculous dining experience of my life. The hostess sat my mother and brother and myself at 7:00 advising us that someone else had booked the table for 8:30. No problem. We ordered a bottle of wine, a starter to share, and three meals (one, perhaps obviously, for each of us). The food was hustled to our table in approximately 3 minutes. My mother finished first- her plate was removed while my brother and I took our last bites. The waitress came and administered the warm towelettes, swept up the rest of our food, and left the cheque. It was approximately 7:20. We still had half of the bottle of wine, and I wasn't quite finished chewing. The hovering waitress took my mother's credit card, returned for her signature, and dropped mints.

At 7:30, the hostess came and asked us if we would mind "finishing our wine at the bar". I explained that we were nearly done, that we were told the table was available until 8:30, and that we would prefer to remain seated if that was alright. She then explained (this is my favourite part) that she was going to need to "insist" that we finish our wine at the bar because we had "not ordered enough to make our use of the table worthwhile". ??!! My mother was floored, my brother silenced, and I didn't know what to do. We left what remained of our wine, too upset and embarrassed to do anything else. I will not return, and I recommend that you choose another restaurant.

LT 24 May 2007

Inexpensive delicious food which tastes very fresh. The food can be as spicy as you want it to be - good for people who don't like their meals too spicy. Also, the staff is very friendly, expect prompt service.

I fully recommend the Bangkok House.

Maria 17 Dec 2006

Two friends and myself went to celebrate a 19th birthday at Bangkok House, and we weren't too sure what to expect to start with.

Our first impression was that the interior of the place was stunning. It had the feeling that someone had really made an effort to make the place stand out from the crowd. A table was found for us straight away - and the table itself deserves a mention. It was a piece of art in itself, a deep case with material and a minisculpture inside. The chairs were nice and comfy, and fitted with the feel of the place.

From the start the service was excellent - we had a very friendly waiter who helped in choosing food, and later came round with a large jug of water (out of his own initiative) to refill our glasses. The main course was nice - not stunning, but flavoursome and well presented. At the end we were given mints and hot hand towels. The whole meal came to under £30 for all three of us including drinks.

In conclusion, both my friends and I were very impressed with Bangkok House, and I hope to return there often in the future. Highly recommended to anyone who appreciates excellent service and decorum, as well as good Thai food.

Stephen H 11 Nov 2006