Giggling Squid - Berkhamsted — Restaurant in Dacorum

Booked in advance for a table of 4 on a Friday night.

First impressions were that they are seriously understaffed. We were initially left waiting queuing in the street for almost 10mins, because only one lady was free to seat people. There was a torrent of customers rapidly backing up, beginning inside the restaurant and spilling out into the street, and on speaking to them, all of us had made reservations.

On finally being seated (following a further 10min wait inside the restaurant), we were left to our own devices for almost 25mins before someone came to take our drinks order. The drinks then took just over 20mins to arrive. Looking around, it was abundantly clear they did not have enough front of house staff for a Friday night.

Shortly after our (pretty poorly made - sorry!) cocktails arrived, we had to ask to be moved tables, as unfortunately the group seats next to us were yelling so loudly that we couldn't hear each other. Sadly, we were moved next to a long table of about 15 which was equally as bad.

Prior to this visit, the last time we ate at the Gigging Squid 3 years ago - just before the pandemic - and it was great, really tasty food, and fabulous service, so we were excited to place our order.

What a disappointment! Firstly, only 3 of the 4 of us were served our meals. The fourth was left sitting, looking blankly at his cutlery for at least 10mins whilst the staff tried to decide where his food was.

However, the far bigger problem was that the food was simply 'meh'. Bland and inoffensive, without even the slightest tickle of delight on the tastebuds. The pork belly (which on our last visit was exquisite), was a tasteless bowl of mediocrity. The sticky chicken was bland, and soggy - though admittedly, it was sticky. The Tropical Jungle Curry was, again devoid of any real positive attributes, other than it was warm.

Almost all of our food had the same issue - an overall lack of flavour, and for the price charged, it really wasn't up to scratch.

I've tried desperately to think of something positive to say about this visit, and the only thing I can come up with is that the staff were very friendly and polite - if a little slow.

We will not...

We had a brilliant meal here at the Giggling Squid in Berkhamsted. The atmosphere was lovely,it was a very tranquil atmosphere,although I visited on a Monday lunchtime. The decor is beautiful,floral and upmarket here. The service was great,the staff were friendly and the food came out very quickly. It’s a good option to go for if you are on a work lunch and don’t want to wait for food for too long! The food was first class as always in the Giggling Squid. I wanted something quite light so I could have room for dinner later. I ordered two starter dishes from the lunch menu. The lunch menu is the biggest I have ever seen anywhere and it is also very good value too. Both dishes were presented beautifully,it was a work of art. For my first dish I went for the Hawker Style Moo Ping which was delicious. The dish consists of two pork skewers,a salad and a sauce. The pork skewers were delicious. They had a delicate and fragile flavour but there was a smoky touch to them too. The salad was lovely,varied and fresh. Also they were not stingy on the salad either with this dish. The sauce was amazing too,it had a very sweet flavour and it was brilliant to dip things into! My second starter dish was the Thai Spice Tender Beef Laab. It was a delicious dish. The dish was packed with flavour too. The beef on this dish is served chilled so if you receive this dish as being cold that is how it is intended to be. The spices were amazing too,but I would definitely recommend buying a bottle of water here. The spice levels were quite comfortable for me personally. This dish was presented beautifully and the salad was delicious and not a stingy portion at all. This restaurant also has a lovely garden area too and the toilets are clean. There are also a wealth of gluten free options too even on the lunch menu so if you are gluten free I would definitely suggest checking this out. I would recommend this restaurant although I wouldn’t recommend parking outside because you can only stay for an hour and I don’t want anybody’s meal to be rushed,but the service was very quick on a Monday lunchtime. You may have to walk further from another car park but...

The Giggling Squid, a Thai restaurant anchored in the stunning Berkhamstead town, offers a variety of Thai delicacies with a quirky, witty and utterly informal menu style that can only leave you smiling and wondering who wrote it.

The GS caters for pretty much all dietary requirements and if you ask, the staff will offer you a separate list of all allergens listed in each meal, to ensure, you have a safe and pleasant meal.

The atmosphere of the Giggling Squid is best described "wooden". The interior combines antique, with wood, in a cottage like temple. The seating is spaced out into three rooms, one by the front entrance, two in the middle room before the third which is larger (sounded like a pub) from the middle section (where I was sitting).

The toilets are clean and it feels like you are walking into a cruise quarter corridor to enter a spa.

Back to food and service!

Service: Beyond the accommodating recommendations from the staff, one of the waiters must have had a long and stressful day and allowed it to control his behaviour when taking our order and bringing our food. He pulled various facial expressions as I was crazy asking if we could order a side of the pancake wraps from the DIY appetiser- making me feel uncomfortable and regretting that I'd asked. A clear miscommunication, which resulted in an uneasy vibe - that was nicely fixed within the main course. He came with this lovely welcoming smile. So no comment, but I want to mention that this deflected my review.

Food: We had ordered the jungle Thai curry, the Tom Kha Soup, papaya salad, sticky rice, chilli and basil stir fry. To drink: a Lucky and Tiger Beer. Spicy and delightful but spicy combo all round' so if you have a soft spot for spicy food, the GS certainly know how to combine and Wip up their spices to suffice your palette! But I recommend strongly ordering one thing that is mild.

They were so sweet offering us a glass of milk and brining us Tamarind Sauce to mellow down our burning tongues!!

I do recommend the Giggling Squid, I did enjoy it even after the odd occurrence in...