Giggling Squid - Wokingham — Restaurant in England

We came on 30 Jan 2025 and I left a simple 5 star review.

We came again on 4 July 2025 and felt compelled to reduce my rating. The bill says that I was served by Stephanie. Service was good. Our waitress was cheerful, polite, accurate and helpful. Good. We had a brief interaction with a person dressed in black, who I took to be the manager, and that was good. So, no problem with the front-of-house staff.

The time to bring drinks was OK, considering that 3 of 4 drinks were cocktails. (My drink was in a bottle, so would have been instant to serve — perhaps that could have been brought separately first considering as how the barperson was going to have to spend a significant amount of time making three cocktails?)

We also asked for water, and that was brought very quickly and with a smile. Very good.

The time to bring starters and mains was OK.

For starters I had the Chicken Satay, which I would call good, though I have had better.

For mains I had the Massaman Chicken and Jasmine Rice.

The Jasmine Rice was actually a pleasant surprise, because what I really wanted was slightly sticky plain rice, which wasn't on the menu, but the Jasmine Rice turned out to be just that. Good.

The Massaman Chicken was disappointing though. The sauce seemed powdery and the flavour wasn't very good. Every time I had a mouthful I was expecting more but was disappointed every time. The actual chicken, the onions, and the carrot pieces were fine. There were also potato pieces in it, but weirdly these didn't seem right — with the sauce also being rather poor, potato dipped in the sauce was a complete disappointment.

We had a birthday person in our group, and they kindly brought out a small dessert with a candle in it, complimentary. That was good.

The bill was £151.17 (which included a £10.55 "Service Charge") for a table of 4, making £37.79 per head. I don't think the food was worth that money.

There didn't seem to be any air con, and it was a bit stuffy. One of our party had to go outside at one point, and I was pleased that I had brought my fan with me to blow on me for the latter half of the visit. I didn't use the toilets this time but from what I recall from January they were fine.

An unusual result then: 5 stars for service but only 2 stars for food. Overall...

I am a regular visitor to various Giggling Squid restaurants locally - and have visited Wokingham many times.

Visiting today on Mother's Day, the experience was all rather underwhelming. Most disappointing of all was the very substandard service. I should point out that Giggling Squid is one of those restaurants that automatically applies a service charge.

We weren't provided with lunch menus when we were seated so had to ask for them.

A drinks order was taken but it took at least 10 minutes to get them to the table - and only after asking if we could expect them any time soon.

After placing an order, we waited and waited some more, before just two items were brought to the table - a papaya salad and some squid. Our server told us that he had entered the order incorrectly so it was being prepared again but the kitchen was "busy".

Eventually and 50 minutes after entering the restaurant, our order was delivered entirely. The food was good - the waiting time less so!

If there is one thing that frustrates me above all else, it is when nobody bothers to ask about the enjoyment of your meal. And that was the case today. It's basics. Not as we ate and not when the plates were cleared.

On finishing our meals, we weren't ask about desserts and nor were we offered the bill. Instead, we sat sheepishly, trying to make eye contact with any passing staff.

When the bill did come, we asked for the service charge to be removed. If I were a staff member in this situation, I would suspect there to be some disappointment on the customer's part and to ask questions about the experience. Instead, we were told "that's fine" and when trying to explain the shortfalls in service, we were cut off and told, once again, "that's fine".

With it being Mother's Day, the restaurant today was busy, but Giggling Squid evidently failed to adequately staff the restaurant, resulting in a really quite disappointing.

If a restaurant insists on applying a service charge, whatever the amount, the service needs to be pretty special. Whether overworked or simply disinterested, the staff here provided a rather mediocre dining...

My husband and I wanted to try a new restaurant for his birthday. Having looked at the menu and reviews for the Giggling Squid, we made a last minute reservation online. We were welcomed and seated by a lovely lady.

We both had a mocktail: a Lychee Angel and the Strawberry Cooler. I must admit I didn't have high expectations, as those drinks tend to be full of ice cubes and diluted so much that they don't taste of much after the first few sips. But the mocktails at Giggling Squid were exceptional. It was like a party in your mouth all the way through!

The food is absolutely smashing. Each dish is full of flavour without being overpowering. The chicken is tender, the veggie crisp and the sauces...! We liked the dressing of a tapas so much that we had to ask what it was made of. The lovely lady went to the kitchen and asked the chef(s) for us. All with a smile on her face❤️

As I mentioned that we're coming in for my husband's birthday, his desert was presented on a plate with a candle and the words 'happy birthday' written in what I believe to be strawberry syrup. To my husband's embarrassment, the lady even sang happy birthday for him. We all had a good laugh 😂

The atmosphere, food and service were so amazing, that my husband and I have now agreed to go there for every birthday and try something new off the awesome menu (and maybe in between birthdays).

Thank you to the lovely lady whose name I sadly didn't get. You're amazing and Giggling Squid is lucky to have you working there. She can be seen in the green blouse in the first photo - please let me know if you'd like me...