The Railway in Cheltenham

Lovely unassuming place for some amazingly authentic Thai food. So many flavours and wonderful aromas. Dog friendly, charming outside space too!

Top notch Thai food, great craft beer, and a lovely venue with a garden.

Love this place! really friendly staff, amazing food, and great selection of beer + anything else you can drink! Our favourite pub in Cheltenham!

I attended a beer and food pairing event at The Railway in Cheltenham last night with some friends, and it was a fantastic experience. Matt, who curated the beer selections, gave insightful explanations about how the drinks were chosen to “complement, contrast, or cut” through the flavors of the food. The dishes were all Thai food from the venues authentic Thai menu. The evening kicked off with delicious prawn crackers paired with Boon Oude Geuze Lambic Beer, known as the 'champagne of the beer world.' This beer has been brewed since 1975, featuring a unique blend of Lambics aged in oak barrels, resulting in a complex, fruity flavor with hints of grapefruit and a gentle sourness – a perfect opener to the evening. I’d not tried the food here, and I had not tried any of the beers being paired so I was excited with how well this simple snack and fancy beer went so well together. The “first official course” was a Thom Ka Soup from Central Thailand, paired with Schneider Weisse, a classic German wheat beer. This match was ideal, as the beer's smooth texture worked beautifully with the soup's rich coconut flavors and the little kick of spice. Next came the Spicy Crispy Chicken Wings, fried to perfection and seasoned with Thai Zabbs powder, chili, and toasted rice powder. The pairing with Keller Pils, an English interpretation of a Keller Lager brewed by Lost and Grounded in Bristol. This was probably the hottest dish and my favourite of the evening. Apparently chicken wings like this paired with a Lager are a fail safe combo and one I’ll definitely be having again. We then had a serving of Sen Chan Pad, a dish similar to Pad Thai but with its own unique history and variations. It was paired with two beers: Dusk, brewed at Clavell and Hind Brewery, and Til Dawn from Gloucester Brewery. The beers have the same base ingredients but slight variations have them result in two very different end products. Pairing the two with the one dish brought out the dish's complex flavours, showcasing two great beers and some of the potential versatility of pairing beer with food. The finale was a standout, flavour filled Beef Massaman curry paired with Erdinger Dunkel 1886, a beer that added additional depth to the rich, spiced dish. This beer was pretty special and I would like to try this combination again too. Overall, this event was a relaxing, well done evening of learning more about food and drink - Matt has been in the industry a while and loved sharing his knowledge and answering our questions. The pairings were thoughtfully curated, and each beer enhanced the flavours of the Thai food. I feel like I learned a lot and could try doing some pairings of my own - which I think is what you’d hope for from a night like this. There is lots of heat, spice and lemongrass used in Thai food, so as long as your into those I can highly recommend the menu at the Railway, and encourage you to sign up for events and experiences like this when they are on offer.

Food was lovely and fresh. Good portion. Really enjoyed it

Fantastic pub with friendly staff, lovely garden and great range of quality beers, ciders and wines. The Thai street food is absolutely delicious. We've tried about half the menu so far and everything was top notch!

Great Thai food and selection of beers in the town centre. Garden was pleasant, and the atmosphere was chilled. Lucky find and so much better than a chain restaurant.

Didn't eat food only drank great vibes

Amazingly tasty food & lovely staff.

Surprisingly, shockingly good Thai food - the best in Cheltenham, and apparently run by Thai owners. The only complaint is, like most gastro pubs, it's still sticky tables (with the sticky rice) and boozer toilets despite the restaurant prices. Would be great if the space to the side of the bar was done up and more ambient

Great place just off the lower high street. Nice beers and lovely garden.

Busy pub, great real ales and live music.

very good thai place, you will not be disappointed, food was exceptional, and the service was great too!

Superb terrace with many shaded corners, beautiful pub atmosphere in a slightly out-of-the-way corner. Thai cuisine which looks excellent from what we saw.

Not a,bad pub but been better if they done English food and not Thai ok if,you like thai

Very nice food and excellent service with friendly employees and good quality food with a range of different food to choose from

Attended the indoor market. Lots on offer and reasonably priced. Will update when we have eaten here.

This restaurant is absolutely the best Thai food I've ever had in UK! Very authentic dishes even my Thai friends say so. They love the duck salad Laab Ped and deep fried Tilapia Pla Lui Suan very much. My favourite is Yum Som, a fruit salad with Thai dressing, which I’ve never had in any other places in UK. All ingredients are fresh. They don’t offer list of typical Thai curries, stir-fried dishes but if you fancy some real taste of Thai cooking, this is the place I recommend to go! I will definitely go again to try other dishes!

The Railway had been recommended to me but the food was really disappointing. I chose the duck Salade whiich was inedible because the duck was oversalted and far too spicy and the leaves just plain without any sauce or dressing. After speaking to the waiter twice i was offered an alternative at least and just took some fried sticks to make sure that nothing could go wrong. I would no go there ever again.

Amazing wine list for a place like this. Great beers on tap and helpfully staff.

Really good pub. Nice outdoor area.

This is still a cracking pub but they’ve recently changed the menu and the food has gone from fabulous to really pretty meh - IDK if they changed the kitchen staff too, maybe? There seems to be a lot less veggie stuff as well. Both the rendang and the yellow curry are quite flavourless and also just weirdly difficult to eat? Like a lot of decorative nonsense in the way and no room to cut up the big chunks of tofu balanced on top I’ll still go to the pub because they have loads of good beers, the staff are great and it’s just a great place to be, but I don’t think I’ll eat here any more

Nice place for a quiet pint in the beer garden

Great pints. Amazing food. Friendly staff. Thanks for a wonderful afternoon

Only here for a quick drink but it was buzzing

I've been coming here for years and it's been awesome to see this place continually spiral upwards. Considered beverages with draft beers changing almost each week. The staff are loyal and super friendly. The Thai food is remarkably authentic and delicious. With the recent change of the menu, I'm baffled how the quality of food could get any better.. But, It got better! Well done chefs - you are making miracles in the kitchen. The Railway is a UK gem and one of those places that you hope is not too hard to find in the next life!

Had dinner after menu change, just as good as before, would recommend anyone to try new dishes, staff also give great recommendations. Food still delicious- very lucky to have this pub as our local!

Having heard good reviews about the food and portion sizes I was extremely disappointed. I ordered the Nahm Tok Makua Paow – BBQ Grilled Aubergine Salad, this came out a sloppy mess, swimming in a watery liquid, with a whole boiled egg balancing on top,(very poor presentation)the aubergine had not been BBQ chargrilled, and it was inedible. The Pla Pad Pong Karee - Stir Fried Sea Bass Curry, was also inedible, the sauce had split, when this was questioned, we were told this is how it should be, insulting our intelligence, this meal was also not eaten, there was no offer to replace the dish. The Slow Cooked Beef Massaman was too salty and sweet with barely any beef. The rice potions were very small, barely enough for one person. Goong Pow – Salt And Pepper Grilled BBQ Prawns, these were over cooked and tasteless, again questioning if they had been BBQ’d. Pickled Radish Ajat, this was over sweet and inedible. We were told that all the food was cooked to order but it felt like it was at the end of the days service and they couldn’t be bothered. When we were asked if we were happy with the meal the response we gave was met with hostility, and rudeness, informing us that everyone in the restaurant enjoyed their food. We were offered a complimentary round of drinks, however we declined and left. We are all very well travelled, have eaten all over the world and experienced and eaten traditional Thai street food and in restaurants both in the Uk and in Thailand and this had to be one of the worst experiences we have had of Thai food. A very disappointing evening that was meant to be a celebration.

Having heard good reviews about the food and portion sizes I was extremely disappointed. I ordered the Nahm Tok Makua Paow – BBQ Grilled Aubergine Salad, this came out a sloppy mess, swimming in a watery liquid, with a whole boiled egg balancing on top,(very poor presentation)the aubergine had not been BBQ chargrilled, and it was inedible. The Pla Pad Pong Karee - Stir Fried Sea Bass Curry, was also inedible, the sauce had split, when this was questioned, we were told this is how it should be, insulting our intelligence, this meal was also not eaten, there was no offer to replace the dish. The Slow Cooked Beef Massaman was too salty and sweet with barely any beef. The rice potions were very small, barely enough for one person. Goong Pow – Salt And Pepper Grilled BBQ Prawns, these were over cooked and tasteless, again questioning if they had been BBQ’d. Pickled Radish Ajat, this was over sweet and inedible. We were told that all the food was cooked to order but it felt like it was at the end of the days service and they couldn’t be bothered. When we were asked if we were happy with the meal the response we gave was met with hostility, and rudeness, informing us that everyone in the restaurant enjoyed their food. We were offered a complimentary round of drinks, however we declined and left. We are all very well travelled, have eaten all over the world and experienced and eaten traditional Thai street food and in restaurants both in the Uk and in Thailand and this had to be one of the worst experiences we have had of Thai food. A very disappointing evening that was meant to be a celebration.

Always a good experience at the Railway. Food is always spot on - I was nervous about the menu change but everything my group ordered was delicious. Staff always friendly and a perfect place for some afternoon sun.

Service was slow but selection of beers, ciders and ales are great

Disappointing after a positive start. Nice beer. Menu explained by the staff. But then the food came and it was disappointing. Masaman curry had very little beef and was too sweet and salty. The aubergine salad lacked any smoke at all. I cannot see how it was cooked on charcoal. It was left uneaten. The rice came in a bowl just about sufficient for one. Hence overpriced at 3.50. As was the sticky rice. Seems profit comes before customer satisfaction. The prawns were overcooked and lacking flavour but they came with a good dipping sauce to try to rescue them. When we mentioned all this to the waitress she was surly and offered us a free round of drinks. She told us everybody else in the resteraunt was really happy with the food. But we came here to eat and for a celebration and we left disappointed after the build up this place had been given. Another positive is the pub was dog friendly. I have looked at the pictures of the food from previous months and it bears little resemblance to the quantity of food on our plates this evening. I wish I had taken photos to share

Kitchen staff have changed. We’ve been to the Railway 10+ times in the past (most recently Feb ‘24) and always love the vibe and the food was always superb. One of the things you always notice is the Smokey BBQ smell of the kitchen before you even enter - this has gone, and sadly the new menu is simply disappointing. Those familiar with the old pork shoulder, sea bass and beef dishes, will find that portions of meat in new (different) dishes significantly reduced. Quality was poor, the aubergine was not smokey, dishes were over seasoned. When we shared our disappointment with the staff they were over defensive, did offer us a round of drinks, but we were here foremost for the food so we declined. They removed one of the dishes from our bill when we paid, presumably as a gesture of goodwill, and we asked for the service charge to be removed, which they did. I’d given the Railway a 9/10 before for food, I’d give it a 4/10 now. Tried to leave a balanced and honest review here as a former very happy customer, I’d recommend checking the photos of the old dishes against the new dishes before you go. If you can tell us where the previous kitchen staff have moved on to, we’d love to go there!!

Fave pub in Cheltenham, great staff, great food, great vibes! New menu is delish too!

Have loved this pub for a while and the food has always been delicious. Been a few times recently for the menu change and it did not disappoint. We had several smaller plates to share and one main plate with sticky rice and roti. All the food was fantastic, especially the grilled lettuce! Who knew! Would highly recommend checking out the new menu!

Loving the new chefs and new menu. Fresh, fragrant, spicy. Brilliant.

Amazing food and service from all of the team. Will be coming back for the chicken curry and tilapia as soon as possible!

Amazing food, amazing stuff - a top tier restaurant

New chefs, New menu, always a nervous time for a massive Railway Fan. Fear not! Without doubt The Best Thai food I have ever eaten outside Thailand! Outstanding flavours, nice levels of spice, and interesting dishes that you don’t see on most Thai restaurant menus. Get Some!

Food is Amazing, different level. Drinks are so good. The staff beyond amazing. Thank you guys and well done!! Cheers

Incredible variety of dishes at a very reasonable price. The red curry chicken skewers were a personal favourite alongside the Thai sausage and duck salad. Staff are amazing and very accommodating, great wine list and atmosphere. Would definitely visit again had a throughly enjoyable time. Thank you!

Incredible variety of dishes at a very reasonable price. The red curry chicken skewers were a personal favourite alongside the Thai sausage and duck salad. Staff are amazing and very accommodating, great wine list and atmosphere. Would definitely visit again had a throughly enjoyable time. Thank you!

This used to be our fave pub, and we always loved their food. But the new menu is super dissapointing. Not one person out of the 6 of us enjoyed our food, with some dishes actually tasting bad. We did complain at the time. The chicken wings used to be our favourite dish, and now it is just 'Chicken wing'. 1 wing! I have never known anywhere to change a menu for the worst. Dont fix what isnt broken...

The food has completely changed and for the worst. I have been to the railway and bragged about how good the food is multiple times before. But when i brought my girlfriend there i now feel completely embarrassed as the food was hardly anything to talk about. The duck was completely over seasoned and was pretty dry in all honesty. And it only tasted of coriander. I like coriander and usually go for it if you think that was the issue. However this was only coriander in all honesty. The only flavour i got was coriander. The pork skewers you got 3 and they werent really worth the money at all. They had about a mouthful on each skewer. The chicken wing was tiny in portion size you pay for one wing. Thats it. Not even two. Which i felt completely ripped off by. And the sticky rice you pay £4 for has just enough for one person. No one came to our table to take our order or give us water. So we went and ordered ourselves. Which is fine. However two couple enter after us and get full table service and water. Which then just made us feel like we were forgotten about. Which was true as they didnt even know if it was us had ordered our own food. Which took over a hr to come out yet the couples who came after us got their food first. Drinks and staff were lovely however. The staff were very polite and did a excellent job. Id happily return for a drink. But not for food. Im highly disappointed.

Great pub. We visited before going to Cheltenham Races. Lovely breakfast, great staff and quick service, highly recommended

Great atmosphere and good choice of drinks, a bit on the expensive side. The food has changed considerably after a change in chef and menu. The authentic Thai street food which Railway Inn boasted off is no longer available esp Satay chicken, sambhal prawns and Panang! The chicken wings were reheated from frozen and the prawns bland. I will not go back there for food until they sort the menu and chef out! The menu below is outdated.

Such a gem of a pub. I’ve eaten and drank there before. Great atmosphere, food and drinks. The staff are all really lovely and make for a really enjoyable evening. Thank you

Played loud techno music starting at around 8pm on a Friday night and no one was dancing or seemed to come for that / enjoy it. It was loud enough to disrupt our conversations so not a great atmosphere and would check if they are doing that in advance next time. Kitchen was closed so couldn’t sample their food.

Cracking pub not far from the Honeybourne line walk/cycle route. They do Thai food here, but they don't serve between 1500 and 1700 which is when we were here. Beer is very good and a wide selection.

Best Thai food in town. Some of the best food I've ever had. Great beer, SUPER friendly staff, and a great atmosphere. Plus the pub trivia is great too!

Staff are great, revolving tap options and chill vibe. Outdoor area is nice when it's warmer out

I had to choose one month for this review, but I go to this pub several times a month, I love it. It's really cosy inside, the garden is fantastic (especially in summer, but there are really good space heaters in winter so it's good then too). They always have a really good range of interesting beers from local(ish) breweries, the staff are friendly and the food is fantastic. They're really accommodating, too - I often ask if they can do me a tofu version of a meat dish, and so far the answer has always been yes.

My partner’s food choice was very nice (panang bbq pork curry), fish cakes as a starter full of flavour and fragrant but very rubbery, and my choice of minced beef although tasty but extremely greasy to the point I couldn’t eat more than few table spoons of it. No staff came to ask if our food was ok, and when plates were collected, although mine was still full and I’ve mentioned that I didn’t enjoy it, staff did nothing apart from taking plates away and bringing our bill as requested. Overall experience? Food has lots of flavour but it’s not cooked properly. Service could also have some improvements.

Brilliant pub with a great selection of 'not the usual' beers. Really friendly staff

Great selection of Thai food, ordered a large range of starters and all were delicious fairly generous portion sizes. Seconds were ordered of the roti, smoked chicken skewers and chicken wings.

Not been to this pub before but booked a table on Christmas Eve to try the Thai food. There was a lot more seating and space than I imagined and a really good selection of beers. Service was quick and polite and the Thai food was excellent.

I went to this hidden gem in mid Dec. What a lovely environment and spaceflight pub in such a great location with plenty spaces for parking. The staffs are very friendly and helpful. They are so many choice of food in menu and variety of alcohol or non alcohol drinks available too. We had Prawns Pad Thai this was absolutely amazing!! Full of prawns and great size too. Burst out with juicy sauce and very tasty dish. We also order Thai-style Pork dish and fish. Both are absolutely delish!! Totally recommend this place. I would tick all the boxes. Will def be back again soon. Thank you The Railway.

Had a holiday catch up with family and can't fault anything about the Railway! The 'Open Mic Night' worked really well and the music was complimentary to the atmosphere! - And as always food was amazing :)

The best pub in Cheltenham - which also happens to be our local! It has all the cosiness and atmosphere of a local, while also having a cracking beer garden, great local options on tap/behind the bar, and food that never misses.

One of the best pubs in Cheltenham with some decent beers on offer and a comfortable two bar interior. The one negative here is that they are card payment only, customers should have the choice!

Cheltenham Will celebrate a mediocre pub and hail a good pub because the locals love to drink good booze, but the railway is one of The few outstanding pubs on the Gloucestershire map today! Independent, atmospheric and 100% authentic

Love it! Fantastic Thai food, great selection of rotating craft beers. Lovely outdoor area as well.

The railway should be a blueprint for what a pub should be like. The beer choice is always incredible, the wines and cocktails are on point and if you want a good dinner, the food is literally insane. The vibe and ambience is lovely too, I’ve never regretted a trip there. Weather it’s for a quick pint on a mid day spring dog walk, a few sunny drinks in their sick beer garden in the summer, a cozy glass of wine in the autumn or for board games and mulled wine in the winter, or just for a banging spicy that feast all year round - the railway is spot on for it.

Excellent Thai food, but it can take a long time to arrive, even when it's quite quiet. Good drinks selection, trendy decor and a nice beer garden with covered seating and outdoor heaters.

Another perfect evening at The Railway. Delicious Negroni’s (even more delicious during happy hour!), the most mouth watering Thai food in Cheltenham! Staff are always so attentive and lovely, we literally could not fault this place, and it is always the same high quality everytime we visit. Highly recommend!

Service was some of the worst I’ve ever see, and it wasn’t that busy. Could barely get served. Needs significant improvement in how they take orders.

Fantastic pub restaurant. Service is helpful and friendly and the food was incredible. I can definitely recommend the Sirloin and the Roti is an excellent choice for a side dish, absolutely divine.

Great Thai food in a local pub setting

Great food great and friendly staff

This place was recommended to me by a friend and I couldn't love it more! The food was immense! Best Thai food I've had since being in Thailand! The pub itself is buzzing and a really good vibe! Service was amazing! I'd definitely book though as when we went it was packed!

Great pub, lovely good and a good selection of local beers.

Amazing food and knowledgeable service. A real gem. Chef is 🔥!!

Lovely little pub with a fantastic outside area and quaint taxidermy lining the walls of the interior. A limited but decent selection of local cask ales and a table full of board games as well.

Excellent pub under new management since I was last there. Fantastic selection of beers - including non-alcoholic. Thai food. Good space, including outdoor and conservatory.

Absolutely amazing , delicious food,friendly atmosphere ,and service ,we don't loose a chance to visit this restaurant with my family ..

Stunning thai food, better than most restaurants and easily the best in Cheltenham. Really cool pub with great garden seating area.

It's a cracking pub, the food is also excellent!

Good find. Nice Thai food. Proper local real ale (Tileys from Salutation, Ham)

Great place for food and after work drinks. Fantastic happy hour from 5pm to 6.30pm.

Popped in for a catch up with a friend. Really busy as it was a quiz night but service was quick and friendly. Food was ok'ish. Gardens and vibe in pub was fab.

Thanks to Matt and the Railway team for an amazing birthday meal. We were given a room in the private snug area (with our own bar). We preordered food as there were 15 of us and it was all really easy and stress-free. Everyone loved the food and had a great time. Would recommend the Railway for a big group booking.

Thai food was perfect. True taste of local Thai food. Good selection of beer and cocktails. This was my 3rd visit and I will be going back.

Good sized pub and the food here is really good. (Pretty reasonable if you arrive in time for happy hour - still ok after) Recommend the sirloin salad. Staff are friendly and the decor and atmosphere are nice. Only complaint is the cost of beer and soft drinks - it's an expensive round!

Great place, great people. Just what you're after when looking for a traditional pub. Their Thai menu you has a super amount of vegan options and everything is super tasty!

The food, the atmosphere and the service is all excellent. However, they've done that sneaky tacky thing where they added a service charge to my bill without asking and without letting me know. Uncool. I would've left a bigger tip if they hadn't done that.

Decent ales on tap, helpful staff & good outdoor seating area.

Great Thai restaurant and they even have a pub quiz on a tuesday!! We ordered all Small plates purely because we wanted to try as much as possible! Food: 8/10 The Crispy Belly Pork was definitely a favourite for the table - Crispy but juicy and full of flavour 🐷 The Smoked Sriracha Mushrooms were another great dish but they sure do have a wonderful kick to clear the airways 🌶🌶 We will definitely come back to try the large plates as they all sound incredible also All staff were quick to serve and attentive, We didn't wait long at all for our food and the staff made sure we had enough drinks (to help with the spice most likely...) The Railway is Dog Friendly and even have free doggy treats - which is always a winner! The inside of the pub is very spacious and there is also outside seating (which is covered), which would be lovely when the English weather wasn't so unpredictable.

Great food drinks a little pricey but good atmosphere

You can’t fault anything about this place. Amazing food, staff and vibe. The pub quiz is great as well! Thank you, Team Railway, for our family meal last night! 🚂

Most delicious food ever! Loads of vegetarian options too.

Card only should be a choice Cash is still legal currancy Stay away if you are awake

Group visit for dinner. Staff very friendly. Decent selection of drinks. Good atmosphere. Dinner itself perhaps not so great. Indoor restaurant tables right next to smoking area with constantly open door. Starters were more enjoyed than mains. Sirloin and duck salads didn’t have very good quality meat. Sirloin “salad” was literally a plate of meat. Like spicy food but chilli and lime dressing was too much. Would go back for drinks in beer garden but not the food. Food wise was barely a 3/5.

Oozes care and service. Highly recommended. They are proud of their curation of (often local) beers, spirits and other drinks. Terrific Thai food, great service and a gorgeous covered garden space as well as cozy indoors. Very much worth the few minutes walk from the centre of Cheltenham

Lovely pub, great Garden area & fantastic food 👌

Fantastic pub, great atmosphere and a fun pub quiz on a Friday. Friendly staff banter adds to the overall positive feel of the place. Especially great on a sunny day with a good selection of local and c small beers/ales/ciders on offer (definitely give Teevee Party a go, if you like sour brau 😀)

Lovely quiet pub with great music, friendly staff and excellent Thai food.

don’t fu..king bother, how can you walk into a town centre pub on a Thursday night sober and be refused service at 10:30?? But claim to shut at 11? Just finished work in the industry myself, wanted to go for a drink to the pub...

Fantastic food options. And Paula and the rest of the staff were very helpful. Really like the drink options and how frequent they change. One of my favourite venues in Cheltenham with a lot to offer!

🚂 Great Sour beer and Thai light bites 🚂

Great for a drink or food. Cosy in the winter and has a fab beer garden for in the summer. Staff are always super friendly and accommodating