Strand Cafe — Restaurant in London

The worst hospitality experience I've ever had. I can't comment on the food because we never got that far!

We moved into the area and I had just joined my wife for a house wine at one of the tables outside. I went inside to go to the bathroom but with a quick look around I could not find one so started to go back outside. A man in shorts, who I now assume is the owner, asked me if he could help to which I asked for the bathroom. He told me they had no bathroom which I thought was weird for a restaurant but said thank you and turned around to return to my table.

As I turned around the man's tone of voice changed and he yelled at me to leave and never come back. I turned around in surprise and he proceeded to tell me that I was in his home and I had no right to enter without permission. I asked him if this wasn't a resturant to with he said "yes a private resturant and you are not allowed to come in here without asking my permission". I told him I was here with my wife and I don't understand what his problem was. He doubled down and asked me how I would like it if he just walked into my house. I told him that I wouldn't like it because my house is not a resturant open to the public for business. He muttered something about permission again. Whilst I was walking away I called him f'ing crazy to which he tried to physically intimidate me by getting right into my face and daring me to say it again. I of course stood my ground so he stormed back into the restaurant threatening to call the police 🙄

I was dressed casual and I can only assume that he thought I was a random bloke wanting to use his bathroom without being a customer. But even then I can't imagine it could excuse his behavior towards me and infront of my wife nor his other customers.

After reading other reviews it's apparent my experience wasn't an isolated case. The owner certainly doesn't hesitate to take out his anxieties and anger on unsuspecting customers. Unless you're a regular customer don't risk it!

Save yourself hassle and eat at The Stable or AIT across the road - both of which have fantastic food and impeccable hospitality. If you're looking for the best Thai in the area try Thai Square down the road in Richmond or Thai Boys in Chiswick...

Fantastic, friendly small cafe/restaurant next to Kew Bridge and a very short walk from a Kew Bridge Station and various bus stops. There is limited street parking outside (restricted to residents only between 10-12 Monday-Friday). The cafe is compact but for warmer days there is seating available outside, worth booking! During the day it offers a mixture of breakfast dishes, baguettes and sandwiches, their full English Breakfast is really good. At lunchtime they also offer a limited selection of homemade dishes from their Thai Menu and Lebanese mezza. In the evening they offer an extensive Thai menu.

On this occasion we tried their Thai dishes for lunch. We shared a mixture of starters Chicken steam dumplings, Sesame Prawns on Toast and Vegetable Spring Rolls followed by Salmon Panang Curry (thick red curry sauce) and Chicken Pad Prick (stir fried chicken with chilli and sweet basil - quite hot).

The food was delicious and being home made, they can alter the heat of the stir-fry. Staff are super-friendly and attentive, indeed they saw us struggling with parking and came out to tell us it was after 12.00 and parking was now free.

Wether you want a really good quality breakfast or tasty home-cooked Thai food, look no further than this great...

First time and my last at this cafe....2 things;

My wife asked for plain omelette, and what she got was a disappointment. We've been to other cafes before where she asked for a plain omelette and they nicely decorate and present the omelette with salad and on occasion with chips. What she received was the most tiniest watery omelette I have ever seen....it was a mess, not worth £2.40 so avoid. When asked where is the salad, the waiter said you get what you paid for and would charge extra for salad!

When it came to paying, the lady behind the counter tried to rip me off by adding an extra £2 on our bill. When I challenged her, so was ignorant and was adamant that she was right. I had to pull out the menu to prove her wrong!

This cafe needs to think about their customers and massively improve on the quality of their food! Maybe they should go learn from other cafes on how they do things right. I was going to give them a 2 star because my breakfast was ok, but over priced for what I paid, however I cannot forget the poor...