Chai's Garden in Lewisham

Fabulous food! I had the spring rolls and prawn pad Thai. The food came out quick, was super fresh and the portion was amazing! Special shout out to Claudia who looked after me, I was eating solo and Claudia was so lovely!

Superb food & service! I had the spring rolls and prawn pad Thai, the food came out quick and super fresh! Special shout out to Claudia who looked after me, I was solo dining and Claudia was so lovely 😊 would 100% recommend. Thank you!

Food is really tasty, but the service is really poor! This was the first time there, but again, as the food was good I thought about giving another try and book a table in 2 weeks time. I asked for the waitress if was possible to make a booking. She left, spoke to the person who took the order, then came back and said...Its fully booked!...and the left the table. The exact dates were not even asked, so they didn't even know for how many people the booking would be. The FOH team since the beginning didn't make the atmosphere enjoyable at all. On my way out I made a comment to my friend, and the 2 girls at the bar started laughing. I didn't get the joke but....

Hard to split out the pub from the restaurant. The pub is amazing but the food is just awful. The chicken in each dish with spongey and effectively tasteless.

The service was terrible first of all they made us payed a £30 deposit to book a table when it was empty we ordered 3 egg fried rice and they brought us 2 we asked if they could bring it and they said they had run (they couldn't be bothered to make another batch) they then finnaly made it and slammed it down on our table and the rice and curry's came ten minutes apart! The food was good though

Food is really tasty, but the service is really poor! This was the first time there, but again, as the food was good I thought about giving another try and book a table in 2 weeks time. I asked for the waitress if was possible to make a booking. She left, spoke to the person who took the order, then came back and said...Its fully booked!...and the left the table. The exact dates were not even asked, so they didn't even know for how many people the booking would be. The FOH team since the beginning didn't make the atmosphere enjoyable at all. On my way out I made a comment to my friend, and the 2 girls at the bar started laughing. I didn't get the joke but....

Have had the worst Thai take away l have ever had!!! Disappointed doesn’t even come close!

The pub its hosted within its one of the best in the area. The restaurant though its souless. Everything was tasteless and overcooked . Go for the drinks avoid eating there

Ordered online they haven't put the drink. Ask for refund ubereats says this place is not eligible for refunds. I don't recommend to order online because you're not being protected by the apps and you gonna loose everything they miss on your order. Plus the vegetables in the singapore rice where raw.

Pad Thai is the stuff of dreams!

A lovely little quaint restaurant situated within a pleasant garden with a great atmosphere. The food was delicious and the full bodied and fruity flavoured malbec wine was exceptionally good. It was great value for money and the staff were friendly and attentive and I will definitely visit again to try out more dishes from their vast menu.

Amazing food in a lovely atmosphere! I will definitely return 👍

Been using Chai’s Garden Thai restaurant for years, always fantastic food and the staff are amazing and very friendly. Always best to book. This is one of our favourite places to eat. Chris and Lilly

AVOID. Our experience here fell flat on all fronts unfortunately. FOOD: overall poor. Genuinely, the worst PAD THAI I've ever eaten. It was tasteless except for the lemon I squeezed on top. I added my partner's curry sauce on top just to have some flavour. Couldn't finish it. SERVICE: Friendly team, but just generally a bit messy. They took the used cutlery off our starter plates and back on the table so we re-use them for our main course. ATMOSPHERE: You would think a Thai restaurant would smell of lovely food, but all I could smell was wet dog. There were no dogs in the restaurant at the time. I can only suppose the smell was emanating from the open toilet door which was separated from the eating area with a wooden divider. Overall, it's safe to say that I will not be dining here again. Avoid.

Delicious food with a very good mix of vegetables. Portion size and overall environment great.

Amazing Thai food next to a great pub. Unfortunately staff are really dismissive. They wouldn’t let us use the bathroom and made us go to the pub upstairs. Such a shame as we love the food but staff make it hard to want to return.

The soups and mashed be were good. Sat on n the pagoda in a nice garden. The service is a bit of a mess and odd that you have to order drinks separately in the pub. Price ok.

We have dined here for many years and have enjoyed the food as it's lovely, and the place is nice and unusual. However, we'd not been for a while and thought we'd have a spontaneous early Sunday dinner. We were so disappointed by the service which was really lacking tonight. Luckily, we'd ordered our first drinks with the food order with a young guy, as we were not offered another drink througout the entirety of the meal. I eventually had to grab another server's attention for table water as our one had disappeared, almost permanently until the bill request. He didn't take our starter plates away either, leaving another server to do it for him when she brought our food over. We where finally confused to receive a 23% service charge at the end. A stunning amount for only two people dining, and for doing hardly anything at all. I think they win the brazen prize for requesting a £9 tip on a £39 bill. We paid it, as we thought the food was lovely and did not want to cause a scene. But I'm not sure we would go back again after that experience.

Brilliant food but bad service (on the day we went). Took over 1 hour for my main to arrive. They told me they couldn't find my table (1 of 3 outside tables...??), and then told me I'd ordered the wrong food when they tried to give me the wrong food items from the menu. When it arrived, the drunken noodles were fantastic, however not worthwhile on the day because of the service. Clearly there had been an earlier error with who got what food, but to not sort that out within 40 minutes and to then accuse customers of being at fault and ordering the incorrect items, is simply not acceptable. Eat here, hope it goes well, and you'll have a good experience. If mains take longer than 15 minutes; chase them!!!!

The entrance is hard to find. A little isolated hiding place, you may like it or not

Edited today on 27th July 2023 - what a shame of this place to hire a rude staff especially in the restaurant. We have been waiting for us to serve as we are dine in here. The lady who came for take away even said that I am first and she can wait. This rude staff said that no worries I will take your order. I complained that we have been waiting and they are serving take away orders three people instead of serving us. I today left without ordering anything. You lost one of loyal customer for racist staff! See my first review of this place below. What a shame of this place with rude staffs from Thai restaurant! One of the best thai authentic foods in south london with very reasonable price. The place is lovely but it is sometimes very crowded though especially in summer. Hard to find the place in rooftop. If you can hold spices, seafood fire is the best dish to try.I love pad Thai, fried rice and papaya salad also. But don’t go when they are to close, the food can be a bit less of quality than usual.

Used to be good :-/ I turned up to collect a £70 B'day dinner for my partner, but when I arrived they said sorry we're running late and there's no salads today. So no classic Thai Som Tam salad that we'd ordered, the highlight for us!! Frankly, the rest of the stuff was meh at best.

Lovely little thai restaurant the pa nang curry was nice just missing the slight kick. The coconut rice did not taste of anything and was overcooked. Service was A+ absolutely love Henry. Drinks were reasonably priced. Would return for a quick lunch but not a main event.

Mediocre Thai food. Microwaved rice. Packet noodles. Tasteless curries. Ribs were decent.

Food has gone down terribly.. Staff don't care., more interested in taking selfies (long dark haired girl in restaurant) and another blonde who was actually vaping inside restaurant at 9pm. Pub of the year.. Perhaps upstairs but a different story down...

This place is magical!! And part of the voted number 1 pub in London 2023! The food is so authentic and absolutely amazing every time. If you haven't already experienced it you need to!!!

Chai’s is in a great location but with dirty tables and floors, more importantly with below average Thai food. A dinner of four came to an abrupt end when staff switched off the light at 10pm with the manager shouting at customers to leave “now”. Any restaurant would tell customers in advance or apologise about any inconvenience. This place needs staff trained in the very basics of customer service.

I’ve been a regular customer at this venue for a number of years and it has been consistently first rate in all respects. Thanks to the lovely staff also.

Highly recommend the authentic Thai curry here.

I went to Chai's garden over the weekend with my boyfriend and it was lovely. The food and service was great. I was served by Susana who made really nice food recommendations and I will definitely be back.

My friend literally nearly died after eating here - she's deadly allergic to bamboo shoots, 4 of us went into the restaurant to ensure there was no cross-contamination with meals that included them. They assured us there wasn't in her chosen meal. An hour after the meal, we were in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. EVEN IF THERE'S THE SMALLEST CHANCE OF CROSS-CONTAMINATION, WHEN AN ALLERGY IS INVOLVED, TELL THE CUSTOMER!!! We flagged with the restaurant, while on the phone with the ambulance, they continued to insist there wasn't any. Tests came back confirming it was a reaction to bamboo shoots. Not cool, just be honest, especially when someones life could be at stake.

I absolutely love this place! Amazing food (recommend trying the green beef curry)

I sat outside. Had to order by app. My table had no number. So I ordered to the table next to me, under the assumption that it wouldn't lead to a catastrophe. I proceeded to get shouted at for ordering to the wrong table. At length. Genuinely shocking. And the food was not good either. Avoid.

Terrible food and tiny portions, but worse service. Unbelievably rude woman running the place who literally shouted at me for ordering food to the adjacent table (because mine didn't have a table number). Genuinely astonishing

Great place to come for your desserts.Staff are really friendly and full of energy and make you very welcome.I highly recommend this place.

It was very quiet when me and friends arrived. Waitress seemed unwelcoming and not once during our 2 hour stay, she ever smiled. Food was okay. It used to be better many years ago. I felt disappointed. Pub next door, hardly any seats at all so had to sit outside. Won't be coming back to either the pub or restaurant. The only improvement here is the outdoor seating area.

Nice place, good food and good price

Great food. Unusual building in an old pub dray yard.

Great environment food was lovely

Just been for my husbands birthday. Lovely meal and lovely friendly staff. Great to see Lin and her daughter again. Food perfect as usual. It's great to get out again. Mary and Jim Arbuthnot Road.

Ate here on Sunday and again had a great meal. Try to get there when we come up to visit family and always thoroughly enjoyed the food there. Will certainly visit when next in area

Just been to ours favourite Thai restaurant in New cross for first time since lockdown. Was lovely experience food just as we remembered. Staff and waitress so friendly was a pleasure to be back. Said hello to Lin so we know all is good. Will be back as walking distance for us. Well done everyone and glad to see busy. Keep going Mary & Jim Arbuthnot Road xx

Good service. The tea is always on point. Doughnuts are also amazing. Would definitely go back again and highly recommend.

Lovely staff & really cool setting/decor. Food, not good. All meat was over cooked. Rice over cooked. Not aromatic, balanced or authentic Thai food. Acidic flavours, and no 'freshness' element. Wasn't very kind on our stomachs :( Maybe if there were less items on the menu the quality would be better. Pub-grub vibes.

I'm a local and I do love the food here. Best pad thai I have ever had. However, the restaurant itself is completely soulless. Awful overhead lighting and zero atmosphere. Sit in the bar or in the garden and order. Unfortunately on tonight's visit we had to sit in the restaurant itself. The service was utterly laughable. The paper menu literally stuck to the table because it was so filthy. We had to ask the waiter to clean it, which he did halfheartedly and with wet wipes. When the food arrived the waiter said "enjoy your meal" but we had been given no plates or cutlery! In the end we had to take cutlery from behind the bar ourselves. Possibly the worst service I've ever had anywhere. The food was just wonderful though.

Fried rice was hard, tasted like it has been microwave and tiny portion. But the Green Thai curry was delicious.

Try the spare ribs. You won't regret it.

3 star but only because the interior looks great and staff are really nice. food wise it's mediocre at best, tried a number of things on the menu and I can honestly say I have had better Thai dishes at home or on dinner parties. Everything taste like it was a ready meal from Food warehouse. Presentation is nice though and everyone who served us were super nice.

This is the nicest Thai food I've had in while! Really fresh flavours and non greasy. Generous portions in the take away. Only criticism is although I loved the satay chicken, I would have loved some peanut sauce instead of sweet chilli. Noone else seemed to mind though! Really glad I've found this place. Looking forward to dining in come 2021.

Delicious food and beautiful decor

The real deal. Fantastic Thai restaurant in Nunhead. I have been to Thailand and Chai's Garden's Green Curry is as authentic as it gets.

Brilliant, authentic Thai restaurant with heart, soul and great energy. The food is clearly given a wealth of attention here because the flavour was on point and when it makes you sweat, you know it’s worth coming back to.

Nice food.. Good starters.. Lovely outdoor area... Helpful staff.. Will go again...

Very nice traditional Thai food, very friendly staff and lovely atmosphere. Highly recommend everyone to go if they enjoy Thai cuisine. However the only complaint is about the sweet and sour pork, because the pork was 90% batter and only 10% actual pork. But I do recommend Sea food lovers to get the seafood of fire, which was very nice and spicy!

A hidden gem in the heart of Nunhead. Great in the summer as there are many outdoor spaces. The interior has traditional thai features including warm ambient sounds whilst dining. The food is inexpensive and fresh, it is run by the family which makes the home made feeling dazzle. Friendly waiters and waitresses - highly recommend visiting. All drinks are served from the irish pub next door which is a plus for all beer lovers.

No estoy seguro de lo que ha sucedido aquí. He sido un cliente habitual durante años, y adoro este lugar, pero la comida ha sido horrible en los últimos seis meses.

First time going there food is authentic nice staff very calm atmosphere nice place to take the other half

Having lived in Telegraph Hill for my entire life, I somehow only found myself trying the food from Chai's Garden this month. The restaurant backs onto a local popular pub, Skehan's. Diners/pub-goers are invited to eat their food inside the pub or the pub's back-garden, rather than the restaurant, if they wish to, and are welcome to order their food at the bar along with their drinks. I am a regular visitor to Skehan's and have always been desperate to try the menu, as it always smells and looks amazing - but I have always found myself there at the wrong time to do so (i.e. after dinner time). When I finally got around to trying the food last week, I ordered the vegetable spring rolls as a starter and the sweet and sour tofu as a main (both vegan-friendly options). I asked the bar tender whether the tofu came with a rice side too, and she informed me that it didn't so I ordered the jasmine rice too. The food came quickly enough - we opted to eat in the pub's back garden. The vegetable spring rolls were absolutely delicious, with an amazing accompanying dip. Next came the tofu, and the rice came a few minutes later. The jasmine rice was very tasty, as was the tofu dish. Overall: tasty food, not incredibly innovate vegan options but still enough to choose from, beautiful presentation of food. My only complaint would be that stir-fry dishes should include a rice - or if not, should perhaps be slightly lower in price. Kitchen should also note that rice should come with the main. If you're looking for a bustling atmosphere, opt to eat your food in the pub. Skehan's a lovely, warm and homely establishment.

Good food but service was a bit under pressure

Up until a few years ago I used to live close to this restaurant and went there all the time. The food was lovely and the staff were really friendly. Not anymore. I went there again recently. I had chicken satay for starters which used to be excellent. This time it was dry tough and tasteless. I has Chicken Penang for main coarse which again used to be lovely. This time it was obvious that precooked chicken had been put in the sauce and it wasn’t good. None of the usual staff were there not even the owners wife. They were all really young and not friendly. Apparently if you want to eat in the garden now you have to order from the bar not the restaurant. I was so disappointed as I was so looking forward to it.

Labai skanus maistas, jauki, įvairi aplinka, protmūšiai, gyva muzika. Pasirinkti yra iš ko

Really great authentic food and amazing, friendly service. Thank you Chai's Garden!

Fantastic restaurant, perfect hideaway eatery, great service.

We waited for an hour but the food was very nice. Small kitchen it seems.

Delicious food and good service.

4 of us went in on Sunday. Each of the mains came out 10 minutes apart, so one person's food came out at 9 and the 4th person's at 9:30 (their rice/noodles came at 9:10 and were cold by then but we were told they were out of noodles and the kitchen was closing). They kept just saying everything was nearly done but it didn't materialise. Other tables seemed to be having the same issue. The food was tasty but I don't think we'll be going back given the awful service - they did knock off about £15 from the bill but it didn't make up for the really bad experience.

Great service, great prices, very friendly atmosphere and the food was delicious. First time eating at this restaurant after living so close to it for so long and I can 100% say that I will be returning. 10/10 thankyou

Not a good service, plates were chips and food was cold! Gone down hill

Absolutely disgusting, what a waste of money. Food was warm I got my starter & main together & others got there main dish 10 mins before the rice

Excellent Thai food, quite last night when we ate although it was a Thursday night and we were late in lovely attentive waitress who made us feel very welcome. I have marked this as a four rather than a five only because it could have been a little warmer in the restaurant.

A large party was in the night we went came in and sat next to us very noisy so we was sat over the other side of the restaurant very good service the food was very good left stuffed good night we will be back

Most plates are badly chipped, not a good start, waiter had a permanent smile on his face, very friendly. Won't return unless new plates are on table.

The food and customer service it first class!

Joint on to Kanavaugh's pub, you can eat your food in the pub or in the sweet private restaurant. I love the food but very hard to cater to dietary issues.

Amazing venue. So many sitting options. Good food, good price.

One of the best Thai's in London before you factor in the fact that the value is unbelievably good. Nice staff, quick service and really nice AMBIENCE.

Not the place we expected it to be. The staff are nice and the food are great. I recommend the pad thai if you’re in to noodles.

Great atmosphere, very cosy place. Very fresh, good Thai food. Definitely I will be back soon.

Great, very tasty food. The only place with a real padthai. Highly reccommended!

Really tasty food and nice outdoor atmosphere.

Lovely food. Flies annoying me.

It's hard to find authentic Asian food in London and Chai's Garden made for an excellent meal. We ordered a variety of curries, dishes, rice and vegetables. It was so delicious, the plates were practically licked clean. Luckily managed to save some for breakfast the next morning.

a hidden gem worth finding - very good thai food and decent winelist.

My visiting parents and I visited two months ago. We enjoyed a laid back and cheap Thai meal. It’s clean and friendly. Only issue: no desserts!

Disappointed! The staff could not understand english enough to take our order correctly, neither to take the payment. The order arrived impleted. The manager hung up phone when i express the mistake in the order and accused me. They also over charge me! never again!

Visited this place after seeing some good reviews and really enjoyed it! We had to wait a bit longer than expected for our mains because of a large group in at the same time but the service was very friendly. Green curry was nice and spicy and the chicken pad Thai was very fresh. The garden platter starter was a bit small to share between two people! Overall the prices are fairly cheap (same price as a takeaway place) and it's nice to find a good, local Thai place where you can sit and eat. Will definitely go back!

Very good food at reasonable prices. Nice atmosphere and friendly staff.

Tasty food if your into Thai-food. But unfortunately we had a night with very little sleep due to food poisoning. Since it was the only thing we ate all day, we are pretty sure it happend at Chais Garden.

A great place to eat in. Some decent Thai food.

Restaurant situé près du merveilleux B&B Pepys road, nous étions dans les petites cabanes extérieures qui sont équipées de lampes chauffantes. Nous avons super bien mangé et le personnel était très sympa !

Really good curry, especially Penang and massaman. Takeaway is fast.

Really nice atmosphere with a lovely garden with plants and flowers. Inside is more spacious than I thought. Had tom yum soup which was delicious, and chicken green curry which was tasty and the right level of spicy. Generous amount of meat in curry and rice. Definitely going back. Recommended.

Only do take away..but rhe food is always good and generous portions

One of our favourite restaurants. Food is always good and service pleasant. It can get busy though.

Nice garden and cozy restaurant, the sea food soup we ordered was very tasty. If I don't rate this place better is because The drunken noodles were dry and didn't test as freshly made. Service was ok; they were putting pressure on us to leave before finishing our food.

Consistently delicious. You wouldn't expect this place to serve up such great food but it really does. And the service is always quick. A little local gem.

please change the opening times during Sunday it says open from Noon but it actually open at 16:00

Great food, shame they open only after 6 pm

Really good quality Thai food: fresh, tasty, delivered quickly, and friendly service! All you can ask for really. The restaurant is worth visiting to eat in, too - a real oasis in the back streets of Nunhead!

I went here with my partner & the service was good! I had a starter, main & a dessert this was served in great time & food was tasty the only thing was I had to re-order dessert as the first 2 I chose they didn't have & there was no mention of this on their menu, also it was very cold in there & they did oblige by turning on a portable heater which was good of them. I would go back again & hopefully the little tweaks will bump up my rating to a 5.