The Elephant in Bedford

According to the app here order was delivered 20:10 when actually it was 20:40. App was also was giving estimate time between 20:05-20:20 originally than changed to 20:25.

Great quality food but terrible delivery time.

Placed my order at 6-25 on the just eat app saying to be delivered between 7-40 and 8pm , turns up at 9-30 and luke warm and no apology apart from we are so busy

Nearly 3 hours late and was so late was cold was dripping in grease and oil

On time, piping hot, every dish was absolutely delicious! Truly excellent!

Tasty food. Would order from them again

Great flavour and variety as always and good quality! Not greasy at all. Arrived a bit early to collect and was already ready! No waiting! Thank you ☺️

Great food, delivery time was 1 hour as stated. Food was hot on arrival after a 30 mins drive

Long time to wait for something mediocre to be honest. Heard good things so thought we’d try it and it was nice enough but the price for what you get in flavour is not great. Paid for restaurant pricing but for average takeaway food.

Beautiful food. Super flavourful and beautiful crunch on the crispy chilli beef with a crisp skin on the duck in plum sauce. Truly a treat

Food was delicious and arrived on time!

Didn’t prepare my order and lied when I called about it having already been sent. Almost 2hrs waiting and then the food was terrible.

Delivery was an hour late. Called restaurant twice who seemed to have no idea what was going on constantly saying that it was on its way but never bothered to ask for address. Will not be using again.

Absolutely terrible service. Food was so late - took just a little less than 2 hours for food to be delivered and that was after several phone calls to restaurant. Restaurant is only round the corner. My friend and I are both diabetic and the length of time was not good for us. No apology or anything. Not one that I will use again.

Second time we’ve ordered from The Elephant. This time i went for a Panang style curry with rice and my partner had the tofu in black bean sauce. Always sceptical as veggies what way people will cook the tofu (as no one likes it soft and not deep fried lets be real). Have to say we both loved our dishes and will definitely order again from here. The meal was hot and delivered between the timeframe they suggested. Overall a strong 9/10 meal was had.

This is the second time I’ve ordered from them and each time I didn’t get one item that I ordered , what was delivered was good so I didn’t complain, but they need to ensure the order is correct

Amazing food! Will definitely order from here again soon 😋

A Chinese on a Sunday. What more could you possibly want. Glorious.

Pre ordered for 7.30pm and arrived bang on time. Friendly, courteous delivery driver. Food was hot, delicious and beautifully made. Thank you The Elephant for a smashing meal x

This is the second time ordering from this place and the second time it’s taken nearly 3 hours to come it was so late family members had to go home I will not be using this place again

Apparently the driver found another street with the same name in the area, whatever. Then we received a wrong order.

Disappointed that after spending nearly £50 tonight you didn’t give me the free prawn crackers that you usually do. Ruined the whole meal

Food very tasty and fresh, all delivered on time. Order notes acknowledged, unlike the majority of other restaurants on Just Eat. Would definitely order again, thank you for such a delicious meal.

Possibly the worst Chinese take away we received. Duck was extremely fatty, boiled rice was rock hard, noodles were disgusting to the point all food was thrown away! Also to add 1.5 hours late with delivery!!!!! Do NOT recommend!!

I am genuinely shocked to read the reviews below as my experience was the exact opposite. The food was delicious and excellent value, the staff were friendly and efficient. I could not fault a thing, the quality of ingredients is a cut above your typical Chinese takeaway and the menu options are vast. Thank you for an excellent meal!

We ordered at 5.25pm, was supposed to be delivered 6.15-6.35. At 6.45 I tried calling the restaurant. Eventually getting through on the 4th time. I was told they would call me back to see where the delivery was. When she called back she was giggling that the driver had gone the wrong way and would be another 20 minutes. The food arrived at 7.25. There was no apology.

Considering it had to travel 25 mins the food still hot and really tasty!! The best Thai restaurant around 🇹🇭

I ordered at 6.15 and it was delivered at after 8 o'clock. I know there has been problems with traffic but this is too long to wait.

orders arrive on time.tasty food

Food never turned up, called restaurant and they were rude putting the phone down on me multiple times. They were too busy to deal with me.

Restaurant looks different and beautiful with quality food and friendly staffs. Highly recommended one of the most popular Chinese and Thai restaurant in Bedford

I ordered a meal through Deliveroo. There was an issue with the delivery as the delivery driver was turned away from my house ( no fault of the delivery driver). I spoke to a lady at the restaurant who asked the delivery driver to redeliver. The driver was very prompt and redelivered my food. The food was very nice and I was very happy with the service.

Menu says one price for items (matched by Deliveroo). I went to collect the order and amount they wanted me to pay was almost £6 more than the combined price of items on the menu. Staff quickly became rude, if the food was worth it it wouldn’t be half bad but it wasn’t. One tofu green curry with rice for £15.80 is shocking simply.

First time trying here. Really good Pad Thai. Will definitely use again. 👍

Lovely atmosphere, food and friendly staff.

Both of our meals were excellent and the staff couldn't be more friendly,y or do more for us. I would definitely recommend it.

One of the worst ‘service experience’ l have ever had. Initially let me say the food was very good. The service abysmal. There was an offer on a free bottle of wine per table - the table of two by us received this offer. Our table of 9 was told ‘it was an offer of one bottle per table’ - we were told by the server ‘ IT WAS BETTER THAN NO FREE WINE’. As a table we spent £300+ maybe more than a table of 2 for their FREE WINE!! The service was slow and surly. And at the end of the evening we had to ASK to pay the bill as the two staff were in deep conversation. Not a good experience- please drop in if you want to be ignored or told how lucky you are to be in there. An experience l will ensure l and the friends l talk to will be assured to avoid AT ALL COSTS.

Lovely food but had to wait a good while for it to arrive

£4.50 for delivery and no free prawn crackers. Food was good.

Food was awful . 1 lot of prawns was overcooked the others were soggy. The ribs were very salty

even though it was late the food was piping hot and tasted delicious, thank you, late but certainly worth the wait

We called to ask about gluten free options and nothing was too much trouble!! A very lovely lady went through all the menu items we wanted to order and checked the allergens for each item, changed up the sauce in some items to ensure flavour wasn’t compromised and everything arrived very tasty ☺️ great service!! Thank you!! xxx

First time ordering from here, very impressed, i will be coming back for more👌

Used app to ask restaurant for text update due to lateness. No text. Called them and waited for call back. Food arrived and was incredibly dry and cold. No gesture of good will for good service either.

Bland bland bland honestly left a poor taste really disappointing as we are previously enjoyed

Always hot, great flavour, no complaints at all

Didn’t get my free bottle of wine or drink

Messed the order up.Food nothing special

excellent! delivered exactly on time, driver called me (house is difficult to find) and food was tasty. thank you

First time ordered, good portions, hot, and the duck and chicken dishes were excellent.

one of the worst takeways I have ever had.obviosly reheated from yesterday or worse.threw most in bin .will not be ordering from here ever again

I love eating at this restaurant, I eat it almost every week 🤗

Great to have Chinese and Thai options from the same place. Have been ordering from here for 10+ years always really good. A great amount of vegetables in the vegetarian options, not just lots of water chestnuts and onions like some places. Only feedback would be we ordered £40 worth of food, would have loved some free prawn crackers!

We ordered takeaway last night after dining here previously and it was absolutely delicious! Our favourite Chinese/Thai restaurant in Bedford, the chicken wings and Pad Thai are particularly amazing!

Ordered food and it clearly says that you should put any allergies etc in this box. I did and asked for no peppers, they claimed that they didn’t receive it. They were rude and refused to make it right. Never ordering from them again.

Disappointed poor quality of food, my last order was on edible. I basically spent £40 for me to throw away. After reaching out to them. They do not want to take any accountable.

Lovely place to eat. Go here all the time for Chinese takeaway. Lovely food and lovely service. Quick and easy collection and friendly staff

Sadly not at all worth the wait. Glutinous, over sweet and cold.

My order didn’t arrive they took the money and didn’t deliver

The staff is lovely i enjoyed my overall experience and time at the restaurant they were all so welcoming, which was topped off by the food!!

Absolute joke well over hour en half late all food turned up cold. And said no to a refund. With everything being as expensive as it is at the moment a cheeky treat for me and kids ended up with cold food and no money

I don’t normally like to write bad reviews but this is really disappointing. First time ordering from this restaurant and I decided to call instead of using just eat. When they gave me the total price of my order it was completely different to just eat, a lot more expensive just for calling. I placed the order, waited just over an hour which was fine because they told me it would be an hours wait. When the food arrived, some of it was hot and some cold. The salt and pepper bean curd was greasy, to the point oil was dripping out and freezing cold, no flavour - had to throw in the bin. The rest of the order was ok, but I expected a lot more considering it was so expensive. I won’t order here again and wouldn’t recommend.

Utterly disappointing experience. Will never eat here again. Didn't end up with any food because they were charging almost £20 more than the advertised prices on Just Eat for a telephone order. Absolute disgrace and I'll be speaking to Trading Standards.

the meal was cold and meat fatty. the coke drink was warm.

I never expect too much from takeaways these days but we were all really pleasantly surprised. The order came a little earlier than expected. It came hot and was really tasty.

Possibly the worst Chinese I have ever ordered especially for the price. Good quality was just poor. We ordered butterfly prawns that came burnt to the point I had to call the restraint and get them to redelivered . No idea how that was even allowed to be packed in that state. Just overall an awful experience with food,

courier apologised saying they were exceptionally busy,but wasn't a problem for us.

Ordered over £85 worth of food at 8pm this evening. It is now 10.15pm food has still not arrived. Called the resturant several times to be told it will be there in 15 minutes, called again Lady said she would call the driver and call me back, no call back. Tried calling a load more times no answer. Partner has now had to drive to the resturant to find out where our food is. Not acceptable. Will never order from here again! Service is absolutely shocking!!!

Best Place so far. Really tasty food, friendly service

We received incorrect order so had to try to correct this

Restaurant with good options, enough quantity to feel satisfied with a meal, delicious flavor, very good appearance. I feel like there is love in the preparation! Congratulations

This used to be one our go to restaurants but we , our family and friends started to use it far less after the lockdown , the prices went up while we noticed the portions and more importantly the quality went in the opposite direction. Last night as we’d both had a busy day at work on mulling over going out / takeaway we agreed to give The Elephant a try for old times sake as it’s been some months since ordered anything from there . My wife opted for a Thai green curry and I had the Chicken kung po with cashew nuts , we then decided on an egg fried rice and vegetable noodles which we then called to order. Only waited 15 minutes in total l, all of the portions were very good , real chicken in the curry and my dish , also tasted fresh . Not sure if they’ve got a new chef but they need to hold on to them . We would certainly give them more custom on the levels we used to as long as this standard is maintained , time will no doubt tell !

best chinese i've ever had in my life! just on time. thanks to the driver for driving 25 minutes for it. was still hot when it got here!

This restaurant changed hands a while ago. All the Chinese staff have been replaced. The new management needs to get a grip. The quality of the food has gone badly downhill, the service is hopeless and unfriendly. There were 3 tables occupied when we visited but our food took ages to arrive, allegedly because they were "busy". When our food did arrive it did so over an extended period. By the time my main was out on the table the rice, which had been sitting there for over 20 minutes, was dry and cold. I politely refused to pay for the rice, which I didn't eat, and the reaction of the staff was such that you would have thought I was being unreasonable. We have been coming here for years and years, but won't be going back.

food wasn't great, most cold and bland, tp dry even with sauce. But the delivery driver was very nice and the food was delivered on time.

Food took two hours to arrive from time of order. The Just Eat app showed it as delivered after 55 mins, restaurant confirmed it was wrong and was on the way. When it arrived 2 hours after ordering there were 3 items - a third of the order - missing. Called the restaurant and they said they'd send it straight out. 30 mins later it hadn't arrived and we had finished eating so I called back and asked for a refund at this point. Gutted as we used to love this place.

Been coming here since its opening night and today ( Friday ) at 8pm we thought we’d pop along. We hadn’t booked but we chanced it. Surprisingly, we were the only customers. Such a shame as Bedford/Kempston doesn’t have many good chinese restaurants. It should be busy not empty. We tried to order a rose wine ( only one on the menu ) but they had none. They only had one rose on the menu. So somebody clearly can’t control their stock. So we settled on a white. It took 3 staff members to open the bottle but it was nice. Ordered the food and as alway it was lovely. The biggest problem was the staff. There seemed to be no passion or engagement. None of the regular staff were there and the atmosphere was not the same. It really felt it had been taken over and the staff had no training. Such a shame. To us good service is important part of the meal. If you like good Chinese I’d recommend as our food as always was good but be prepared for some service issues. Will give it ago again and hopefully give it a 5 star review it deserves.

Good food but the service and atmosphere was terrible. Been coming here since its opening night and today ( Friday ) at 8pm we thought we’d pop along. We hadn’t booked but we chanced it. We were the only customers, which is surprising as Bedford/Kempston doesn’t have many good Chinese restaurants and we did class this as our favourite. We tried to order a rose wine ( only one on the menu ) but they had none. They only had one rose on the menu. So somebody clearly can’t control their stock levels. So we settled on a white. It took 3 staff members to remove the cork from the bottle. The server seemed puzzled when we said we would like to try the wine, however it was a really nice white rioja. We ordered the food and as always it was lovely. Could not fault it. The biggest problem was the staff. There seemed to be no passion or engagement. None of the regular staff were there from previous visits and the atmosphere was not the same. It really felt it had been taken over and the staff had no training. Such a shame. To us good service is a very important part of the meal, as is the atmosphere. If you like good Chinese I’d recommend as our food as always was good but be prepared for some service issues, hence the low rating. Will give it ago again and hopefully give it a 5 star review it deserves.

Absolutely appalling! Driver arrived early by1 hour and intimidated my wife as she was alone with my children on my way home from work.. absolutely appalling, worst place ever do not use!!!!

Arrived piping hot, very tasty, with lots of crunchy vegetables, 😉

We ordered takeaway but the atmosphere was so still lovely and the staff members were very friendly and they even gave us drinks on the house whilst we waited for our food. The food was delicious and still piping hot when we got home. I highly highly highly recommend the kaeng massaman, pad thai and their coconut rice, as well as they green pepper beef and black bean sauce!

Over 2 hours late!! Turned order away!! Tried calling restaurant serval times and no answer!! Awful service!! Do not order from this restaurant!!

Nice food, but was an hour and a half late. Ordered at 7.45pm and arrived at 10.15pm. With no apology, would have expected at least prawn crackers chucked in for the ridiculous wait, but nothing. Very annoyed!

The order was over one hour late when it got here, it was cold. The phone number just went straight to answerphone. Tried making a complaint through the app and they just kept telling me I had to wait another 20 minutes

Awful. Ordered via just eat. One hour late so I called. Offered 2 beers to make up for inconvenience. Dinner arrived cold and no beers. Won’t order from here again. Chow mein bland and crab claws over cooked. Will not return

Been going here for years due the the excellent food quality and flavour. Recently had a takeaway that was awful. There was no flavour and everything tasted the same. Egg fried rice was brown with no trace of egg and very dry! Left with an oil taste and felt lethargic afterwards. I notice that the usual staff weren't there, has it changed hands? Will have to find another takeaway now!

Takeaway. Very slow, wasn't ready despite people coming in after me having ordered for later pick up. Have to suspect was ready as spring roll cold and chewy, prawn balls cold and overdone. Staff were very frazzled but they were polite

Went in for mother's day. Food was fairly good apart from my lamb was undercooked. The flavours were fairly average if I'm honest. I've been there a few yrs ago and they were better back then. The biggest issue I found though was they just need to chill out a bit. Servers are circling you like hawks the whole time, every two mins you're asked if you want another drink. After a while it just drives you nuts as you can't relax. It's a lovely restaurant with bags of good points just let down by the chaos in there to try and turn the tables round quickly. I would go again and hopefully they'll take in board my comments

Over 2 hours late for delivery and cold food, the delivery drive was quite rude

Absolutely amazing as usual.The staff was excellent, quick service and nice food. Definitely will come again.

Ordered a takeaway which already had a 90mins delivery wait for me and my guests. After 2hrs, I called to be told it's on the way, with no apologies offered. Another 30mins passed with no signs of it turning up or updates. I called again to ask what was going on, to be told 'it's on the way,' I explained my guests are having to leave shortly and I will be left with 6 ppls worth of food and my guests will leave hungry(including kids), what are they going to offer me. 'We can't offer you anything' was what I was told. I asked her to speak to her manager. She comes back to tell me, 'it's on the way and we can't offer you anything, but will call the driver'. The delivery driver then turns up after the taxi for my guests arrive(the taxi, very kindly offered to wait 15mins so they could at least eat something). Food scoffed, with no time for dessert. Not even offered discount/refund/vouchers for our extremely long wait by the restaurant. And, they didn't even throw in any Prawn Crackers, knowing the wait was extremely long. AND, to top it off, I paid £5.00 for this >2.5hrs delivery service. Absolutely shocking way to treat their customers. Recommend you try any other of the Chinese restaurants before this one.

First time ordering from here and although the food wasn’t totally terrible, I won’t be going back given the choice elsewhere. The salt and chilli prawns were luke warm and chewy, perhaps sitting in an airtight container for too long. We also had bbq ribs and special fried rice…. Both were pretty good and the temperature was ok.

Due 20:10-20:30, arrived 21:42 following 2 calls and as we were calling to cancel. Will not be ordering from here again

35 min wait time, however arrived after 1hr 45 mins. Wouldn’t have picked from here if they had noted the correct timings. Strange smell to it. Very disappointed.

I waited over two hours for my food

Pop by to have a quick lunch. The food tasted good, it came out quick as well. Good service. They still provide complimentary prawn crackers despite I just ordered one dish for a quick lunch. Overall, a good experience.

Said it would be delivered at 7:50 or 8:10 but it got delivered at 9:05 and had to phone the restaurant multiple times and they kept putting down the phone and putting me on hold for 15 minutes before the line went really disappointing.

Food was alright nothing special but was late by 45 minutes so yea won’t be going there again.

My food was supposed to be here between 2115 and 2130, however now at 2210, after 2 unanswered phonecalls I have nothing. The message on the justeat page is how was your meal indicating that they somehow believe I have received my order?!

Not very happy as food was missing from my order.