Busaba Eathai is another of restaurateur Alan Yau’s hugely popular, successful and affordably-priced Oriental eateries, offering reliable Thai cuisine in sleek, almost spa-like surroundings.

The Venue
Straddling the West End and Bloomsbury, the Store Street branch of Busaba attracts both a lively post-work crowd and students from the many colleges and universities nearby. It’s been there a number of years and the appeal of its communal dining doesn’t seem to be waning; the dark wood tables, shared between many, are usually full, and as Busaba doesn’t take bookings or reservations, there’s always a queue outside. With its heavy dark, walnut wood interiors and deep, low orange lighting, Busaba has the look of a traditional woodframe building while its enormous lanterns and mass of floating candles and incense in one corner channel a sort of spa retreat experience. In summer, the windows open fully onto the street and there are plenty of tables outside; downstairs, in the basement, there’s a big banquet table that caters well as a more private space for a large group.

The Atmosphere
Busy, bustling, vaguely cramped but not in an unpleasant way, Busaba is a lively and quite noisy venue. Somehow, in spite of the massive tables that mean you could end up placed far away from the rest of a larger group, Busaba maintains a fairly intimate atmosphere, probably helped by its overriding warm brown decor, and it would work as a place to go as part of a relaxed date or equally with a load of friends or work colleagues. The clientele is generally under-40s looking for a decent but inexpensive meal. Don’t expect too much of an individual touch in terms of service; the staff have a lot of customers to keep up with, but the food arrives quite quickly.

The Food
Busaba serves a menu of classic Thai dishes with aromatic ingredients: lime leaf, holy basil, kaffir lime and galangal feature strongly among all the dishes. There are soups, salads, fried noodle dishes, stir-fries and grills and a good selection of curries, labelled according to spiciness. The varied menu gives diners the chance to choose anything from the more conservative end of Pad Thai through to red lamb curry made with lychees, or, for lovers of spice, the super-hot Jungle curry.

Thai calamari with peppercorn and ginger (£4.70) from the side dishes menu makes a good starter to share, along with a plate of six vegetable spring rolls (£3.60). The coating on the calamari is a bit floury but it has a fragrant, gently spicy taste and the chunkily-sliced squid is tender and yielding. The spring rolls are very small, crisp and light with a fresh-tasting vegetable filling and served with a tangy chilli sauce.

Stargazer monkfish green curry (£9.50) is full-flavoured with lots of sliced red chilli and extremely soft, melting pieces of meaty white monkfish in a creamy, citrussy, spicy sauce. There are lots of varied textures from the fish, soft, soaked aubergine and corn and chilli pieces, but the the peas – a larger variety with a tough husk – are hard and bitter. Jasmine rice (£1.90), ordered separately, is a good accompaniment and arrives in a pretty blue lidded pot – in fact, all the food arrives in attractive dishes with interesting glazes, rather than standard-issue stuff, which is a nice touch. From the grill menu, the chargrilled duck (£10.90) has a sweet, meaty, barbecued flavour from the tamarind sauce, with crisp, seared skin, served slightly pink on a bed of crunchy green Chinese broccoli.

The Drink
Busaba serves a whole range of beers, wine, cider and spirits, with prices beginning at £3.10 for a glass of wine or between £16 and £29.50 for a bottle, and bottled beers are £3.60. However, the fresh juices and teas clearly take pride of place on their drinks menu. Among the exotic concoctions available are Koh Samui, a blend of coconut, carrot and orange juice, or Guava Collins, with guava, ginger, passionfruit and lime, all at £3.20. The teas are pure, light and very refreshing infusions of either lemongrass, ginger or delicate, nutty pandan leaf (£2.70), served with a little jug of honey to sweeten and – in place of dessert, perhaps - two soft, rich coconut and cashew biscuits.

The Last Word
With its styled, ambient interiors and reasonably-priced but good quality food, Busaba offers just the right mixture of luxury and ease to make it a reliable and failsafe venue. Yes, you’ll have to share and table and yes, you’ll probably also have to wait in line for it, but for the prospect of one of their fragrant curries, it’s well worth it.

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