Anissa. Thai kitchen, Deli & Grocery — Restaurant in New Forest

I've always really enjoyed the food at Anissa's, and we tend to go here for the odd meal, bring family here when they come to stay and for special occasions. We've always found the service to be slow, but that's been outweighed by the nice food. We visited the restaurant on Saturday and I'm afraid on this occasion I wasn't impressed. We ordered the spicy crackers which I love, but the sweet chilli sauce was watered down and runny. We both ordered the satay chicken for starters which was tasty and well cooked, but they've reduced the number of skewers you get now. For the main, I ordered the massamun curry, which I'll say at this point was tasty. But.. all of the chicken meat in the dish was bone meat with all of the skin on every piece and I ended up with a plateful of chicken skin. There was also a piece of undercooked chicken in the dish as well. At no point did the waitress check in to ask how our food was. I even tried flagging them down. I also sat for half the meal without a drink. I might have been slightly more understanding if the restaurant was busy, but there were only two other tables being served at the time. When the waitress came to take our plates away, I did explain that I wasn't happy with the meal, and seeing so much skin gave me the ick! She apologised, and said that others had said the same. Then one of the owners came out and explained about the recipe. To me, I felt like it was an excuse and more of a way of cutting costs by using cheaper cuts of meat. What I will say is that they did take the cost of my main dish off the bill which was unexpected, but fair. This experience has unfortunately put me off going back, but if anything changes such as more attentive service and quality of ingredients, and perhaps better acoustics then please...

This restaurant came highly recommended by a friend who lives in the area. I booked a table for one as I was visiting the seaside on the day. Booking system is via texts/WhatsApp outside of opening hours (5pm it open on a weekday). The restaurant is right on the small high street so no parking available, however this spot is still a short walk from parking at the New Forest bit. First, I was asked leave as I walked in with my dog and was opting for the take away menu. As we were standing outside the owner popped out from the kitchen and greeted us and welcomed us in whilst choosing from the menu. Following this the waitress came back and offered us to stay in for a meal as that night (Wednesday) wasn't too busy. I sat with my dog by the window far from everyone else closed him in the corner with his treats and little rug. I was happy that I could stay with my dog in the end have a meal. I ended up having 2 starters and a soup as the duck dish I was after they didn't have. The crispy octopus was perfect, and the pork jerky wasn't too bad either. Tom kha was a bit too sweet to my liking, however the prawns were cooked well and had specialty mushrooms in it which was a great twist to the usual. All in all we had a great time after a long day at the beaches with the pup and just delighted that I didn't have to have a take away in plastic tubs in my car in the dark before...

Food was ok. I had the calamari starter which although the flavour wasn’t too bad, the texture was dry and tough. Yup not rubbery, tough. It was quite a chew. Then I had the Fish Grapow which came with rice. It was a bit too salty I had to borrow a lime from my friends Pad Thai to break the saltiness. Even then I wish it had a slightly sweet flavour to lift it.

But the one thing that could’ve really ruined our night was the service. We chose not to let it bother us then as we were out with friends we haven’t seen in awhile. The waitress that took our order really had an attitude. She pulled faces when my friend ordered, maybe she mispronounced something I don’t know. Then when she brought my mains she put it down whilst facing and talking to someone else whilst I watched the sauce dish on the plate slide towards me - could’ve been an accident. But just rude nonetheless.

Thai restaurants are known for their warmth and incredible service, but this one let them...