The Spice Merchant in Hart

The team at the Spice Merchant go above and beyond to offer great food, excellent service and a friendly inviting atmosphere Book early for a table if you wish to eat in but don't miss out and go for a take away as it's just as good. You can sneak a cheeky wee drink in while waiting for your order

Really tasty! 😋 😋 We’ve been meaning to try this place for nearly 2-years but it was either booked out for an event or fully booked for tables, so finally we’ve had a taste. I had the Weeping Tiger steak which I have to say was exceptional 👌🏼. When choosing steak I almost always go for Fillet but this Sirloin was spot on, comes ready sliced on the skillet so makes it easy. The sauce it’s cooked in absolutely makes it. I had a side dish of Salt n Chilli chips which were also great. My wife had Chicken Penang curry which she said was great, too. Staff very pleasant. Would have been nice to been asked if we wanted more drinks during our meal as we would have said yes. Car park at rear with outside seating in garden if you need it or the weather is actually good enough! Deffo make a booking, you won’t regret it.

Amazing food, I had the stir fried beef in oyster sauce and spring rolls. Great place and beautiful scenery on the way.

We had a nice time. with friends and family.

I had the calamari for starter, then the phuket talay with jasmine rice for the main course. Fantastic food and service.

Love ❤️ to eat here as the food is consistently delicious, well presented, good portions and value for money. Staff are helpful too. Could do with a few leafy palm type plants to add to the atmosphere but that’s only my opinion!

Been meaning to pay this place a visit for ages. Today took my fifteen year old niece who was thrilled to try something new. We were not disappointed. Been to Thailand many times. The food at Spice Merchant authentic and absolutely delicious. Highly recommend this place. The Phuket Thalay simply magnificent. Waitress very friendly/sweet and gave great service and advice. Definitely coming back.

Excellent thank you Spice Merchant for continuing our celebrations of our sons wedding with children's play area and bbq. Will be returning

Nice pub. Beer was well kept and food looked amazing. Think the staff were having an off day as they didn’t seem very welcoming.

Lovely place, super friendly and helpful staff and great Thai food

It was our first time visiting the Spice Merchant and we were really impressed. The food was delicious and the staff were friendly and helpful. We will definitely be back!

Update: Visited: 16/06/2024: - Disappointing! It feels a shame to add this update but I feel it is necessary to highlight the poor service in response to an issue that should never happen in a restaurant. One of the dishes served was Balinese Chicken. Whilst eating it, we discovered a small blue elastic band, about an inch in diameter, in the meal. This was highlighted to the staff but that was the end of it. No apology or explanation from the Manager or Chef. It felt like it was just dismissed. Unfortunately this will have an impact on future choices as to whether we should return. Real shame as the food, apart from the "extras", was lovely. *************************** Previous Review was 5 stars *************************** Booked a table at this Crookham Village pub. Staff were very pleasant and amenable. Ordered a Red and a Green curry with Egg Fried Rice. Both were very tasty. For dessert it was Banana Fritters and a Strawberry Sundae. Nice way to round off the dinner. Would recommend a visit.

Went in for a quiet lunch. Preparations being made for children's party later that day so seating restricted to street end of pub. First course came quickly so ordered desserts. Meanwhile children's party arrived. After 45 mins politely asked waitress what had happened to the desserts. A hostile duty manageress intervened and accused us of rudeness. Couldn't hear all she said over the din of the children's party but felt verbally abused with an unacceptable lack of respect, courtesy and professionalism. Will not visit again

Nice well made food, decent beer and comfortable seating.

I only wish I had ordered from here before. The food was sensational. We will have to eat in next time. Thank you!

Food was nice and staff friendly.

Just ordered a take away from here , eaten here and had take aways many times was always fantastic, not sure what has changed but the chicken cashew was tasteless and oily, Singapore noodles mushy and over powering taste of fish . Really disappointed as it’s not cheap . Ended up throwing most of it

We had a delivery!! What a fantastic meal ! Massaman curry was tasty 😋 Great service .Would recommend!

Amazing food and service come here regularly and never had a bad experience

Lovely pub serving predominantly Thai food with a Sunday roast available at weekends. The menu is varied and the dishes we had were all flavourful. Good selection of beers. Children's menu was good. Outside seating available with a play area. A good variety of extra events held here as well (Mother's Day was lovely with a free glass of prosecco and a little gift bag for Mothers).

Second time coming here. Fantastic food and amazing staff. (Halal chicken too!)

Fantastic food, ditto staff and drinks. Thoroughly recommend. If you haven't been then go!

Food was excellent. Atmosphere was quiet but it was a Monday lunchtime so unfair to judge. The young lady serving was pleasant enough but lacked knowledge. She couldn't tell me what beers were on draft.

Food and service were excellent. Great portion sizes. I will save some space for a sweet next time. Really good to have another quality pub on our doorstep. We definitely will be going again. My only minor criticism is the lighting, it's like being in a canteen, get some softer lighting or a dimmer👍🏻

Ordered the Thai starter and it was ace! Loved it. Washed it down with a pint of Guinness. Great pub and people :)

A rare find! Authentic Thai food in a lovely pub, service is relaxed, friendly and no rush

Краща кухня з свіжеми морепродуктами. Том Ян дуже смачний.

Although the food is good. Three times now they have forgotten the dips for our starter selection. Getting fed up of it now

Thai Red curry was excellent and at a reasonable price. Would recommend to others.

Super evening with friends. We had not booked a table for a Friday night and they still managed to squeeze a table for three in. Service, food and atmosphere were excellent, couldn’t fault the evening. Thanks for looking after us.

Ordered a takeaway at 1830 and live only 5 minutes drive away (as per Google Maps). As it was Saturday we expected them to be busy but when the food had not arrived by 2000 we called to check and were told they had been busy and it was on the way. So it was reasonable to expect it would be there by 2010. It arrived at 2025. We are tucked away in a courtyard but phone App WAZE takes you to our door. Driver was lost and when I wnt and stood outside they asked if I knew where my house number was! A shame it took SO long as when it finally arrived it was delicious. To resolve this, a message stating how busy they are and a realistic wait time would allow the customer to make an informed decision.

The food was excellent, but let down by poor service. I had to remind them twice that they missed a Diet Pepsi from our drinks order. Then they forgot one of our four main course food orders and so the three who received their meals had to wait until the fourth finally arrived after reminding. They ordered us desserts for free, but failed to deduct this from the final bill and this had to be queried again. Such a shame given that the food was so good.

I enjoyed my meal, however, I cannot remember what I had.

The lovely flavours of the penang curry I had were totally let down by the chewy slices of beef it contained. The satay chicken starter was pretty much the same, great flavours but the dry overcooked meat was a disappointment. The young staff were courteous but I feel they lacked training, one visibly rolled her eyes when we changed our mind whilst ordering. Overall could do better.

It was the worst meal I have ever had when I said I wasn’t going to pay they didn’t even argue I feel they get that a lot

We had a takeaway... Excellent!! Very enjoyable...

Ordered at 430 deliver time 1740 received email new time 1810, at 1815 app said been delivered called no one picking up after loads of calls lady who was very nice couldn’t help me didt know what to say, 1845 called back number of times still no update and couldn’t get hold of driver. Food turn up at 1855 and was cold! Very disappointed And it’s not the first time must I add haven’t used for some time but looks like not much has changed. One good thing is food is very nice if it turns up. Very poor customer service

Fantastic day at their first Wellness Festival, lovely mix of stalls, good music from the live band and excellent food

Had a takeaway from spice merchant tonight. Very quick service and excellent food. Highly recommend.

Really lovely Chicken Pad Krapow, Rice & Spring rolls. Sticky ribs were not sticky and a bit fatty and lacking any colour so they didn't look very appealing but the sauce they were in was very nice. Overall good and would order again but just not the ribs x

We held my daughters baby shower there. So well organised by Aislinn and her amazing team. Food was outstanding and good feedback from the guests.

Very friendly welcome, thai food was delicious, stayed the night in the car park in our small motorhome. Very welcoming and will come again.

Good food and excellent service. Nicely decorated and comfy seating. Gluten free menu available. Was quiet on a Monday lunchtime but no doubt buzzing in the evenings.

Nice pub/ restaurant. Garden is set up for all kinds of weather.

環境很舒適，有停車場方便泊車，食物好吃，員工態度很好，提出問題也樂意回答，唯飲品選擇較少。

Went for an early lunch on a Wednesday. Very quiet but a very attentive member of staff and nothing was too much trouble.

This is a great place for delicious food, atmosphere and events. We have been to many events here, held many events here and loved them all, for so many reasons. From local ladies social nights, Psychic nights, Music events, Jubilee and the Kings Coronation, that was such a special time. Always greeted with a smile, served the most tasty food and we always have such a lovely time, whether its a drink at the bar or a meal, its always so good. I am looking forward to future events at the Spice Merchant as a customer and as someone who runs events. Highly recommend and if you don't like spice, that's more than ok as they cater so well for all tastes. Their green Thai curry and Massaman are sooo good, sooo good, bloomin lovely in fact.

Best Thai food I’ve had anywhere - great service too - 5 ⭐️

Great food and service. A meal for two on a summer evening.

Great food and staff. Top place.

By far the best Thai food I have eaten outside of Thailand. You can taste in every bite that each dish is homemade from scratch and the flavours are unbelievable. I am gutted that I don’t live close enough to get takeaway from here. The portion sizes are very generous and we had 3 starters between 2 of us ( yes very greedy and quite a large amount of food!). We had the wasabi prawns, calamari and dim sum. All were amazing but the calamari was out of Theo world. Please try it when you come! For mains we had the Weeping Tiger, the Phuket Thalay and the pad Thai with chicken. Again, way too much food but eat every single bit and loved every bit. Can’t wait to come back and will be bringing every person I know.

Thai tapas very good as was the rest of the meal and atmosphere. Didn't realise they had events, worth finding out; the quiz night was very discrete with question master visiting each participating table rather than blaring out so opt in or out snd still enjoy your night out. Excellent.

Superb Thai food. Great service and a lovely setting

Most importantly, good food and great service. Most things have a spicy taste to them, as expected, and you have a choice of dishes ranging from not spicy to really spicy. The car park is not big but should be sufficient most of the time given the capacity of the place. There is seating both indoors and outside. Inside, it lacks a bit of atmosphere, and more decorations related to the type of the place would make it much more cosy. Food prices are reosanable, you can check the menu online. All in all recommended.

Massaman curry with sticky rice… WOW. So so good! Will definitely be back for food again, as it was incredible! Also massive shout out to the super lovely bar girls - who even during electrical issues were smiley and friendly!

Really good food and service. Nice garden to sit and enjoy a drink.

Went for the first time for a bird's of prey show, lovely establishment, horgeous garden, we will be back as the menu looked so good, but we only partook in BBQ today.

Just had a take away via Uber..I must say I was disappointed, stodgy rice, dry prawns .. Shame really, it use to be good..

Nice beer. Didn't try the food this time but looked nice

Wow! Most delicious thai food I've ever tasted. From starters to dessert it was amazing. Highly recommend it! Try the prawn toast too, its devine!

My first time here (I've had takeaways) and I wS not disappointed. Very friendly staff abd fabulous food.

Tasty Thai food served by very helpful/friendly staff. Thanks.

Lovely Staff, Yummy Grub & a great place to chill. X

Delicious food. Lovely evening.

Delicious food & great service considering they only had 2 people serving. More expensive than I thought but we were a table of eleven

Amazing authentic Thai food. The honey sesame duck is stunning.. It had some sweet caramelised edges but the meat was still not overcooked. A delicious tender pink. Every mouthful of the perfectly balanced chilli, sesame and honey sauce was a delight. Roasted cashews added a lovely change of texture and taste. My partner had the Koong Chu Chi. Her tempurered butterfly king prawns were still crispy, even though they were served in a well balanced red thai curry sauce. All washed down with a tiger beer. We've both been to Thailand and we loved the cuisine. If it wasn't for the weather, I'd have believed we were still there. Highly recommend.

The food is incredible! It's authentic Thai and tastes better than any Thai I have ever had. Nothing beats having a pint at a pub with Thai Food to follow! Highly recommend.

Fantastic food and fantastic service!

Food not as good as it use to be. Crispy prawn starter over fried so quite dry. Beef massaman curry beef not much flavour. Partner had the sizzling beef which he said was very gristly unfortunately. However staff friendly and nice atmosphere.

Lovely place to eat, food (especially the duck) it was delicious, staff polite and efficient, nothing too much trouble. They even let us camp overnight in the motorhome, will be going back again soon

3rd visit here. Faultless experience. Food is wonderful and the duck wraps are the best I've had. Definitely recommend booking. Staff friendly Good drinks Quiz night Wednesdays

Lovely food and very helpful staff. A nice friendly atmosphere.

I cannot rate this place highly enough. I took my (extremely frail, wheelchair - bound) dad for Saturday lunch and Ashleigh could not have been more helpful. She offered a smaller version of the excellent Massaman curry for dad, and only charged us the children's price. We've visited a number of times now and just love it.

What a great take away we had tonight! So fresh and flavourful! Starters and mains were just a delight. Staff on pick up were really efficient and lovely. Thank you!

Food was really good, packed with flavours and generous portions. Pleasant ambience and live music. Service could be improved, however the team was friendly and smiling. Definitely one to go back to!

Beautiful food and great service. Will be a treat when we return, though, as the prices are high, but the food is worth it, so for us; it's special occasions only.

Love it, as authentic Thai food as you will get outside of the tiger nation. Not cheap, but a real treat takeaway

Very good Thai food at a very reasonable price. The service was great and friendly and the quiz night was good fun.

Excellent - great atmosphere and food.

Nice large garden with friendly staff

Thank god I don’t live closer to this place - I’d be bankrupt. The food is incredible, the service friendly and efficient, and were pleased to have found this gem!

We ordered a Thai Green curry takeaway with Coconut Rice 🤤🤤😍😍😍 Whole family loved it!

Great food, outside furniture is a bit uncomfortable. Too spicy.

Been here many times, food is always amazing with great service.

Lovely pub, friendly staff and lush garden. The food was great, the staff are attentive and polite. Would definitely go back

What a lovely place. The food was amazing (so good I forgot to take photos) we ate on their garden as it was a beautiful evening. Nothing was to much trouble for the staff, all friendly and chatty. Can not recommended this place enough

Lovely tasty food. Highly Recommended.

Always great food, and nice buzz about the place. Looking forward to my next visit

Great food! Definitely worth a visit.

Awesome Thai food and great staff

Food is ok for the price. Inside is spacious and pretty and also has a play area for kids.

When they first started offering deliveries to hook at the start of lock down, fabulous service, delicious food, acceptable portion sizes. We stopped ordering about eight months ago due to clear portion size reductions and always late. Received an offer email for this weekend so ordered nice and early (17.50) to ensure a timely delivery, scheduled for 19:10. It’s now 20:10 still no delivery. We received a call to say it was going to be late at 19:45 (hadn’t even left the kitchen) and kindly offered a full refund. We love the food they just need to get it right and stop accepting orders if they’re unable to fulfil them. Please get yourselves back on track, you’ve received great local support!!!

Really good quality food at a reasonable price. Not quite "authentic". i.e. no true Thai aubergines, but certainly great tasting. I like to think of myself as a bit of a connoisseur, or at least sampled a fair variety of Thai restaurants and this is v nice.

Efficient ordering and collection but disappointed with the Tom Kha soup as the lemongrass hadn’t been trimmed and so was unpleasant. Having said that the Chicken Pad Thai and Massaman curry were delicious as was the egg fried rice

The food was very good; well executed and fresh (although some ingredients listed in the dish were not actually in them). Aside from that, authentic dishes and would return. Service was friendly and speedy.

Great food & fabulous service from Ellie .

Lovely food, good prompt service. Would go again.

Delicious food, great atmosphere and friendly staff

When we first found this restaurant, the food was absolutely amazing but the last few times it’s been well below standard. Ordered 3 mains and 2 rices which cost over £50. One of the dishes was a prawn rice dish with caramelised pineapple, the pineapple was not caramelised and had clearly come straight out of a tin and there was only 2 prawns in the whole dish also half the veg listed on the online menu was missing. In Other dishes the meat was very fatty

Visited for a 'Rude Elvis' night. Quite a loud event and really good fun - recommended if you get the chance and are comfortable with 1970s humor. Cooking for 40 people was a stretch and probably not a fair test of their food. But a memorable and fun night out