Pailin Thai Restaurant — Restaurant in Lewes

We were initially excited to visit this restaurant as the reviews are mostly good and many people rave about this restaurant. We booked before visiting and were promptly seated by the window at the front of the restaurant. The woman who seated us was very friendly and made us feel no rush whilst deciding. The one thing that stood out was the lack of any sort of ambiance music and as such you felt very out there just sat in an empty room.

The menu was very exciting to read with lots of options that were varied and different from the standard dishes served at all Thai restaurants. Unfortunately this is where the excitement ended with the food. Once ordered food was delivered promptly and was hot and well cooked however the starters were nothing special. The fried squid I had was well cooked and crispy but didn't have much flavour in the seasoning and the sweet chilli dip was the only flavour. The sauce was meant to be mixed with a peanut sauce but instead just had crushed peanuts on top of the sauce pot. The other members of my party had the spring rolls which were your bulk standard wholesaler ones and was very thin and lacking filling. The spare ribs were tasty and well cooked but again were just standard wholesaler ones.

The mains came shortly after our starters were cleared and were very hot. I had the Pad bai kra pao and what arrived was nothing like I was expecting I did question with the staff but they were adamant this was the right order. My job involves me working all over the world with various nationalities and the Thai chefs like to cook this dish which is why I was excited to have it in the UK. The dish that arrived was very wet and was in a greasy soup mixture this was a dish that was meant to be stir fried according to the menu however the veg was very undercooked and the pork was very tough and dry. I have attached a picture below of what the dish was meant to look like and couldn't find any that matched what I had. The dish did have a alright taste but was very salty and oily.

The Thai green curry another member of the party had was very weak on flavour and seemed to be watery. There was also a lot of oil floating on the surface. I had also tried some of this dish and found it to be nothing special. The coconut rice suffered a similar fate there was a very and I mean very mild coconut taste nothing special but the rice was nice and soft.

The food here is fair priced for a main course and sides. Starters were extremely overpriced for what was served, as mentioned the spring rolls were the thin ones you get from a Chinese and pay half the price for. The calamari had little flavour other than the dip and was a pretty small portion for nearly £9. We didn't attempt desserts as we were all disappointed by the meal so cannot comment on that.

In regards to drinks I only noted the price on beer and coke which were the two drinks the table got. A small beer was nearly £5 and a large nearly £9 which is disgraceful for a bottle of Singha I would expect no more than £6 for a large. I totally get that prices are higher in Lewes and due to current market climate but these prices are way above the average price you'd expect. We went to the pub down the road and a pint was £5.8 to give some proof to my above comment. The "Coca Cola" we had I am almost certain was not Coca Cola as advertised on the menu and was a knockoff or cheaper brand. I cannot remember the price of this item but I think it was around £3.20 for a small glass.

Overall a disappointing meal given the amount of reviews raving about this place, maybe we got unlucky this time and had a bad meal. However plenty of other locations around for Thai which is a lot better tasting and better quality...

We just picked up a takeout and to say we wished we could ask for our £29 back is an understatement…as people who don’t get takeout often and make sure it’s a treat this was a lot of money and we couldn’t be more disappointed. We got a side of chicken wings (cold and lacking any taste), a pork dish for £13 which is so small and basically heated up pork slices with no taste, egg fried rice (again seemed microwaves and no taste) and then my partner got a curry which was watery and lacking taste. I’m not someone who writes reviews or wants to bash a place but this is awful and I can’t...

As soon as arrived was made not to feel welcome, staff were not helpful, was sat in the corner and next to loudest bunch of people possible, they were so loud I could give a run down of there life and what there future held, if I want to hear your conversation I will join your table, it was like all sitting on top of each other and there was no respect for others around to having such a loud mouth ruinig your visiting and making you want to get out of there as soon as possible, will not visit again as put off by this experience and how...