Giggling Squid Harpenden in St Albans

My friend and I had a pre theatre meal here on 10/10/24 , the staff service and atmosphere was super , we said when we ordered we were going to a show , the food was prompt and hot and delicious and the staff remembered where we were going and wished us a good evening .This was our first visit here and we look forward to comming back .

Disappointed Booked in advance and there was a mix up with the table and then there was a mix up with the food resulting in a main meal being wrong and sent back. Due to the lengthy time it took to be served we opted not to have a replacement so one of our party had to share everyone else's food. Very loud restaurant. Slow service. Didn't remove empty bottles. Spoiled what was supposed to be a lovely birthday meal... Only saving grace was a free birthday cake but that was all we received other than not paying for the meal we didn't receive... Update - emailed back as requested and have not heard anything....

I recently dined at Giggling Squid, hoping to enjoy a satisfying Thai meal, but unfortunately, my experience was far from pleasant. From start to finish, there were significant issues with both the food quality and the service. Firstly, the food was a major letdown. The flavors lacked the vibrant punch Thai cuisine is known for. My Pad Thai was bland, with overcooked noodles and a suspiciously dry texture. The curry I ordered was watery and tasted like it was hastily thrown together with no attention to seasoning or balance.l, lacking the freshness and crispness I was expecting. On top of the poor food quality, the service was incredibly slow. Despite the restaurant not being particularly busy, it took almost 45 minutes just to get our appetizers, and even longer for the main course. There was no sense of urgency or care in making sure customers were taken care of. All in all, Giggling Squid was a disappointment. While I understand that not every dining experience can be perfect, both the food and service here missed the mark by a long shot. I won’t be returning anytime soon, and I certainly can’t recommend it to anyone looking for a quality Thai meal.

Friday night meal in Harpenden- little bit too noisy for me. But friendly, efficient staff and delicious food.

Had a simply fabulous meal made excellent by our server Oscar who was incredible.

Limited vegetarian options. The spring rolls were good. I opted for the Thai Green Curry and Coconut rice, which was fine.

Absolutely adored this experience! Delicious exotic flavours, colourful aesthetic and the staff were incredible. Lisa made us feel so welcome and looked after! Coming back soon!

Food was good. Service was very slow despite just a handful of diners at 5pm. Not asked about any food allergies (cashew nuts & shellfish on menu). Restaurant was dirty. Seats not wiped down (of food), balcony glass thick with dust and tiled floors absolutely filthy - obviously not cleaned for weeks.

Took my mother here for her birthday meal. Fabulous decor, I loved the chandelier above our table. The food was delicious. Although in the seafood dish I had, I only got 2 mussels, which was disappointing but was still nice. Considering the starters and mains we ordered, the bill total was actually quite reasonable. I would definitely go back again

Dinner as a group of four friends on 16/8. Two of us had been here a few times previously and service has always been very hit and miss. However today we had no problems as service was very good and I would say this was my best Giggling Squid visit. All the food we chose was well presented, well presented and tasty. A very pleasant evening.

The hake and tamu rice was amazing and the elderberry spritzer

Their penang curry is the best, even red curry is beautifully made. Great vibe, lots of seating but it is very busy during weekends, Fridays. Reserve before coming. I found the noodles average, the rice or even rotis are very well made.

Fantastic food, great taste, generous portions, superb service. Will be back again !

I only go here for the food. The food is wonderful. The service has been sub par in the last three times I have been here across a 12 month period. The food comes exceptionally fast, within 10 mins, so I can't imagine it's made fresh, however it does taste wonderful. Last time I went, we got rushed out of our table after only being there an hour, by the server bringing our bill and card machine, without asking us, cutting our dinner short. It wasn't even busy. This time, the drinks order actually took longer than the food order! We were waiting 20 mins for our drinks, which they then got wrong. Anyway, come for the food, not the service. Local parking is available and free after 6pm.

I'm a wheelchair user. Nice and easy to get in. Dropkerbs outside are a bit an adventure. Decent disabled loo. Friendly staff.

First time we have visited Giggling Squid. Wish we had visited sooner. Great service and fabulous food. Will definitely be back again.

We booked a table however was no need as there were plenty available. We started off with the prawn crackers which were more akin to poppadoms than anything else then we had our mains and no dessert. The food was a good temperature and tasted ok. The wait was about average but the menu options were quite limited and the prices were very steep. However the toilets looked clean so points there.

The Fisherman's Feast is a great amount of well flavoured food to share

We used to like this spot so much but on our last visit for our daughter’s birthday we ordered a bellini for her and been told of for doing so. When we explained our waiter that its allowed by law that 16-17 year olds can drink wine beer or cider when they are with their parents and bellini is wine with fruit puree. The waiter told us that it can be goverment policy but this is the company policy and they dont let it. And the way they handled it was rude. It basically ruined the whole mood of the dinner and left us upset.

We had dinner tonight at the Giggling squid, my partner, my disabled mother and her partner. Our reservation was for 6pm and my partner and I arrived, early, first. We were directed upstairs initially to which I reminded them my mother was disabled and would not be able to make it upstairs. This created consternation for the waiting staff who told us they would struggle to find a table downstairs, despite us having a reservation and the restaurant being half empty. Before we eventually sat down the duty manager ushered me over to her to say we were lucky they could accommodate us and that we must inform them in the future of our needs. I told her my mum's partner made the reservation, and I was sure he would have mentioned this. She ignored this and continued to lecture me in an extremely patronising and rude way. We took our seats and my mum and partner arrived shortly after. He told me that he had actually taken the effort to walk all the way (rather than phone) to the restaurant days beforehand to make the reservation and speak to the manager who had insisted a table she could access and which would be near the disabled toilet would be no problem at all... I strongly urge the Giggling squid to do two things: 1) Take extra care with reservations which are made by or for disabled patrons. 2) Encourage their staff to not be rude and condescending to paying customers, especially when their own hopeless processes are at fault. The food was fine, not nearly the best Thai food we've tried, everything was a bit too sweet. Very expensive for what it is. Atmosphere OK, service minus score.

We went here for our wedding anniversary and it was an awful. Servers walking around looking half dead, like you’ve ruined their day by walking in. I don’t think I saw any of them smile even once. We waited 40 mins for one starter and another hour for our mains. My husband’s main came out cold, to which we were told they could make another or he could have this one and they would take it off the bill. After waiting for so long my husband said he’d just eat it. A few minutes later he was told they were making him another one. Another 10 mins wait. When the bill came they hadn’t taken it off. Desperate to get out we just paid and left. Food, when it arrived, was mediocre and definitely not worth the money. Ambiance was poor, service was god awful! Never again! ——————————————————————— UPDATE - it’s been over a week and despite emailing Lisa I have not heard a thing. Not really surprised but they need to be called out.

Amy excellent, kitchen a little slow at times. Dislike the tipping dictat , we are not America!

The food is average. It was overly sweet to my taste. Having returned from Thailand the week before I was rather surprised how different it was to actual food in northern and southern Thailand. No problem at all with the waitress as she was an 11 out of 10. Give her a pay rise. Would I return? Hmmmm possible but not likely 5 out of 10

Decided to get a takeaway after a good week. It quickly ruined my week, found a hair in my calamari which was a pathetic portion size anyway. This chicken attached below, I paid £16 (yes 16 British pounds) for this dish if you can believe it. The portion size is absolutely pathetic for the price. I will go out of my way to never go to this place again.

Third visit and definitely our last. Service was dreadful - so disorganised and we were kept waiting for over 40mins before being served. Staff were uninterested…. Food arrived cold. Too much focus on getting ‘deliveroo’ orders out of the door… there were lots of those sent whilst we were waiting. Very disappointing and cannot recommend until they fix their priorities.

Very spacious place with nice decor, loved the chandelier, green vegetable curry was very good, tamarind mushrooms were great choice for a shared side, also side of greens was very nice, vegan pad Thai was nice but too sweet for me. Amazing variety of drinks. Will come again.

Visited restaurant twice before and it’s been great. This visit did not match. We were the first diners for dinner service yet had to wait whilst they decided which table. Had to ask for drinks and food order to be taken. Food orders came out at different times. Lack of focus on service and quality of food was not same as previous visits. We had the same dishes and it was not the same. What we did notice was the number of deliveroo orders going out which clearly impacted our service. The service itself was extremely lacking and I don’t think anyone really cared despite three or four times having to call out issues. It’s a pity as I’ve revisited and recommended in past. Sadly off my list now.

The service is excellent with attention to our orders and knowledgeable server. We ordered all vegetarian dishes, but I miss the vegetarian platter that has now been removed

Nice atmosphere and the staff were very friendly . My Thai green curry was very nice, spicy without being over powering. The Sesame Ice Cream was fabulous! However, both the main courses and desserts appeared in dribs and drabs with side dishes arriving well after mains etc and the staff managed to give the wrong Pad Thais to people . It wasn't immediately obvious as the fillings were buried under a pile of noodles .

First visit here on 1/12/23. Excellent all round. Partner wanted to come down for her birthday so travelled from Bedford. Worth the journey for us and would come back. Four of us, we had a different starter and main meal each and they were all excellent. Restaurant was very busy with a good vibe going on. Staff were on the ball and very good. Will hopefully visit again soon. So made it back again on the 9/6/24. We popped in on a Sunday lunchtime on the off chance, lucky we came early (midday) or we wouldn't have got a table. The food was again excellent, we all chose from the 'lunch tapas' menu (four little dishes) they were all excellent. The service was also very good. An all round good experience, will go back.

Stunning venue, amazing food and great service :-)

Has the best Thai meals and best picture background.

Absolutely delicious food. Absolutely amazing options. Lovely view of the town. Restaurant perfection.

Super tasty food, highly recommended especially the squid and pad tai with jumbo shrimp

Worest restaurant of Harpenden bad and bad worest delivery service no good restaurant very very very bad and bad delivery restaurant cheeee not one day every day I loss money because of this restaurant every lost week I wait 30 minutes no one response my order today I wait almost 25 min this is the worest situation of my entire life

Food very good, felt like an independent restaurant as opposed to part of a group. Would def. recommend.

Thai cuisine in the great tradition with a sophisticated and careful presentation. Attentive and very courteous service. We feel very good in this pretty place.

The food here is amazing and I have been on several occasions but on this visit although the food was amazing as usual the service we received let the visit down!! Two members of staff on duty and although very pleasant on taking our order our drinks took a while. The food was good but we received no service after food was delivered and plates cleared. No asking if we required another drink, not asked if we wanted dessert or coffee or anything else. Took ages to get staff’s attention on asking for the bill and was not asked if everything was ok? I paid the bill and pointed this out to female member of staff who apologised and blamed the male member of staff saying she assumed he had asked us? Not a good thing to do!! I did pay the service charge but was tempted to remove it!! Saying this tge food and restaurant are amazing and will go again. I had taken a friend for her birthday and it was her first time at the restaurant. She loved the food but not the service we received. Saying all of this I thoroughly recommend the restaurant !!

So tasty and friendly stuff. Please book in advance due to busy weekends. Highly recommended.

Let's start from the food. Yes, it's a chain and expectations are lower, but for this franchise and branch the food surpasses many others both in flavour and creativity. Next the service. Natalia is a wonderful person and made the night and service a wonderful experience. Lastly atmosphere. We visited on a Thursday and it was packed! Clean spaces and proper set up. Will definitely visit next month! Love this place ❤️.

Very busy. Food was unique and excellent. Service was really good and helpful when needed. Certainly come here again.

Lovely lunch with some great friends

Couldn’t have picked a better place. Great atmosphere, perfect service and friendly staff without being intrusive. Food was outstanding at a reasonable price for the quality and portion sizes. I would highly recommend the duck confit!

Went with friends for a celebration dinner, couldn’t have picked a better place. The atmosphere was amazing, the service was excellent, the staff were friendly and helpful without being intrusive. The food as always was incredibly good and the price for 4 with plenty of their delicious cocktails too was much lower than I expected. If you go, try the the duck confit main course, huge portion and delicious!

Great food busy and chaotic atmosphere We went to eat here after a few friends recommended the place . Booking was straightforward and we got sent a reminder as well. Great menu with huge variety of drinks unfortunately a few drinks were unavailable on the day as they had run out of ingredients like maple syrup . 2-3 items from the starters were unavailable as they didn’t have the ingredients again . Interesting they had run out of mushrooms!!! Service was friendly but erratic . Our server forgot the water and had to be reminded 3 times . During the main course service we had ordered additional toti which was forgotten and yet again had to ve reminded Tbe food was well cooked and well presented. Overall a reasonable evening . We decided not to pay the discretionary service charge as we found it shocking that menu items were unavailable on the busiest day of the week for the restaurant!! This probably didnt go down very well with staff who were short in numbers on the day and were stretched . Sad the management couldn’t organise staffing levels to endure a better experience for its customers

Amazing restaurant with outstanding service. Booked for my partners birthday and they went the extra mile to make it nice. Food was amazing, as was the atmosphere and interior. Highly recommend.

Fantastic Thai tapas. Food is very good and authentic. The smaller tapas like dishes are great. Four of us all had different dishes and everything was good. Friendly staff as well. Highly recommended.

Absolutely lovely food and staff were great too!

Lovely food, could be a bit spicier than that (but ofcourse we are used to eating very spicy food) loved the starters we had, giggling squid bites and chicken the pad thai was very yummy too. My son made a bit of a mess but the staff was very nice. very accommodating. Had a great time.

Quite pricey for what it is £32 for bottle of prosecco I said was a friends birthday so they gave ice cream then put on the bill which I didn't ask for then took off! It was £86 for lunch for 3 people

Always such lovely, delicious food. Also the staff are very welcoming and provide great service.

Food was excellent and staff were very friendly First time trying Giggling Squid and it was so great!

Amazing restaurant. Lunch tapas is a bargain but still amazing quality. Silky pink is the best cocktail!

Pork chops - kid’s starter might give food poisoning

The food was very average at best. We were 15 in a group and not one person said they had an amazing meal. My starter was very dry satay chicken, the main had a gravy at the bottom instead of a nice Thai Broth. Sadly quite underwhelming. The staff were lovely and they had a great little truck of writing our names and pre-orders on little chalk boards, so we all knew the food we ordered 2 weeks prior.

Update: Service once again poor. Repeatedly if ignored. Failure to take guests' coats! Also, food not that special either. Really disappointed, gonna gice this place a break. Much better places to eat nearby. Update: much better service than on last visit. A good four stars!

What a wonderful experience great food. Amazing service from Reece. 100% amazing Regards Fiona Uys

Lovely place and competitively priced. Most importantly the food was fantastic. Friendly table service too so highly recommended!!

The food was just amazing. Went here to celebrate my husbands birthday. We had a great experience. Vegetarian options are amazing. Service is very good. The ambience is picturesque 🥰❤️ Do try their, salt and pepper, mushroom and spring rolls. Caramelised mango cake was excellent.

The worst food I have had delivered in Harpenden. I swear it was microwave slop. Never again

Lovely Place, Lovely Decor! Food was Good and Service by Reece was very welcoming! We sat upstairs, we was frezzing cold never been that cold in a restaurant before. I would take your jumper!

Consistently good restaurant..staff always friendly and helpful

Penang curry and duck confit were great

Food was really good. Only downside was a lot of items were unavailable.

First time here. A nice experience surrounded by lovely cosy decor and friendly service staff. Food was tasty and a nice offering on the menu, easy to read and enjoyed the layout of menus. Pad kee mao and thai green curry was really good but felt there could have been a few more pieces of chicken in the curry and more noodles. Vegetable spring rolls and chicken satay were also very nice.

I visited last November for the first time with my family and i’ve already come back another 5 times atleast. I’ve tried a few dishes but the Salmon Panaeng has become my go to. The starters are amazing too! From the one bite salmon to the salt and pepper mushrooms to the money bags (which my family rave about as i don’t eat chicken) we love all of them! The atmosphere and service here is amazing, i haven’t had a bad experience with any of the amazing servers that i’ve had over the times i’ve visited. My brother and i had Aod as our server last night and she was so attentive, friendly and provided amazing service. Pete has always been so welcoming and friendly whenever i’ve visited either with family or friends; Jess, Amy and Reece have also been amazing servers in the past and everyone has made this restaurant one of my favourite ever. I will always recommend Giggling squid to my friends :)

Flavours are good but green curry had very little chicken and satay was slightly overcooked.

First time there yesterday, loved it

Just popped in for a quick pad Thai and Massaman curry, very nice indeed.

After waiting 50 mins for Prawn crackers was told they had run out 14 in our party. One no food arrived one main was cold one was very fatty (Steak) Starters were wrong and the had far too much Chilli over it to the point it could not be eaten. Overall very poor compared to the Cambridge and Berko restaurants. Was hoping to take my wife in a few weeks for my birthday, however I think I will have too think again.

Super Thai food - as good as I've had in Bangkok. Nice and spicy. Fresh. Really enjoyed the shredded papaya salad. Friendly and efficient service. Good wine list by glass or bottle.

My husband treated me to lunch here and it did not disappoint. The food was excellent. I had crispy squid and my husband had a pork dish as replacement for dumplings. We enjoyed both. We then had the duck confit and it was so good. Service was a little slow which was fine for food, but could have done with the drinks a little quicker!

This was the 1st time we've been to this Thai restaurant. The food was outstanding, service by very friendly staff and the restaurant itself spacious with plenty of space around the tables... highly, highly recommended.

Much better experience this year. Pre ordered our food and much less waiting time. Thank you

Archie “The truly Brave” warm and respectful welcome as how has to be !thanks for your tasteful recommendation of “Salt & pepper squid “ ..Skip to Launch classics Thai Red curry with chicken is one of the best I’ve eaten so far in UK well done to the chef for this accomplishment the veggies was cooked as much as needed to be a bit crunchy but still soft enough the soup oh my god truly this is a Land of Smiles ! Congratulations to the Owner and his team as well !

We always receive great service at Giggling Squid and the food is always delicious!

Absolutely superb food and service, the second yet the best GS I have been to….. Reece the waiter was brilliant although he came to me and disappointed me with soft shell prawns had run out…. Thank you for a great evening 🙏🏼

Honestly from the moment we stepped through the door till we left the standard was top notch. If you can do visit. Thank you Ollie for being brilliant, loved it.

we had a great service and food. ruby was great

Thai Asian cuisine very good food a little bit expensive but you get what you pay for.

Went with friends for a Xmas Eve meal. Our table was upstairs and table was very big and quite impersonal. Service was reasonable but they got the main course wrong and failed to serve 1 of the meals which put a damper on the evening. Food was OK but a little disappointing or us.

Not value for money. Lovely staff and nice atmosphere

We choose to have the festive meal, seeing that it is Xmas. The small detail’s were missing from this meal! Crackers were not offered, rice does not come with the main dish? It is cheaper to have a starter, main and rice dish; than have a starter and a main from the festive option.

Great restaurant. Flavours were spot on and good varied choice of food. Only thing I didn't appreciate is adding 10% service to the bill for a table of 4 without telling us.

Really nice for the food they offer. It's not very authentic but it's okay!

Sorry .....Nice but over priced .... Average place to eat ...

You can't expect atmosphere at 5:00 on a Monday night. Food and service were very good. No worries.

A wonderful location for any celebration. The staff were fantastic; so professional and friendly. Such a beautiful setting and delicious food.

REALLY nice place! Nothing but good things to say about our meal here recently for a family birthday. Food was amazing (I was skeptical as I'm not generally very adventurous, don't like spicy food and had never had Thai food before but I am converted) everything was absolutely delicious. Cocktails were also amazing! Staff were friendly and service was great! The place was totally packed (Saturday night) had a great atmosphere and the decor was also beautiful, so much to look at!

Midweek so not overly busy but excellent customer service and food was very good. Would recommend

Got takeaway and the food was seriously bland

It was quite busy but the servers were excellent and the food was delivered quickly. For me the food lacked the intensity of flavours ofThai food . It was like it had been watered down for Britiah taste. Dont get me wrong it was perfectly acceptable - just not like food I remember from Thailand.

Amazing atmosphere, food was out of this world and the staff are brilliant. would highly recommend this restaurant and I will be going back ASAP

When making the booking we had mentioned that it’s was our first anniversary. When nothing was made to make it extra special. We were placed in a cold corner and it was very noisy. Food was nice but I would say the sharing platter was not value for money. I also did a review at the premises and since then we have received a request to make a review so which shows they don’t really look at their data. So in all we have had better experiences at the Cambridge premises.

Great restaurant and great Thai food, conveniently located a few mins away from Waitrose.

A good place to eat. Sometimes a bit noisy and thw tables are a bit too close if other diners are a bit loud.

The food was simply delicious, great atmosphere, Aod, Ella, Jay, Sanas, William and Lisa let me feel like at home and help me with the food choices, they been amazing. I'll be back soon

Food and service were both good. A little noisy when it's busy but it didn't detract from a nice meal.

Lovely place, food and staff amazing

Cozy and warm. Delicious food and great service.