Giggling Squid - Oxford in Oxford

Food wasn’t bad but way overpriced. £8 for a thimble full of ice cream with a tiny brownie. The waiter seemed a bit dodgy as well. One of the lowest Thai restaurant experiences I’ve ever had. Disappointed.

I had high expectations for Giggling Squid in Oxford, but the experience was underwhelming. The chicken satay was dry and lacking in flavour, with a peanut sauce that tasted overly sweet and artificial. The chicken wings were no better—greasy, with a chewy texture and barely any seasoning. Even the restaurant's signature dish, the Giggling Squid, failed to impress, arriving lukewarm and tasting bland. For the price, I expected much better quality and attention to detail. Sadly, it was a disappointing meal, and I won’t be rushing back.

I visited this restaurant for my partner 40th celebration 🍾 ✨️ and we loved the ambience and decor and most importantly the food was delicious 😋. We were there with friends 🧡 and they made a special gesture with balloons and a pie cake and a candle. We loved the food, it was authentic and good portion size. Overall, we would like to visit again and would recommend 👌

Staff could be more welcoming. We came 20 minutes earlier for our reservation and they send us away. I would happily order drink and wait until table is ready but telling us to come back was bit unprofessional. On top of it they make our order wrong. Despite they rectified it eventually, it spoiled otherwise nice meal.

Exquisite food and friendly service. The garlic prawns were a particular highlight but honestly everything was delicious.

La comida era increíble y el servicio era amable. Fuimos a la hora del almuerzo y tuvimos una selección de entrantes seguido de pad Thai. El salmón de un bocado y los entrantes crujientes de langostinos al ajo fueron aspectos destacados. Hemos estado antes y sin duda volveremos de nuevo!

Lo bueno, Los entrantes eran encantadores y sabrosos Lo malo, El servicio fue terrible, mi esposa quería fideos simples, y trajeron fideos al ajo en su lugar, les pedimos que los cambiaran, los devolvieron, y volvieron con el mismo plato de fideos al ajo, diciendo que no hacían fideos simples... El Feo, Estamos en 2025 , no hay necesidad de que en ningún sitio todavía se cobre un Cargo por Servicio en estos días, y cuando les pedimos que se lo quitaran, nos hicieron esperar mientras se encontraba al Gerente. En general, una comida mediocre que a alrededor de £ 33 por persona era de mala relación calidad-precio

When I am craving Thai food, I am searching for flavors that pack a punch but also balances between sweet, salty, sour, and spice. We ordered the chicken massaman with Tom Yum rice and chicken pad thai. None of these foods have much flavor. Chicken massaman - just salty, and its poor potato didn't soak up much flavor from the curry. Tom Yum rice - only tasted lemongrass which made the rice taste like perfume Chicken pad thai - quite sweet with an edge of saltiness, but that's it. Very disappointed with the food. Will not return.

Una comida muy agradable - hasta los altos estándares de la cadena. El servicio era amable y eficiente, y las porciones eran considerables y muy sabrosas. Ambiente agradable también.

Visited for my mum's birthday with a family of 6. Beautiful food, flavours were exceptional! Super service, nothing was too much!

Perfect place for a quick lunch.

"The squid was so yummy and I ate the whole thing!" I am still fantasizing about my lunch at giggling squid"The food is really outstanding! Every meal we had was full of flavor and cooked to perfection!"

I have been here twice now and thoroughly enjoyed both times. Most recently, we were served by a lovely individual (Victoria?) who was sweet and engaging. It never felt like you have to get her attention because she was extremely attentive which is a brilliant quality to have as a waitress. The food is always cooked beautiful and the flavours explode in your mouth. There is a great variety of options that can suit everyone and the menu is very accommodating for people with allergies. I will definitely be coming back here.

We went for valentines dinner at the giggling squid. There was a fair queue when we arrived which was surprising for a late booking (8:45pm) but it was dealt with as quickly as they could. Restaurant lovely staff great only putting a 4 star as it was a little slow at points and stopping a waiter to get second round of drinks was alittle tricky but otherwise staff were lovely just very busy. Victoria our waitress was very nice and bless it was a bit of dramatic night. But the food was stunning! Absolutely beautiful full of flavour and worth every very reasonable penny. We had the pork skewers and the one bite salmon, the pork was nice the sauce elevated it a lot. The one but salmon though was sublime. For mains we had the Thai melting beef which was superb completely melting packed with flavour. We also had the Thai hake which was one of the best Thai dishes I’ve ever had it was beautiful the flavours were just out of the world. We also had the pak choi and tenderstem and the Tom yum rice. The rice wasn’t as exciting as it sound but still very nice the pak Choi beautifully cooked. Absolutely wonderful night we recommend the Chang beer also to go with you main course they also had a great range of interesting cocktails which was nice to differ from the norm! Great place loved it I’m sure we’ll be back!!!

I had a wonderful experience at Giggling Squid. The food was delicious, and the atmosphere was warm and inviting. Our server, Hannah, was fantastic - she was friendly, attentive, and made sure we had everything we needed throughout our meal. Her thoughtful recommendations around drinks made the dining experience even better. I’ll definitely be back, and I hope to have Hannah as our server again! Highly recommend this spot!

Love the place, Bella was excellent!

Great food great service thanks for a lovely experience

Very tasty food, very friendly and good service .

Bella was amazing! We got the marinated steak with crispy beef, and ribs, salt and pepper squid and duck spring rolls, and everything was absolutely lovely! 1000/10 service, staff kept our drinks topped up and were overall super lovely and accommodating! Such a cute restaurant, definitely reccomend!

Reasonably decent food and a nice, vibrant atmosphere although not the most authentic Thai restaurant around. Service was quick and fairly pleasant.

tasty food and beautiful space. also perfectly caring services

Great Sunday lunch 3 course meal for my wife and I. Every dish we had was perfect. Would highly recommend. Thanks Mike & Sam

O took one star off, because no soups on the menu. People love Thai soups. Anyway, all the rest was just fantastic.

We’d been to the Giggling Squid in Cambridge and wanted to try the one in Oxford. We ordered the Bangkok Bites and Sizzling Wings for starters, Pad Thai, various rice plates and a beef dish for main course and melting chocolate hearts, cheesecake and pandan tres leche for desert. Truly enjoyed every bite! The ambiance in Giggling Squid in Cambridge is more glamorous, hence the 4-star for atmosphere for the one in Oxford, but overall it was a great experience..

Victoria was so helpful within the decisions of what to have! She was very friendly and have a good sense of humour- thank you for a great experience!

Great experience, lovely service and food. The lunch tapas sets were very flavourful and good value. Will definitely come back!

We came to the Giggling Squid on a recommendation or 2 received. Overall, we had a lovely lunch, but were disappointed by a couple of the dishes. The starters ordered came out were only just warm, so must have been sat around for a while in the kitchen. We ordered Duck Confit which was delicious. The other main ordered though was the Garlic Thai Hake. This was overbearing in the taste of lime and took away some of the flavours, so a little disappointing. For what we had and the standard of the food provided , it was a little pricey. I don't mind paying more for good quality food, but this was not as good as expected. Very good service though.

Really tasty food, lovely decor and great friendly service. I recommend this place.

Fantastic experience, perfect for a special occasion.

Just had a meal here, it was excellent. I loved the vibrant and posh atmosphere of this place as well as the food, especially the honey crisp seafood which was excellent in every way. Service was good as well. Highly recommend.

We have been there yesterday, and everything was great! The food are lovely and reasonable price!

Recently had a great Pre-Christmas Party here with my Oxford and international people group, the food is very tasty and menu has many various Thai traditional and festive food to select. The staffs also are really professional and very kind, will back here again for sure.

Great menu choices for a quick but tasty lunch. Tae was very helpful and always on hand. Great place to meet colleagues and friends.

Amazing food and drinks. The atmosphere was lovely with really nice&friendly staffs. We really enjoyed our dinner there. Highly recommended!!

Comida y bebidas increíbles! El ambiente era encantador, con personal muy agradable y amable. Realmente disfrutamos de nuestra cena allí. ¡Muy recomendable!

We came here for a birthday dinner celebration as a couple. The food was delish but the highlight of it all by far was the service! We had various interactions with 4 different members of staff and all of them were equally fabulous! We even got a birthday dessert with a candle on the house which was a lovely touch. Huge thank you to the staff for their exceptional hospitality. I hope they get this feedback :)

Wonderful place, this was out first visit and we will be back!

Small portion and overcooked, sadly. Not usual experience.

Tuvimos una cena encantadora aquí anoche. Gran servicio y deliciosa comida. Hemos estado un par de veces y volveremos la próxima vez que estemos en Oxford.

Stopped in on a whim and was really impressed with the food! I would definitely go here again.

Parte de la cadena de Calamares Riéndonos, disfrutamos de nuestra comida, pero el servicio era muy lento un sábado por la noche. Obviamente estaban muy ocupados, pero con un solo miembro del personal detrás de la barra, esperamos mucho tiempo a que llegaran nuestras bebidas, ni siquiera se nos ofreció agua para la mesa hasta la mitad de nuestros entrantes. Se sentía bastante caótico y no particularmente agradable. El personal de espera era bastante abrupto y antipático, incluso pidiéndonos que nos fuéramos al final de la noche, ya que querían volver a casa! La comida era sabrosa y consistente, pero tuve que enviar mi entrante de calamar de vuelta, ya que estaba cubierto de polvo de chile que lo hizo totalmente no comestible, y lo más desagradable (especialmente sin agua). Fue reemplazado, pero esto detuvo a todos los demás, ya que luego tuve que comer rápidamente un entrante muy caliente y recién cocinado después de que los suyos terminaran. No me apresuraré a volver aquí.

Siempre me encanta el tailandés y he esperado visitar un calamar risueño. Lamentablemente la espera no valió la pena. En primer lugar el servicio era bueno, pero la comida no estuvo a la altura de nuestras expectativas. El vientre de cerdo para la entrada estaba bien, pero los rollos de primavera de pato no eran los mejores, carecía de sabor. El curry de musamán de caña de cordero estaba bien, pero nada de lo que escribir a casa. Había trozos de hueso de la caña en el curry. Y antes de que alguien diga: ‘¿qué esperabas, es un hueso?’, nunca antes había tenido trozos de hueso del vástago en la salsa. Distraía un poco de comer, ya que tenías que revisar cada boca llena. También le faltaba sabor al igual que al chile y el pollo al ajo no estaba genial. Parecía que se había espesado, no esa salsa picante y brillante que esperarías de una comida tailandesa. En general no está a la altura de la calidad de la comida tailandesa, y no es barato.

The Thai green chicken was okay but lacked true authenticity, with a grainy texture and a sweet taste. Additionally, there was only a few pieces of chicken which was disappointing considering the price. Regarding the service, the lady who escorted us to our table was clearly irritated by having to do so and we were not sure who our waiter was because different people kept coming to the table! So overall, the service could have been much better.

Didn't think I'd like it much as it's a chain. Boy, was I wrong. Food was really good, with a wide variety of sharing platters, great King Prawn pad Thai, wonderful beef cheek, and pork. Three of us eating at about £110 with drinks. Well worth it. Service prompt, atmosphere lively.

Who puts grape and pineapple in curry????

Lovely welcome and lunch deal. Relaxing pretty decor.

We had a table of 8 booked at 5pm. We were called and emailed about the booking 3x ensuring we were coming, we were told to come early as they get very busy and we were pressured and rushed from the moment we got there. We were hurried along at every opportunity to the point where it started to feel very uncomfortable. There was no politeness, just a desperation for them not to lose more business by getting us out asap. Funnily though when we arrived, the restaurant was empty, and not full when we left. The food was ok (although the cashew stir fries were very bland). The restaurant setting was lovely. Overall a disappointing experience.

Have eaten in many GS and this is definitely one of the best. Also located in a great part of Oxford.

Such a nice meal out with my fiancé, service was excellent, friendly waiters and the decor inside made for a really enjoyable atmosphere. Great place to celebrate 🥂

Fuimos aquí para el almuerzo en nuestra excursión de un día a Oxford y fue encantador! He estado en el calamar risueño de Harborne antes y realmente disfruté mi visita a ese. Éste no era diferente. Diré que el devorador no es tan lindo como el harborne, pero sigue siendo realmente bonito y bellamente decorado! Pedimos del menú del almuerzo y tuve el ‘scrummy set’ que consistía en pollo al curry rojo, arroz, albóndigas de cerdo y un rollo de primavera. La comida era preciosa y tenía un sabor increíble! La única desventaja fue que pedí que el curry fuera mucho más picante, ya que sé que el calamar risueño es realmente suave para mí, pero no era muy picante en absoluto. Fue una pena, pero los sabores seguían siendo deliciosos y me gustó mucho el curry. ¡Nunca antes había comido rollitos de primavera de calamares risueños y son realmente deliciosos! Son perfectamente crujientes por fuera y tenían la textura perfecta. En general, tuvimos algo de comida muy buena y un servicio brillante aquí, así que si alguna vez te encuentras en esta área, haz una visita al calamar risueño si nunca has estado antes. Es una muy buena manera de entrar en la comida tailandesa también si nunca la has probado antes porque la comida no es muy picante, pero los sabores son vibrantes y deliciosos. Recuerde, si le gusta la especia, pida más especia porque de lo contrario los platos probablemente serán suaves para usted.

Visité este restaurante con colegas y lo pasé muy bien. Buena comida y personal atento. ¡Sus conjuntos de scrummy son una opción muy popular y por una buena razón! ¡Es una buena manera de probar cuatro elementos diferentes en el menú en un plato! Delicioso!

We turned up on a Monday. I have sympathy with the staff as they were obviously not expecting as many customers as they had, but the net effect was very slow and flustered service. Food was just OK. Atmosphere and the interior were nice. Pricing was on the high side for what we got.

I stopped by for a business dinner. The service was great. I believe my server’s name was Freddy. The food was nicely seasoned and was very good. The price was very reasonable for the quality.

Lovely bright restaurant with friendly, attentive staff. Reasonably priced delicious food. Would definitely recommend it. The only downside is it is difficult to get to as there is no car parking in the area so you need to go by bus and walk.

The food was disappointing and underwhelming, although cooked and presented well. It just isn’t Thai. Like so many of these places it’s an English version of Thai food and the menu is limited to basic curries that are very “English”. If they didn’t advertise as a Thai restaurant I would say it was pleasant enough, but I was very disappointed and would say you can get the same food from M&S to heat up at home.

Mixed reviews from our group but I LOVED it - recommend he caramelised pork belly and butterfly prawn pad thai. The restaurant is beautiful too

Absolutely delicious food, great service and a perfect ambience

Well the restaurant is beautiful but we were disappointed with the food starters were OK especially the pork belly, the fisherman's basket was OK nothing more. Mains were a mixed bag the steak 2 ways was very disappointing the pad Thai was good and the honeyed crispy fish was good, deserts were again mixed the matcha cheesecake was OK the pineapple and coconut sorbet was different not horrible but different. The killer was the bill it came to the GDP of a small carribean county so not a keeper.

Lovely restaurant, great for all the family. Food was tasty, staff were helpful.

A great discovery during our stay in Oxford! Good value for money, the dishes were delicious, particularly the giggling pad thai. The restaurant manager was very welcoming unlike the waitress who was more unpleasant. But overall I highly recommend it!

Lovely place. Absolutely delicious food, good service, busy lively atmosphere, beautifully decorated. All 5 for us really enjoyed our menu choices and none of us could manage dessert. I had the sticky chicken was fabulous.

Very beautiful decoration and polite staff. The food was tasty, but perhaps the portion were a bit too small.

We really enjoyed our evening at the Giggling Squid. The food was lovely and the setting very pleasant. The staff were great and couldnt do enough for us. I would highly recomment this place.

Food was absolutely amazing, really nice cocktails and good veggie options. Staff really warm and friendly.

Really tasty food, served with warmth and friendliness in beautifully presented restaurant.

Really tasty food in generous portions, served with warmth and friendliness, in beautifully presented surroundings.

Lovely restaurant that has that family feel in the service it offers, the highlighted dishes that family members love is a nice touch to the menu. Restaurant was very accommodating, items are all described very well and service was top notch all the way through. I ordered the prawn and softshell crab, not a fan of seafood I thought I'd be brave and try something different and was not disappointed. The broth was delicious, I just wish there was more of it and maybe a few more prawns, it also had a pleasant level of spiciness to it which made you want more. The Thai sabai (drink) was also delicious and felt very exotic.

Went in for a very late dinner on a Sunday night and it was great. food was tasty, the staff were friendly and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Lovely family meal - good service - the decor is so pretty - food was delicious great choice for vegetarians too lovely cocktail list too

Went here for my birthday, the service was lovely, food arrived hot and quickly and tasted pretty great, only regret.. Should of ordered what the missus had! Will definitely be back again though! Very well priced also! 👍

Lovely evening spent at the Giggling Squid. We have previously been to the one in Stratford so wasn’t sure of this would live up to the same standards. It did not fail. Have a wonderful meal and my cocktail choice impressed

The service here is quick and friendly. I am a big fan of Thai food but this was not memorable in anyway. I had the green curry which was somewhat delicious. I usually love the papaya salad but I was not a big fan of this one. I did not like the fresh thai salad.

The foods and services are just awesome. We definitely will be back.

Perfect for a family night out. Interesting menu. Something just a little different and just a 10 minute walk from the city centre. Will revisit.

Delicious restaurant with fabulous interior design. Have visited multiple times and most often get the Chicken Pad Thai - standard but reliably delicious. Have tried lots of different meals which are all equally yummy. The service here is great and I really like the set up of the restaurant - gets lots of people in but doesn't feel cramped. Despite being a large space and my last visit being on a week night it did fill up quickly so definitely recommend booking.

Excellent food with a good children’s menu. Really enjoyed the prawn dishes in the tapas menu.

Having had an excellent Thai meal on the first night of our visit to Oxford in the Chiang Mai Kitchen. Out taste buds fancied another as we were in Jericho we gave The Giggling Squid a go. Big Mistake. First we noticed a lot of staff all running around like headless chickens and lots of takeaway food going out the door. Our waiter took our food order - One Bite Salmon (don't have tonight) ok. We order other things including Classic Papaya Salad it came minus the dries shrimps, I challenged the waiter (don't have tonight). Our mains were a very average Pad Thai and an awful wishy washy Paneang Curry. As stated service was all over the place and we won't be returning anytime soon.

Pricey, a bit rowdy, but good quality food.

We went off peak so only one member of staff on but he did a good job. Food was nice although the squid wasn't prepared properly so was very chewy and the sticky rice was overly sticky and bland.

Delicious food, great and fast service, friendly and helpful staff; would definitely recommend. The restaurant can be a bit noisy when busy.

The ambience was really nice, but the food was absolutely atrocious and made my mother sick. It tasted as if it had been scooped out of an expired jar. The thought of the beef still makes feel ill. Couldn’t touch most of it.

Brilliant thia cuisine, with friendly staff and very lovely decor. Highly recommend the black sesame ice cream for dessert!

The waitress seemed scared to stand too close to our table, putting all our food and drinks in one place at arms reach. Apart from that, lovely restaurant and the food was sensational

We arrived late into Oxford and were so glad to stumble across Giggling Squid. Without a doubt, the best service we have ever experienced (and we eat out a lot)! The food was so fresh and flavoursome. My husband loved the marinated steak and delicious spring rolls with pickled veg. The rotis were so soft and moorish. Biggest surprise was the quality coffee — totally unexpected at a Thai restaurant. Thanks to Orr and the friendly team for an amazing meal after a long day of travel.

I feel generous giving one star. Boil in the bag food from a central kitchen. Poor. Service is limp. I think everything someone came to my table it was a different waiter with the pizazz of a teenage boy told to keen their bedroom. Just limp.

Has been recommended to try Vegetarian version of "giggling squid" which is made of oyster mushrooms, innovative and original we love it.

It looks beautiful, the food was presented amazingly, and tasted delicious with fair vegan and vegetarian options, it was perfect, I recommend this. Prices were fair and reasonable.

Great lunch experience and menu. Great thai tea!

Superb food, lovely setting, friendly service. We definately recommend the new starter dish of caramelised beef - melt in your mouth beef - amazing dish.

Fantastic food and service. Lots of excellent vegetarian options to choose from. My new favourite Thai restaurant in Oxford!

It was ok but they didn't have any soup on the menu, the size of the prawns were small and the padthai prawns had more tofu (which was burnt) it in than prawns. Starters were nice but mains were disappointing - the duck curry was ok but a little too thick sauce.

We always like the GS food wherever we go, but this time, there was hardly any chicken in 2 dishes. Lots of beef in another, though! Plenty of excuses for the poor service ("we are so busy"), but maybe just don't allow so many bookings? Nice smoothies and great veggie/duck spring rolls.

Small portions and unpleasant staff

Outstanding excellent food that was only outshined by friendly happy and helpful staff faultless a grate night thank you a birthday I will remember

The food is delicious! We chose the sharing starter and every item was delicious. We decided to share a pad thai for mains and this was plenty of food for 2. No room for pudding! Our waitress was a little quiet and seemed shy - possibly a new member of staff but nonetheless the service was smooth. The decor is beautiful too, a great spot for a date.

Best Thai cuisine I've had outside of Thailand. Can't recommend it highly enough.

Having eaten a few times at the Bristol restaurant with my coeliac daughter, the Oxford restaurant seemed the perfect location for our party of 13 celebrating my daughters hen evening. We pre-ordered our food earlier to avoid any issues. My vegetarian Pad Thai was announced and I was looking forward to eating it. after about 10 minutes I noticed lumps of chicken. I called a member of staff over and not saying a word, she whipped my plate away at speed and within minutes thrust another plate in front of me. Having been a vegetarian for over 20 years I felt quite unwell so could not eat anything. I mentioned to another member of staff and she did at least apologise and said she would remove the meal from the bill. Meanwhile after the mains had been served, the starters now arrived. The bill arrived and my meal was still listed so we asked for that to be removed as well as the service charge. Sadly this experience ruined my evening. What could have been remedied by the correct level of service, maybe a bottle of wine for the rest of my party was not done.

Wrong choice on my part. However food was tasty but unfortunately it was luke warm. Beautiful decoration. Friendly staff.

The main courses were watery and served in metal bowls which meant they cooled very rapidly. Although not very busy on our visit, the service was very slow. The drinks only arrived half way through our main course.

Great ambience and great food!! We ordered veg spring rolls, squid, fishermen curry, drunken ribs and hake. Insane flavours and great portions.