Paolina's Thai Cafe in Islington

Great service and very authentic good! Highly recommend the massamam beef and tom kha!! Will definitely be back again. Friendly reminder to reserve beforehand

Downstairs seating. Authentic Tai restaurant. Starters are circa £7 a dish and mains where you choose the meat to go with your stir fry ingredients is £9 a dish. Tap water is on the table when you arrive but there is a £3 a person BYOB policy in place. There are a few newsagents nearby to pick up booze as a few dishes are listed as spicey so it could come in handy. Service is friendly and fairly quick but payment was haphazard. Dish was served looking wittingly watery but the juices were sucked up by the rice and the meal tasted very decent and was filling. For the price it was a very decent meal.

Great little Thai restaurant! Our food was delicious and authentic, and served quickly. Will definitely be back!

Food 100 points Service 120 points You can have a hot and delicious meal in London So happy 5 points recommended

This is a hidden Gem...Wonderful small intimate restaurant and the food is totally 5 *. Lovely atmosphere , friendly staff and well priced...a must go to....

Literally the best thai food I've ever had in london. The Pad See Ew was authentic (which is rarely the case elsewhere in london) -- I was so impressed. I got the vegetarian option and it was super flavourful. The potions are also perfect. Pad thai & sticky mango rice were also top notch. I ordered take out directly from the Paolina app and although it took a while to arrive (it was still hot!), it was incredible, so pleased with my new go-to!!!

Can't recommend this place enough. Food and service are both first rate and atmosphere is great also. No liquor license but you can bring your own wine/beer etc. Brilliant restaurant!

BYO. Food was lovely. Service could be a little bit slow if you did need a waitress but it was very busy so guess it's popular.

I have ordered a soup for take-away - it was ready in less than 5 minutes, staff was friendly, and my dinner turned out to be DELICIOUS! I have not enjoyed this kind of soup so much in a very long time - I hope to come here again sometimes in the future and try other dishes :-)

Awesome food in a quirky little setting

Such a great informal thai restaurant. All the food is delicious and fresh. This time we shared a mixed starter if hot crispy fried treats. Followed by a perfect pad Thai, a creamy curry and a juicy chicken Stirfry. one of the few BYOB places left which helps keep the cost low. Highly recommend.

I think this has to be my favourite restaurant in London from now on. Food was amazing and I loved the cozy atmosphere. When I arrived at the restaurant, I thought it was full but in the back they have a few more tables in a small wooden room. Hard to find places like this in such a big city. Hidden gem!

I'm really short on stars. Definition hidden gem. So good and such a nice restaurant! I want to go again tomorrow

Never disappoints, the food is always fantastic and so full of flavour. The only negatives being that it's a small place that gets very full so you may have to wait for a table and the staff are always busy!

had a green curry, it was good!

The green curry was so delicious. I'd come back just to have it again 😍

During my 3-day stay in London, I went there twice! A cozy place - but the only thing that counts here is the food, which was absolutely amazing! Very nice staff, the whole team is smiling, you can feel the family atmosphere ;) 5 stars is not enough! I recommend it 😍

The brown rice is delicious in this place. The vegetarian dishes are good. The mushrooms should be cooked more time because inside they was completely raw.

What a gem of a place you can easily walk straight past it. Had a takeaway the Green Curry reminded me of holidays past. Very reasonable and will be going back again. Tonight in fact.

This is a lovely authentic Thai restaurant, busy with customers and staff - very small inside and a bit cold where we sat. I had the crispy cod with red curry sauce, delicious! A little pricey given rice not included at £13.95 but super tasty. They applied corkage to all 5 of us despite only 3 drinking wine, but amended the bill. Noisy due to it being small and busy, but the food most definitely won't let you down.

Authentic Thai food at great price

Siamo tornati dopo quattro anni e confermiamo, è buonissimo!! Posto piccolo ma molto autentico. Consiglio i primi (pad se ew top!) Conto assolutamente valido, abbiamo preso due primi, un curry di pollo, degli spiedini satay e speso 40 pound. :) grazie mille!

The food here was absolutely perfect! Such a cosy place. My friend who is from London recommended me this place and I will definitely come back again when I come back to London.

Good food and BYOB. Can’t fault

This is my go-to place for nice, cozy Thai cuisine in London. The food never disappoints! They have every classic Thai dish like pad Thai and green curry. You can see the amazing chef cooking in the kitchen and the vibe definitely brings you back to Thailand.

Best Thai food I have had in London at reasonable prices and with a cosy ambience.

Very friendly staff, happy faces and BEAUTIFUL FOOD 😍

Quite expensive when it was just lunch and no alcohol purchased. We shared a starter and then a main meal each + rice. Over £45. Not in the very best place. Area is run down

I'm telling you that this is one hidden gem hidden away With excellent food BYOB Cheap prices too You must give this Thai Restaurant a try I had the Prawns they are to die for

Not a great experience here. The food is okay, but there’s much better Thai food elsewhere. Service is a problem — I came on Friday lunchtime which was not very busy, but the staff were very inattentive despite the small crowd. Had to wait at the counter for a few minutes just to pay the bill, with some of the staff noticing but completely ignoring my presence! One of them eventually seemed quite annoyed by my presence, and came up to ask me to stand away from the counter while waiting for my takeaway — I had to suggest to her to perhaps take my payment, otherwise I was more than ready to leave!

Son súper agradables, el sitio pequeñito y acogedor. La cocina buenísima y ves como cocinan todo. Comimos dos personas por 40 libras. Pero sin duda lo recomendaría.

Authentic thai food in the heart of London. Service was also great.

Pad Thai is perfect as the noodles have a bit firmness, which just right for me. Small plates are nice as well.

I went with my friend as we live just around the corner, the food was amazing and the servers gave their recommendations which were lovely. Perfect for the price point will be going back x

Such good food, staff are all lovely and attentive, cozy vibe! Also byob which is handy - overall really well priced and delicious

A fairly small restaurant with good service and a polite waiter. It gives a feeling that this is a traditional and family business although i did not confirm with the staff. We ended up with a very flavorful plate. I ended up with the rice inside the soup and it was the correct decision. For a non spicy choice it had a bit of spice to it anyway which in the end was correct flavorwise. The only negative i would find is that the portion is fairly small for the price that we paid. Overall a very good place which i recommend to experience at least once. P.s. I forgot the name of the plate but i am sure if you show them this picture they will know. I dine in 09.11.23

I've tried to find anything that comes close to Paolina's Pad Thai. It's the best I've ever had. I've been coming here for years and it's amazing every time. It's family owned by lovely people. Couldn't recommend it enough! EDIT: Have just come back from Thailand and can confirm this is still the best Pad Thai I’ve ever had.

Forgot to take a proper photo of all the food we ordered. We got the Spring rolls, Tom yum soup, egg fried rice, Squid Nam Prig Pow, sticky rice. The food was super tasty. Absolutely recommend the Squid Nam Prig Pow. The only thing we didn’t like so much was the sticky rice was super hard and dry. The restaurant gets quite busy, we had a reservation but still had to wait a little longer. So make sure you book a table ahead of time.

I love this small restaurant and take away. Wonderful quality food, made and served with the utmost care and attention. I will be back regularly!

Really nice, kind of hole in the wall small intimate place. Staff are kind. Food is really nice. Especially the Pad Kee Mao, but I went twice and the sound level gave me a panic attack the first time and I had to leave. Because it’s small, people shout really loud over each other and it can be a little too much to bear, even for someone without anxiety. Second time was very loud but just about tolerable. Bi wish people would scream and shout over each other. If you talk at a normal level, no one then has to shout over you to be heard. I kind of wish the staff had asked the really noisy table to quiet down a bit. Otherwise, I really like the concept of this place and I’ll try again in the future :)

The food is very good, I understand it’s a very busy restaurant but the dining experience is very rushed because they ask you leave pretty much as soon as you’re done eating. I wouldn’t go back as I would rather a more relaxed and nicer service

Absolutely delicious food in cosy, tiny restaurant very close to Kings Cross station. A hidden gem- doesn’t look like much from the outside, but friendly staff and great Thai food inside, at very reasonable (for London) prices, and a bring your own beer/drinks policy. We shared pad Thai, chicken and ginger, and scrumptious. chicken dumplings. Delicious and recommended.

Had a takeaway from here during lockdown and it was terrible. The quality of the food and ingredients. The flavour. The cost and portion size. All were disappointing. Would never go back.

I booked a table at Paolina for myself and two friends for dinner on a Tuesday evening. My niece had eaten there the week before and had said the food was incredible and she's a real foodie! You can bring your own alcohol for a small corkage charge, which was a bonus! On arrival we were greeted immediately and shown to our table. Unfortunately, when I booked Paolina, I didn't realise just how small the dining space was, and due to the tables all being quite close together and fully occupied, my friends and I had to speak more louder than usual in order to be heard. After a few minutes we decided to speak to the waitress and explain that it was just a little on the loud side for our liking and asked whether they would be able to use the table for walk in customers to which she replied she would so we made the decision to leave. I can't comment on the food but the staff were understanding and extremely helpful and the reason I've given this venue a 3 star is purely based on the great location to the station, the friendly staff and the delicious looking food we saw other people were eating.

Très bon restaurant thaï en plein centre de Londres. Je vous conseille de réserver avant de vous y rentre car l’attente y est un peu longue mais cela en vaut largement le coup. Le service était très rapide et les portions généreuses, je recommande.

Very friendly staff and absolutely delicious panang curry! Fresh and flavorful. We weren't local and arrived at a busy time (they recommend making reservations) and they were able to get us a seat fairly quickly. Next time we'd get food to go just because it's so busy but thoroughly enjoyed our visit!

Vraiment Délicieux et service rapide ! Je recommande

Having tried Thai food the day before which had completely blew my mind, I genuinely thought my Thai dining experience had peaked and that I wouldn't be able to find something on par. However, this place did wow me by a bit ngl although I still wouldn't say it was better than the other place because they are very different styles - Paolina is a lot more home-cooked and cosy vibe which is great when the weather is getting cold and you want some comfort food to warm you up. This is exactly the place for that! We had made a booking in advance and were glad we did as it got busy very quickly even though it was a Wednesday evening. We shared some duck spring rolls and satay gai (chicken) for starters which were really nice. The crispy spring rolls were very flavourful and the peanut sauce that came with the satay chicken was so rich and nutty, hit the spot for me perfectly. For mains, I personally went with the duck curry and egg fried rice, others went for massman curry with prawns and also egg fried rice, pad Thai with chicken and pad se-ew with chicken. We all enjoyed our food so much we were really happy with the quality. My duck curry was so rich and flavourful and had a nice kick to it surprisingly - usually Asian places adapt to British palette so even if they put chillies on their menu I didn't think it would taste of much so it was a pleasant surprise. They also gave really big portions for the prices charged so it's definitely good value for money. Staff were all nice and friendly. I asked one of them if they could lower the air-con as it was really cold when it's chilly outside and she actioned it right away. One of my friends is Muslim so she double-checked if all the meat options were halal which they kindly confirmed both over the phone and on the spot - good to note for people with this dietary requirement. Overall, this is a really authentic Thai restaurant that I would recommend and would love to go back asap.

Thé curry is not bad in flavour but too thin, it’s almost watery like a soup. Beef that came along was way over cooked and dry

Première visite de ce petit restaurant Thaïlandais situé à 2 pas de la gare de St-pancras (5 mn à pieds). La cuisine y est excellente et préparée devant vous si vous mangez au premier niveau (il y a une salle en sous-sol). Les différents plats sont élaborés à la demande est sont plutôt raffinés. Les serveuses sont souriantes et attentives. Plats, environs 20£ (hors boisson). Plutôt correct pour la qualité. je recommande. Mickey 🎣

A kings cross classic. Great honest food. BYO. Friendly staff. We booked which is probably a good idea.

Stumbled upon on this unassuming Thai powerhouse after giving up on Dim Sum Duck’s painful line down the road. The food here is VERY fresh and the prices don’t reflect the immense passion and love put into the dishes. Make sure you get the papaya salad and the rich parang curry. Actually. Order everything. It’s all good. £3 corkage per person meant we could bring in some absolute banging bottles at a fraction of the cost. Another win.

Intimate little space with delicious food. We'll come back to this one.

Knock out ! Great food, very much the real deal

I was in the area for work and on my way home after a few pints walked past the small restaurant (I mean small - About 2 tables seating 2 people each). I had planned to go elsewhere but the incredible smell dragged me in. Ordered a spicy Thai Green Curry. Thai food isn't really my go to, but this was a joy to eat. A cracking spice, full of flavour and fresh chillis throughout. I only wish I had somewhere this good near me as I'd love to try a few more of their meals. Lovely place and quite reasonably priced (£12.90 for Thai Curry and Egg Fried rice).

Penang curry and pad see ew both very tasty and came quickly

Hands down the best Thai food I've had in London. The Pad Thai is perfection. Also recommend their delicious Thai tea.

Authentische Thai Küche, alles was wir probierten schmeckte ausgezeichnet. Waren 3 x da. Take away, super. 2 kleine Tische am Gehsteig. Sehr freundliches Personal. Nahe Kings Cross. Absolute Empfehlung!!!

Great food and has large portions. My husband and I shared a starter, a main, and rice and it was perfect. Also great for lunch.

When you come to the last bit of pad thai it will be a bit greasy, but generally it's of great taste. The chopped peanuts really are highlights of pad thai! The cha yen (or the thai iced tea) tastes really good, but i felt really uncomfortable after drinking this. Based on my previous rich experiences with various kinds of bubble tea, i would infer that this is made with some artificial "milk tea powder" instead of real milk and tea. Would not recommend.

Quaint little place serving probably the tastiest Thai food in a no-frills atmosphere. Food is made fresh in the live kitchen, run by a group of incredible women! I loved every morsel of my food everytime. Lot of menu options across starters, curries, rice, noodles, desserts to choose from. It’s very affordable and super tasty.

small and cosy. food is good. the service was quick and professional. they were able to offer advice about the best dishes and combinations to choose

Excellent, authentic Thai food. Good value for money as well.

accueil chaleureux, très bon plat service en quantité assez copieuse, je suis ravie !! je recommande a 100%

The food was delicious, and the waitress was very nice. Takeaway is very fast. I would recommend to make sure you have reservations, because it usually is rather full

Bon accueil, bonne nourriture, prix corrects, que demander de plus.

Wonderful place for the best Thai food I've had in London.

Paolina never disappoints. You can’t go wrong there. Great Thai food that is consistently delicious, including your favourite Thai starters, delicious pad Thai noodles and curries with rice. Feels very homely. The service is nice and attentive. Can get really busy at times. It’s bring your own drink but they charge £3 per person. Highly recommended for a casual dinner with guaranteed deliciousness.

Probably the tastiest and most reasonably priced Thai food I’ve ever had in London! And that’s without factoring in the money saved on alcohol (it’s BYOB). Cannot recommend this place enough, though the restaurant is tiny so advance booking is probably essential.

Super place for authentic thai food experience. Really good experience with good food and very friendly staff.

Honest review: Wow what a small joint in town that cooks extremely authentic Thai food. It took me back to the busy Khao San Road in Bangkok! Highly recommend, very reasonably priced, and humble service. Don't forget the lime, extra peanuts and chili oil on your dishes. The photo is for Pad Sieyu. Enjoy

Little gem of a place. Lots of seating out back. Food was incredible and priced very well.

I got this restaurant recommended and let me tell you that this is a hidden gem. You take a look outside and inside and just look like a small cafe, but they have seats downstairs and the food was really nice. I had the chicken pad Thai and duck spring rolls and they were the best I had so far. Really recommend the food

The chefs are top notch. I enjoyed every dish I ordered on my 5 visits. I recommended to the group I was with and every person enjoyed their orders as well.

Definitely recommend the pad Thai 👌🏼 I always enjoy coming to this place :)

I was visiting for a summer abroad session. I had visited numerous restaurants with disappointment. Paolinos was excellent everytime I dined in or had takeaway. The presentation of the meal. The selection of curry and seasonings was delectable. The portions were more than enough. The price is well worth it. I invited someone everytime I went.

Cute little place. Second time i’ve been here now. I recommended this place for dinner with a friend and she was impressed with her food. Now, we used to go to Rosas on our lunch breaks every now and then. So I suggested this place if we wanted Thai. But this place apparently puts Rosas Pad thai to shame 😂 So safe to say i’m glad I took her here. Also their Thai green, prawn curry was good (KANG KIEW WAN). A bit chili if you can’t handle your chilis but it was good for me. Had ordered sticky rice to go with the green curry, came in a little cute box. Also not pictured, I had ordered their Thai ice tea and it was so good! For starters we ordered some spring rolls (PO PIA TORO). And my friend also had a lemonade. All in all we paid just around £20 bucks each.

Awesome food, almost identical from Thailand. Friendly staff. One of the cheapest eatery in this area. Highly recommended.

Ordered a takeaway for here for us and the kids. We had the Tom Kha, Tom Yum and Paolina’s mixed starters. The soups were delicious and a good size. The mixed starters were loved by the kids, there was 3 different sauces to dunk in and a good selection and amount of starters. We only had a small amount as we weren’t that hungry. Food was good and ready very fast. All the staff were very friendly too. Would definitely order again.

Good food and very reasonably priced. BYOB too

Cozy and cheap, decent pad Thai - nice and cozy

Amazing Thai restaurant in the heart of Kings Cross. It’s very small but they have more table on the back, very tasty and fresh food. No alcool but they have beers. Ask for suggestions

this was not my first time here and the place has always delivered … VERY tasty, authentic thai food … attentive and friendly staff … booking for a table is advised as the place is small

I’m not sure why this restaurant has such good reviews, we went there based on those reviews but we were totally disappointed. We had the mixed platter for starters and didn’t like most of the items on there except the spring rolls and prawns which were very good. The main course was ok prawn stir fry and rice and pad Thai but I’ve had much much better. I wouldn’t recommend this restaurant and I won’t be returning sorry

we had really great tom yum soup with mushrooms, curry and a fish dish called ‘pla pick kang’ which we didn’t expect to be so good - crispy, aromatic and refreshing!

Good quality lunch menu & quick service. Reasonably priced.

Lovely and snug little restaurant. One of the most flavoursome Thai food that I have had in the UK

This legendary spot is probably one of the best Thai restaurant in London. A no frills place, bring your own bottle and always packed old school restaurant executing excellent food with a friendly service. Can’t get much better than this.

Great place for a quick lunch. Fast service, delicious food and good value for money too

Great food - and an excellent choice for a Takeaway lunch in Kings Cross. But they're popular, so often pretty busy...

Really delicious - staff were super accommodating to seat me, considering how late in the evening it was. I had the Pad Kra Prow, and it was fantastic. Spicy enough that it got my attention, and a hefty portion, full of crunchy veg and juicy chicken.

Nice place for a quick Thai meal. Food was good but not outstanding, around £12 for a curry dish with rice. BYO with a charge of £3 per person.

This is BY FAR the best Thai food I’ve had outside of Thailand. Make sure you book ahead, they get super busy. Also, it’s BYO (£3 per head).

Had a quick dinner here, good food fast and well priced

Affordable place with a cozy atmosphere. Freshly made food and big portions. However, the limes were not juicy at all

Best thai I have had in London! Coming from Australia I have struggled to find good thai food, this place is great!

Food was so good. I ordered Tom yum goong with jasmine rice and it was so delicious! 100% recommend :)

Best Pad Kee Mau i ever eaten. I have tried this dish in several restaurants but nothing taste as good as this. This is one of my favourite places to order Thai food.

My family and I booked for a meal to celebrate my 65th birthday, never having been here before. Thankfully I'd booked a table for 7 because even when we arrived at 6.30 it was full. We were given a warm welcome and plenty of time to study the very extensive menu. Everyone loved what they ordered and I looked on with some envy at the huge, juicy King Prawns my brother in law had (my own chicken dish was delicious, but the prawns looked out of this world - which he confirmed). Go, but make sure you book in advance (oh and bring your own booze, there's a Sainsbury's a few minutes walk away).

Deep fried tofu is good and lunch meal is a good bargain. But be careful that the stir fry is quite spicy though very authentic.