Patara is an upscale and modern Thai restaurant. The menu was a bit different from Thai restaurants at home. We are used to choosing the protein and the level of spice. Here both of these were per determined. It was also a bit pricer than I am used to for Thai. The service was good and everything came out in a reasonable amount of time. I have to say the broth of the coconut soup was 5 stars. It was delicious with complex favors. I also liked the mushrooms in it. The chicken was a bit disappointing. It was basic but not well cut. Many of the chucks were quite large for soup (maybe they use the same chicken for everything?). We also had shrimp pad Thai which oddly was listed under the sides and vegetable section. I also found it odd that you had to order rice separately, why would this not come with your entree as a normal side? The presentation was lovely. All in all it was good, but not amazing. The noodles were cooked well and there were two large grilled prawns. This is not really a restaurant for children and there were two small children at the table next to use. After they left the window was covered with small, greasy hand prints. read more

Patara-South Kensignton - Thai Near Me - London, XGL

Best Thai food of my life. We had a set menu because of the size of our group and it did not disappoint. I liked it because I am a Thai snob and I always get the same thing so this forced me to branch out a bit. We had a wonderful appetizer starter that included dumplings, fish cakes, spring rolls. I was high maintenance and ordered a coconut soup that was the best I have ever had. Dinner consisted of green curry, braised beef, two types of prawns. We were stuffed!!! The room we were in however was crowded and the service on drinks a bit slow. It was a bit pricey but the portions were very generous. I would recommend this place any day. read more

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Been here twice; first time was nice, pretty much what was expected- didn't surpass expectations either. Second time visit, they were missing a good portion of the menu, no mushrooms and a few other ingredients that made ordering form the menu difficult. A bit frustrating- won't be coming back. read more

This was a well thought out, well executed and definitely well enjoyed dining experience. So why three stars? It just seemed so, well ... formulated? The fresh ingredients were definitely a highlight of the meal as mint, peppers, mango, ginger and flowers adorned each dish. Food came quickly and the portions seemed perfectly measured. The cocktail list was creative and the menu was both extensive and authentic. Everything was so carefully designed and decorated, so painstakingly fitted and placed, from the wall decor to the cutlery to the soap in the bathroom; it was something I might expect from "Thai-Land" in a Disneyland Park. I must say -- I enjoyed a fantastic healthy meal for an exceptionally reasonable price. I guess I just crave the real deal, decorating faux pas and all, rather than feel like I'm a variable in a master dining equation. read more

Ouuuwww!! That is a direct quote from my mouth, taste buds, throat and tear glands after accidentally eating one of those innocent looking little red peppers sitting on top of a scallop here. Red pepper? Who am I kidding, more like little red bastard of nugget hell in your mouth. Geez! I am not normally one for super spicy food and gaze in awe at people who can cram fiery hot things in their mouths and actually still call it food. But for those who enjoy that sick thrill, order the scallops. As for what I could actually eat and enjoy, there was the Nua Tom Kati or beef in a yummy lemongrass coconut sauce. Mmm, mmmm, it was delicate, tasty and perfectly prepared. I also tried the Pad Thai Goong and it was good but not really great. The shrimp were a bit over cooked and it lacked any flavorful kick. As for the cocktails here, i really enjoyed the Patara Passion drink. It is gorgeous and while a little sweet, it was a tasty way to kick off a meal. Also, had i known that Satan was about to set up shop in my mouth, I would have saved some of the drink to put out the flames. Oh well :) read more

S&P* have had a Thai restaurant here since the 1960s - it was one of London's first and it's still one of the stand-outs. It may have been overtaken by their Mayfair and now Soho branches of Patara but it's still the very top quality level of Thai food you'd expect from Thailand's number 1 food company. It's not the in-yo-face street food Thai that is my real favourite, but it still packs a punch.... watered-down poncey Thai for rich Europeans this is not. Instead it's the finest versions of real Thai cuisine. They make Blue Elephant and Thai Square look poor. So four stars for my wonderful £12.50 lunch of spicy beef laap on portobellos, followed by curried soft-shell crab. Great Thai Ice Tea, and a smart cocktail list. Service is great, tableware is gorgeous, value is amazing and setting is good. I'll definitely return when I next want to introduce someone else to fine Thai food. But for real thrills, it drops a star by not having the wow factor of Patara Soho, not being Thailand's best-rated Thai restaurant like Patara Bangkok - and not being stomach-twisting, tongue searing street food, which is the real Thai I know and love. ------- ------- ------- ------- S&P are the company behind Patara and are a Thai corporation who specialise in highest quality prepared foods. Kind of like M&S from Thailand, but without the grandma knickers. read more

Great place. Great menu and service. Great choice of drinks. Very clean with high quality furnishings. read more

Our family of four went for dinner this evening at Patara and I certainly would not go back nor would I recommend this restaurant to any of my friends or associates. We were there early which was perhaps part of the problem, however if the restaurant is open at 17:30 then presumably they are ready to serve customers. I went downstairs to the toilet to wash my hands immediately on arrival, and could see into an employee room on the way where several employees appeared to be eating their evening meals. Bad omen. Should have left right then. We were the ONLY customers in the restaurant at the start. We ordered cocktails, and then observed the bar tender fail to come to the (in room) bar area for about ten minutes, then proceed to take about (no kidding) 15-20 minutes to make 3 cocktails. My wife ordered a soft lemonade which did not come with the tardy cocktails. We waited another 5 minutes or so to get her drink. The drinks were tasty, except for the Thai long island iced tea, which was pretty toxic in flavor and effect. We ordered apps, and then received three out of four apps, having to ask where the fourth one was. It eventually appeared after another wait. About this point we also asked at least three times of different employees for another bottle of water, which eventually came, at 4.00 quid per bottle! The apps were good tasting and were well prepared, once we finally got them. We then received our mains after another wait, exactly 1 hour and ten minutes after our arrival, and remember, after being the only customers in the place. WOW! Our food was fair to good, but in my opinion was not up to the quality or quantity I would expect for the price paid. We also were charged 3.85 quid per bowl of rice which is the way things are done in the UK, however, the bowls were quite small, barely enough, and for what was about 50 p worth of rice this is absurd. In the end the food was fair but was not worth the price paid. I could likely have gotten that meal in another city, without the fancy decor for around 10 dollars per person, perhaps less. The service was really something quite severely deficient. Our total time in the place was 2 hours 20 minutes, far too long in my opinion. Total for four just over 200 quid, for a mediocre Thai food meal. Tell your friends. read more

Good for dates, bad for large groups Their decor is faux-ethnic but trendy, makes for a ideal place for dates or after work drinks. As others have Yelped, their menu offerings are conventional, though taste and presentation are above satisfactory. Portions, however, is not quite so. The dining tables are small and appear to be designed to accomodate only parties of two, four at best. Asking to seat a party of eight seemed to be quite a herculean task. The staff is polite, accomodative and professional. read more

Meh. The decor was nice, and the appetizers were good. As we placed our drink and appetizer orders, the waitress made us point the item on the menu after saying it as though she didn't know anything on the menu (there is no way we butchered the names of things that badly because she repeated things back to us the same way we said them once we pointed to them), and if we had any questions she had to go off and ask someone else. Maybe it was her first night. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. The appetizers we ordered were very good. The entrées, however, were not. Everything looked pretty good on the plate. They used fresh flowers and herbs as garnish, and everything on the plate was well arranged. In terms of quality? My entrée was absolutely inedible. I ordered a chicken dish, and I'm honestly not sure the meat came from a chicken. A squirrel, maybe? It was very rubbery and I physically could not take more than three bites without gagging. My brother ordered a beef dish and it was just as rubbery. My father was the only one who made out well, and he had prawns. I guess it's not possibly to have rubbery prawns? Other than the meat, the flavors were okay. They seemed to use fresh ingredients. But I couldn't get past the meat. It was terrible. If you go, I'd recommend going for the appetizers, but little else. read more

The food is really good, fairly original even though adjusted to western taste. Everything we ordered was tasty, fragrant and fresh. All presented in lovely copper dishes, deceitfully small yet containing quite a lot of food. Service was nice enough, and the restaurant is cozy and warm. read more

After a long day of wandering around London we found ourselves famished and couldn't take another step without food, looking around we noticed Patara and thought to give it a try. To start we had the Chicken and Prawn Satay with peanut sauce, although both were tasty the prawn stood out as the tastier of the two. For the main dish I had the Coconut Beef, the beef was slow braised and extremely tender with very complex flavors of coconut, lemongrass and lime, a well executed dish. My wife ordered the steak with green curry sauce, this dish had some nice heat and was also very tasty. A couple sides of egg fried rice accompanied the main courses nicely and the side dish of asparagus was perfectly cooked and seasoned. Overall we had a wonderful experience at Patara, the food was tasty, nicely plated with a complex flavor profile , the service was excellent, the attention to detail while serving was impressive, and even the green tea was great. I would love to enjoy another meal at Patara again someday soon! read more

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Came here for lunch and was very disappointed. Would not return and would not recommend. Service was quite slow despite us being one of only a few customers. The Tom Kha soup was tiny and quite bad. Overcooked chicken and taste was basically just salty. While the Pad Thai was tasty, the portion was also tiny for the price (£13.50). Overall, the food was OKAY but not good enough to justify the slow service and overpriced, small dishes (£37 for two tiny, meagre soups and one entree). read more

I am so glad that Blue Elephant is no longer the only major Thai in town. That place just creeps me out with all its faux fauna and heavy teak. Not to mention the food there is like a giant raspberry. Patara is much, much better but it's also a bit of an odd-duck - if that is apropos - because it isn't particularly authentic... but delicious nevertheless. Part of me wants to write it off for being so tourist but then the other part wants to applaud its fusion of western and Thai influences - sometimes to great effect. I suppose if you go there with open tastebuds and without the expectation of a home-cooked Thai meal, you will have as much fun as I did. read more

Delightful Thai place. Somewhat restricted for Gluten free folks, but a few things on the menu for anyone. The Chicken Pad Thai was quite good, with large chunks of chicken and a subtle sauce. Looking forward to trying other dishes when I get a chance - the Sea Bass is apparently also gluten free so will be my next dish. read more

Good food, nice atmosphere. Not exactly an innovative menu, but everything I've ever had was well prepared and exactly as I expected it. The dining room is pretty. Only complaint is that the tables are a bit small. read more

I think the Patara restaurant on Greek st has the best Thai food I've ever had. Granted this is part of the chain, the massaman osso buco just wasn't quite cut it. The flavours and spices are definitely superior compared to other thai restaurants but I wish it was a little bit more like the one on greek st. read more

Patara was a pretty good Thai place but nothing that really stood out. All the dishes were tasty and there portions were generous. The service was a little lacking and they played realizing melodies which reminded me of being in a spa. Dinner was pricier than most Thai restaurants and I think you could find better value elsewhere. read more

Went to Patara in South Ken. a few days ago with some friends. While I wouldn't want to get into the details about authenticity of the food - it did taste spectacular. Tom Kha Kai soup as an appetizer was perfect, fish in banana leaf was succulent and moist with an awesome red curry paste sauce (not actual curry, but a thick sauce based on the red curry). The staff is friendly and very attentive and the prices very reasonable given the quality of the food. Only desserts could benefit from a better selection. read more

Tasteless overpriced faux Thai with obnoxious staff pretending to be working a swanky place even though everything is a bit s**t.

Great thai food. I love the Pad thai, the tofu dishes and the thai iced tea. Ambiance, service and booths are nice.

I am quite shocked to read reviews of people describing it as the best thai they ever had... We spend 4 weeks a year in Sweden but decided to give this Thai place a go as we live 5min from it. What a complete disappointment. We ordered 4 courses, and could not finish a single one of them. The food was flavorless, but covered in chilli - resulting in a complete lack of aroma yet burning taste buds. Their fried chicken was marginally better than KFC, because of a sad tamarind coating. The som tam was a joke - no acidity or flavour whatsoever, just covered in chili and fish sauce. etc.. etc... we ended up leaving all the dishes on the table, barely touched. The owner who was happy to give us the check didn't even ask us how we like the food - I guess the popularity of this restaurant places it above customer satisfaction! For 4 dishes, 2 drinks we ended up paying £100 - which was pretty shocking given the shabby nature of this eatery and the poor quality of the food. If you want something better, maybe try McDonald's or Wagamama read more