Thai Imperial — Restaurant in London

I went to this lovely restaurant for a birthday meal with my family. I had heard great things about it from friends and on social media, and had been meaning to visit for a few months. It's safe to say it was worth the wait.

The restaurant is in a lovely part of town, away from the hustle and bustle of Gants Hill roundabout and Cranbrook Road traffic, there are plenty of parking in nearby roads, and free to park after 6.30pm. It is very easy to get to.

The restaurant itself is very beautiful, clean, spacious, comfortable seating that is nicely laid out, with wonderful decor. Excellent for couples and families. Step free access makes it easy for Prams/Pushchairs or Wheelchairs.

We were greeted by wonderful staff who were warm and friendly. Our main waitress was Nameera, who was extremely helpful, very polite and friendly, and super attentive. Credit goes to all the staff too, as they were always on hand, very quick to clear tables with empty/used plates and dishes. Keeping the table clean and clear, something that's lacking in most other restaurants.

The food was amazing, one of the best Thai restaurant I have ever been too. Thai Food in one of my favourite cuisine, and I have tried many throughout the country, I think this is my new favourite.

For starters we had the Mixed Starter, which was very tasty with a great selection, we had the Won Ton Prawn soup, very tasty, good portion, and I thought they had the right amount of Prawns and vegetables, the soup broth was perfect. We also had the Crispy Duck, definitely the best Crispy Duck pancakes I have had anywhere.

For Mains we had Massaman Chicken Curry, Pannang Prawn Curry, Spicy Prawn Rice, and Egg fried rice. Every single dish apart from the egg fried rice was cooked to perfection, they had the right portions, which can easily be shared between two, the curries had the perfect texture and tasted superb. Only the egg fried rice I thought was a little too plain and disappointing, it was more Chinese then Thai if that makes sense. It's like it had something missing, I could probably make better egg fried rice at home. The spicy prawn fried rice however was delicious, just the right amount of spice, gave a perfect kick, and again made perfectly, very tasty.

To top it all the prices were very reasonable, we had ordered perhaps more then what we needed to, however even then it came to around £25 per person. We had a wonderful meal and evening overall, I wouldn't hesitate to come back here again and will definitely recommend to everyone. This restaurant should definitely be on...

A fully halal Thai spot in Ilford. I checked out @thaiimperial with a vast menu that features over 50 items. A great positive is the decor the interior design is great, slight touches of Thai ambience combined with floral elements.

I started with the sharing platter for 2 £14.99, not a bad price, chicken wings; had great texture but bland in flavour, Dim sum and prawn in pastry; were good and I liked them. The spring roll was standard, but For me the chicken satay; dry, overcooked and tasteless, with an underwhelming satay sauce.

The Corn cakes at £5.99, was full of grease due to overcooking, they absent of flavour I could only eat one bite. Not good.

Tom Young £7.49 soup with prawns was actually decent, the first gulp burnt the back of my throat with the intense heat and spice, but the citrus tones from lemongrass and sharpness from the fish sauce did develop slowly.

Red Thai curry £12.99, glad to see they have duck on the menu, however, the curry lacked balance in taste and depth of flavour. I've had this signature curry so many times and I wasn't impressed, the creamy texture was a positive.

On another positive note, my wife mistakenly ordered the wrong item & only realised once it arrived and they change it to Pad Thai £11.99 without fuss... But the pad Thai was not great it lacked sweetness and sharpness and missed the mark.

What really annoyed me was the mango-sticky rice £6.50. Very poorly made. This was the same sticky rice served as a side with some coconut milk from a can pour over it with some mango. Absolute joke and not how you make this signature dessert that I ate countless times in Thailand.

For me, this lazy approach was a reflection in the standard of the food, cutting corners and not putting effort into the dishes, could it be a consequence of having such a large menu and not being able to maintain the standard required on every dish.

One note, they don't provide tap water and forced to buy water (legal as they don't serve alcohol).

I'm sure this place will do well with families, in terms of food authenticness and taste it's distinctly average if you have been to Thailand and want food to transport you back, then this is not it. I was hoping for a good local thai restaurant, but I think this place should focus on quality rather...

This is closer to a 3.5 than a 3. I arrived during the opening week so the staff were still getting their feet under the table, so speed of service was a bit rough around the edges, but all staff were polite and helpful.

The decor was standard Instagrammable flowery look, with some Thai flourishes which I did appreciate. Overall, of a good standard, and looks good. Cutlery and crockery all seemed to be of a good quality, and seating and tables very comfortable, so well done on that.

Spacious too, we weren't squashed and there was enough seating for close to 100.

The starter platter was of a good quality, but nothing special. Food was cooked well, but nothing made it stand out above and beyond any other Thai. The chilli sauce was good quality, but seemed like something catered for the local community as opposed to directly related to the Thai cuisine, but a welcome addition for my taste pallette.

However, the wait was far too long. An hour and a half into our booking, and we were still waiting for our mains, about 45 mins after we got our starters. I can appreciate that service can be slow, but 45 minutes between courses is too long.

When the mains did arrive, they were cooked well and tasted exactly as expected. However, nothing lifted it above and beyond other Thai places, nor could I say it was anything memorable. I have no complaints about the food, but no excitement either. Unfortunately there is no USP for the food - it tastes like any other average Thai place.

The price though was of good value, and reflects the quality of the food appropriately. At less than £30 per head for starters, mains, and a drink, which I felt was quite fair for what we did eat. The portion sizes were all healthy and we finished all of them between us.

Overall, an average Thai food place, but does well on service (despite some drawbacks to be smoothed out), and decor.

I wouldn't go back by choice as there are better That places, but I'd recommend it to others to...