We had a GREAT dinner at this place. We had read the reviews and the food IS amazing. The Tom Kah soup is the best I've ever had. Seriously! We also had the papaya salad which was off the hook good. Red beef curry was so delish, Thai sausages and son in law eggs. The least fav of what we got was actually the mango sticky rice! The rice needed to have "some" sweetness to it. It had none at all but the rest made up for it. Will for SURE be back here. The bill was £65 for two and we each had a beer read more

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We found this restaurant by accident, so happy we did. The food was amazing, we ended up returning the next day because my daughter liked her larb so much. We got larb moo, nam tok and pad Thai all were the perfect amount of spiciness and the staff were all so friendly esp to my daughter. Quite lovely, can't wait to return. read more

Som Tum :: Papaya Salad This dish is the number one most popular food in Thailand and it's a wonderful combination of searing acid chilli spice and crisp shredded papaya. A tastebud rollercoaster, low in calories and often customised with all sorts of interesting options. Despite the ubiquity of som tum across Thailand, London's attempts are never fulfilling. Even Thai Kitchen 101 who have 3 or 4 different exotic Som Tums's on the menu... they just can't get it right. But Esarn Kheaw do. They get it 100% spot on. Their Isarn-style som tum with fermented fish sauce and salted crab is just stupendous. It's a space-time loophole directly to the best street stalls in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Udon Thani. I'm dreaming of it right now. And at just £5 a plate I think I may just head there now. So for the papaya salad and also their note-perfect Isaan sausage, I'm handing out another 4 stars for a London Thai restaurant. The comparatively disappointing rest of the menu and the shabby decor means that 5 stars is a stretch too far. But don't let that put you off - it's still way way better than that run-of-the-mill Thai down your road. read more

Esarn Kheaw - All so spicy - Thai Near Me - London, XGL

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This intimate Thai restaurant is another family-run hidden gem of the Uxbridge Road. The décor is wonderfully authentic mostly dark green with big paintings of paddy fields on the walls. The food is great, with quite a big selection. The papaya salad as a starter is mouth-wateringly scrumptious. The critics are no fools and Esran Kheaw has garnered many award nods for the 15 or so years it's been around, including best Thai and best new restaurant from Time Out. The prices are also very reasonable with wine starting from £8 and main courses from £5-£15. The manager is very hands on, which at times is borderline hilarious, but for some it can be a bit intimidating or intrusive. It's certainly not that the service is bad, but that occasionally there is just a bit too much service. read more

Esarn Kheaw - esarn kheaw - Thai Near Me - London, XGL

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Came here with a friend. I guess the guy was having a bad day...you can tell this place is family owned but when I walked in the dude had an attitude. Maybe he woke up on the wrong side of the bed or there was a fly in his soup. The person I came with highly recommended this place as the best Thai restaurant they've been to. So we walk in and the guy throws a fit about my umbrella. Wellll soorrrrrrry it's raining blame global warming not your customer. After we seat ourselves he walks around for a good minute attending to the other customers (none on that evening) then he walks up to our table just within shouting distance let's say...10 feet and blurts "wanna drink?" as if we were diseased dogs lol. I'm the most reasonable fella but damn seriously? It's like that? After that my friend said fuck it let's get outta here and that's what we did. At the end of the day I still want to go back because of the food...but hopefully I'll be treated with a little more manners next time. Would return to try the sausage as I'm convinced its good and every time I pass this restaurant it's pretty busy. read more

I dream of this Thai Restaurant. I first visited here when I was assigned to shoot the restaurant as Staff Photographer for Timeout magazine London. It must have been around 1992. I wasn't that accustomed to genuine Thai food at this point of my life but wow what an early hit. One of the many benefits of shooting restaurants for Timeout was that I got fed. The very sweet lady who never seemed toleave the kitchen insisted I tried a number of dishes. The first was the ESARN KHEAW SAUSAGE served with Ginger and Chilli. Let me tell you, this dish is my favorite thai dish Iin the world. Unfortunately, Esarn Kheaw is the only place i've ever found this amazing sumptuous mix of spice and meat, and what's worse is, I work in California pretty much full time, 6000 miles from this wonderful appetizer. Boo who I hear you say. I know you have no sympath,y but you know when you want a fix of your fav food which is £4.95 it turns into a £400 dish with a flight for me. My main course was GAENG KEAW WAN KAI, Green Chicken Curry to you and me but this is no normal green curry and like the rest of the food at EK, there is no mild or medium here. It's all trippy hot. The only way to cope with the spice is with large amounts of Singa Beer. The funny thing is that you want more of the spice. Yes, it's fire hot but there seems to be some magic balance of spice that makes you want more and more along with the sticky rice. I'm pretty sure I sweated so much during this meal, I lost weight rather than gained it. The meal was rounded off with some cool ice cream which calmed my raging tongue. Over the following years and when I visit London I have to make a special trip to this hole in the wall gem. What ever their secret is, I hope it remains on the Uxbridge Road and if they want to open one here in Los Angeles, I'll be their every night. read more

Uxbridge Rd. Hard to sell unless you're a local. I am. And I'm lucky. If you're not you're going to have to brave the grot to get to this place. It's a small family run place and the restaurant itself has definately seen better days. The guy who served us is chatty, if a little cocky and while we were there he had a phone conversation in front of a small child in which he swore profusely. Didn't much bother me but it will some, and from the reviews I read this eccentric service puts a few off. If you get past that, you get to eat some really lovely thai food. His recommendations came up trumps. The bamboo shoot salad was delicious if a little carelessly served. Chicken wings were OK. Mains was where it's at. The missus had Tom Kai go or whatever it's called. Hot and sour prawn soup. We were a little disappointed with the small bowl that came seeing as we were paying close to £9 in Uxbridbe rd. But to be fair the bowl was choc full of lovely ingredients. I wonder why they don't just serve it in a much bigger bowl with a load more of the delicious broth it comes with. Wouldn't cost them any more. And my beef panang curry which he recommended over the ubiquitous red and green curry was frankly A1 delicious. I had it with steamed rice and ate every grain to mop up the wonderful sauce. So, great stuff if you don't mind service that can obviously be a little eccentric. That's what you get with a family run place and we loved it. Great food in warm if very tatty surroundings. But what do you expect down the old Uxbridge Rd. We feel lucky to live here in hammersmith with so many hidden gems like this. read more

This restaurant is a hidden gem, it's true. Just a short walk away from Shepherd's Bush Market station. I gave it a try with some friends after moving into the area - unaware of it's fan following. The food was delicious, but because we were targeted as clients who didn't know about the 'voucher offer' - we were given a bit of the hard sell. Admittedly, the food was excellent and I will go back for another fine meal. Next time, however I will be sure to look up all the discounts so I fit in with the rest. read more

This was by far the best meal my husband and I had on our honeymoon in London. We stayed in Shepherd's Bush for part of our trip and luckily stumbled upon Esarn Kheaw when we were in the mood for Thai (my favorite!). The restaurant is owned and run by a family from Northern Thailand, and the father and son were the two that waited on us. I 've read other reviews that say the son talked too much, but we found him (and his stories) to be rather charming. It was a nice change from the typical, indifferent London waiter, and he and his father provided friendly, attentive service. Now that we're home, the son's catchphrases ("Does that make sense?" "Do you know what I mean?") have become an inside joke between my husband and me that we use all the time in our conversations. As far as the food goes, we could not have been happier. We enjoyed the crispy wontons and bowls of Tom Kha soup for appetizers and the Pad See Ew and Panang Curry for our entrees. The soup was some of the best Tom Kha I've ever had. It was flavorful and just the right amount of spicy - makes you sweat a little, but doesn't ruin your palate for the rest of the meal. I liked my curry very much - it was a rich, vibrant red color - but my fork kept wandering over to my husband's plate for another bite of his Pad See Ew. If we ever make it back to London, we're definitely going back to Esarn Kheaw. (Meal was about £35.) read more

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Amazing place, amazing food, amazing staffs!! The best I've tasted my whole London Trip!! Taste just like home cook! To bad we couldn't work out our schedule to be back everyday before we fly back to Boston ... must try! The sausages, tiger cry, stuffed chicken, papaya salad, beef jerky, chicken prik and beef stir fry and more!!! Happy we got to try and finished everything read more

Esarn Kheaw - I wish we could've tried other dishes ... but I would comeback to London just for these dishes - Thai Near Me - London, XGL

Great Food! Sticky Rice is a must plus the Spliced Papaya Salad. Panang Curry is one of my fave Thai dishes and do that well here. Portions not massive, but certainly satisfying and reasonable priced. Well Recommended! read more

Unbelievably terrible service. The man who runs this place is the rudest person I have ever seen work in hospitality. I called the restaurant to check their BYO policy because ti is not listed on the website. They told me I could bring wine and even said there was off license near by - we were greeted by the owner who simply yelled at us 'if yu open that it costs £10.50'. He then told me that it was the waitress fault for not telling me on the phone. He said he heard her not tell me. But it is a rule and it will cost £10.50 to open. We had bought a cheap bottle from Tesco and were going to a gig afterwards so did not want to take it with us but they would not budge on the ridiculous corkage charge. The manager sent the waitress over to apologise but she could not offer us any compromise on the corkage. She said her manager would get mad at her. He was standing right there, and did not have any desire to help her out of the embarrassing situation. She just admitted it was her fault and stood there whilst we were staring at her gobsmacked at the ridiculous situation. Service was quite slow generally because it seemed the manager would not help her. I asked him where the drinks were that we ordered after we admitted defeat and he just pointed at her even though she was clearly busy. They also put 15% service on the bill! I must say that the Tom Yum soup was a nice flavour but it was £8.50 and mostly mushrooms. The owner manager needs to take a look at his customer service and also the way he treats his staff. Truly appalling. read more

we really liked this place and plan on going there again to explore the menu. again, we went there because of groupon and the great reviews on yelp. (thank you, yelpers!) the service was great. we particularly appreciated the server explaining a dish before we ordered a dish loved by thai...he compared it to marmite and fish. we appreciate the caution and ordered something else. the spice was just right and portions european style. read more

My girlfriend and I walked in here on Valentine's Day with made reservations. We were greeted by a friendly, young, Thai waiter who was eager to serve us and the other guests with his expertise in the culinary area. We were pleased with the great decor efforts celebrating Valentine's Day. Besides that, there were pictures of the Thai royal family, and places in Thailand. Anyway, back to the review. We ordered two Spanish made wines, Pad See Ew, a Fried Rice, a Green Curry, and a Red Curry. We had the Green Curry with Beef, the Red Curry with Chicken, and the Pad See Ew with Chicken. The Green Curry had a distinct basil taste, and was cooked very well. The Red Curry was my favourite, and had a variety of small vegetables, and the curry was so good, that it could make you drool. The Pad See Ew was a bit odd, and from what I know, it is supposed to be brown, but theirs was drenched in Soy Sauce. This, I did not really approve of. The food was overall delicious, and the price went well with that and of the service. The service was excellent, as the young waiter knew what he was doing. The old man however can get annoying. I know he's trying to be nice, but sometimes it's better to enjoy your food with your girlfriend, instead of having someone check up on you literally every three minutes. Since it was Valentine's Day, they had a prize raffle, which had prizes such as: Free Meal, Half Price on Meal, One Free Dish, One Free Dessert, One Free Appetiser, Free Drinks, etc. Unfortunately, we did not win anything and it said "Try again. Better luck next time," but someone in the restaurant won a free meal. Give this place a try. It is an overall appealing restaurant, and you most likely will not be disappointed, read more

This is supposedly the first NE Thai place in London, first isn't always best as I think they fallen behind their competitors. We ordered a decent amount of food but it was quite difficult to order as the elderly gentle that was waiting tables on our night was really rude. Just very grumpy and I don't think I'd done anything to offend him so it just bugged the crap out of me. Others on the front of house staff seemed nice but we were stuck with this guy. On to the food, sai oua, grilled pork neck, som tom, raw shrimp, pork ribs and dried beef. The sausage was more a fermented pork sausage I didn't get as much herbs so it was disappointing (I am not Thai so maybe my own ignorance and prejudiced reference) but in the end nothing amazing. Grilled pork neck definitely not marinated enough and the sauce was way too salty. Som Tom, I didn't really feel the fish just an overbearing amount of sugar and not much else. Pork ribs served with sweet chilli sauce, how boring, as that was the only added flavour. Raw shrimp dish was good and the dried beef was just okay. Food wise it wouldn't be worth the hour journey for me the service relieved I would prefer not to come back ever again. There are others in the vicinity that have comparable food with better service. read more

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This place is wonderful! We went there late and were received like king and queen. The food was just delicious! Will definitely be back!

Best thai restaurant in London! We used to live just over the road from Esarn Kheaw but have recently moved a few miles away. However we still regularly pop over there, often for takeaway now. Staff are always super-friendly and we always have a good chat with them - even if we are just picking up takeaway. Thai sausages and beef panang are our big favourites! Haven't yet found a better thai restaurant in the UK! read more

A really great meal in Shepherds Bush. Massive selection of Thai food and decently priced wines. We ordered the papaya salad, catfish, tofu, jungle curry and panang curry. The papaya salad, catfish and jungle curry all packed a firey punch which was fantastic, the panang was just gorgeous too. I think I was just overly disappointed with the service aspect. Whatever they are doing in the kitchen keep it up, however the front of house was very odd and very uncomfortable. The younger gentlemen was in fits of laughter and sitting down talking to people so it took over 10 mins of sitting asking, being ignored and finally waving someone down to put our drinks in. Then during the meal he got into a fight in the middle of the restaurant with who I assume was his father and came over to us and was essentially slagging him off and telling us more information than we really needed to know. I will absolutely come back as the food was amazing, and very decently priced, but only to pick up as I was very turned off from a service point of view. read more

As soon as you walk in you realise this restaurant is a family run business. A brother and sister duo seem to be front of house and you can only assume their parents are in the kitchen cooking up the good smells. We came here very hungry and decided to get starters. We chose the Thai Sausages which had a unique flavour of lemongrass and spices; the pork dumplings were also very more-ish, definitely fresh and homemade. The best part about both of these dishes was the dipping sauce it came with. Hard to describe but a soy/fish like sauce with a hint of chilli. We both then had Thai curries for our main. This is where you need to be clever with what side dishes you order. The curries are very meaty dishes and there is very little vegetables in them. What we decided to do was get one rice to share and also a green vegetable side dish, which was roughly £7 which may seem expensive for a side but is well worth it as it came cooked in a similar sauce we had with the starter. I had gone for the Panang which had a lovely thick sauce and the beef was thinly sliced. My partner went for the massaman which was cubed beef but so tender it melted in your mouth. Both great in their own ways. The only slight annoyance we both felt was the waiter. At first he seemed very welcoming, funny and full of enthusiasm to talk to us but it then got very irritating as he didn't seem to know the boundaries between the customer. No questions that the food here is incredible and such a bargain. A two course meal with side dishes and a drink for £40. A restaurant I would recommend for the food but make sure you are in a good mood to handle the waiter. (Visit - 23/12/2014 Dinner) read more