Busaba Eathai

As an early Christmas present Thomas purchased tickets for us to see Josh Hartnett in Rain Man at the Apollo Theatre. The play was very enjoyable, Josh seemed somewhat distracted, perhaps by thoughts of Alison Mosshart who the next day was rumoured to be his latest conquest, and, to my surprise, the star of the show turned out to be Adam Godley who played Raymond.

Anyway, I digress. Following the show we fancied a bite to eat and head to Busaba Eathai on Wardour St. We regularly eat at the Store Street Busaba in Bloomsbury but have in the past been put off of this one due to the often lengthy queue.

Feeling particularly hungry I opted for the Thai Calamari followed by the Tom Kha Chicken Soup. I was mightily impressed upon first trying the calamari however, the portion is quite large and by the end of the dish I found it got a bit sickly. One to be shared perhaps, or, at least, eaten as an accompaniment (as it is intended in their defence) rather than as a first course. The soup was tasty and the lemongrass chicken very succulent but it was served with egg noodles rather than glass as advertised because they had run out. This made the dish heavier than anticipated and I was unable to finish which annoys me. I found the overpowering flavour of galangal didn’t enhance the taste of the broth at all and could have been omitted, I find it quite unpleasant. It looks rather like ginger in its unprepared state but, unlike ginger, it is quite offensively aromatic and, in my opinion, quite unappetizing.


Thomas had chicken wings then ginger beef with sticky rice. The chicken wings were undercooked so reluctantly were sent back which was not at all well received by the waiter. I don’t have picture but it wasn’t particularly pretty!

In summary this busier of the Busaba outposts is not one that I will hasten to return to but I would say you should not be put off as they usually serve a far higher standard of food in a buzzy and lively environment. I particularly recommend the Green Chicken Curry and the Char-Grilled Duck.

Busaba Eathai
106-110 Wardour St, London
5/10