Bua & Gwen — Restaurant in Ostend

First day of the year, lets go out and eat some thai! Our fixed place (l exotic blankenberge) was fully booked, darn... Searched by google top rated placed in Oostende. Made reservation at 18u30 in Bua & Gwen.

Arrived on the spot, it does not really give you the feeling entering the thai culture. It rather looks like a pretty and small sailors club. Never the less, we re hungry and had put our minds on Thai food. It was early and only a table of 6 filled the restaurant.

My girlfriend and me ordered each a soup and the famous pad thai (18 euro) and a green pork curry (18 euro). We noticed the prices on the menu are already quiet strong, there is even a difference between a small soup and normal soup ( small 10 euro , normal 14!). Yes this is the tom ka kai (chicken soup).

We waited... waited... time was passing... It took over 1 hour before our soup was served. If you have some experience visiting a thai, you might expect a nice stone cup elevated above a candle.. a nice creamy chicken soup full of surprises :p... Well, You can forget this with Bua and Gwen. We get a flat shaped bowl with a salty watery soup with a few pieces of chicken, spring onion and lime leaves in. We looked at each other and wondered..... where are we? is this made by an Asian chef??

Our main dish was from the same level.. For the pad thai, the famous dish we all know should be with the flat rice noodles. Sprinkled with some broken peanut, little sour, little spicy and a little oily.

The noodles were mie egg noodle, not much pieces of meat in the dish and the sauce was just some kind of soy sauce... no nuts, not a little sour, no spice... The curry Dish was overfull of broccoli and zucchini and Chinese cabbage. AND AGAIN..... why so salty???

I asked the waitress friendly to have a word with the chef... The chef is the mother of the waitress AND the only one in the Kitchen. Quiet rude and short the mother told me she does not have time to hear my remark and that nobody else complained about her food. She made sure her voice was heard trough out the restaurant... In my opinion this is far from professional and unacceptable behavior.

Well Miss Bua, I never ever felt so disapointed after an evening on restaurant. Everyone can have a bad day... but this was trough out all the dishes.. As it was mentioned before in the reviews, maybe some change of game?

BTW, in all ur dishes we found dried/caramelized onions.... agreed this is jummy... but is this typical thai? does it fit...

Review of the Thai Restaurant “Bua and Gwen” in Ostend, Belgium

This small restaurant with its 18 seats exudes a special charm. The lovingly designed interior and the soft Thai music create a relaxed and inviting atmosphere that immediately makes you feel at ease. You can sense the passion behind the concept, though it’s important to note that this is not a traditional Thai restaurant, but rather a modern, tourist-oriented interpretation of Thai cuisine.

The dishes are made with high-quality ingredients, and the portions are generous. However, the authentic flavors of traditional Thai cuisine are somewhat lacking. Creations like the green and red “Mai Thai” cocktail are colorful and creative but are based on syrup, making them far from classic cocktails. Similarly, the “Ice Tea” served here is more of a jazzed-up Lipton iced tea than a traditional Thai beverage.

For those who wish to experience Thai cuisine in a playful and unconventional way, this place offers a pleasant experience. The attention to detail in presentation and the enjoyable ambiance make it a charming spot for a casual evening out. However, true connoisseurs and enthusiasts of authentic Thai cuisine might find it worthwhile to explore other options.

All in all, Bau and Gwen is a charming little restaurant, perfect for a relaxed evening with a touch of...

Absolutely amazing Thai cuisine with vegan options for almost every dish. Excellent explanation of the dishes and lovely staff. Gwen (service) and her mum (cook) are the best! We had a perfect dinner, Bua is cooking like a pro with a lot of magical herbs that blow your mouth away. It is absolutely worth it to go there and enjoy the delicious food. They are also dog friendly so our dog had as well an relaxing time over there - after a hole day at the beach she slept almost the hole dinner :) As we were their last customer we had the chance to meat Bua the chef and had a lovely chat with her and her daughter. Gwen and her mum helped us even calling a taxi at the evening - so all in all very friendly, delicious and lovely!!! We are definitely coming back! 😍...