London like Singapore is a melting pot city where you can find many races and people from different countries staying together in harmony. While London’s Chinatown is famous and Indian food is totally legit, it is also becoming increasingly easy to find other Asian restaurants and eateries around popular tourists areas.
Rosa is just 5 mins walk from the Tower Bridge on the side of the Thames River which is opposite Tower of London. The restaurant setup is very modern and bright with red and green chairs and sofas. The restaurant has a very homely feel.
The menu explains the beginnings of the restaurant as well as an entire list of traditional Thai dishes like phad thai, green curry and tom yam soup
The tom yam soup was nice for a cold evening with just enough spice and sourness. There were mushrooms and small tomatoes as well as lemongrass in the soup but it would be good if the soup was served hotter.
My friend had the special noodle which tasted alot like a normal fried hor fun (flat rice noodles) from Singapore. The noodles were quite salty and slightly spicy but did not taste remotely thai so we were quite disappointed.
We had the yellow massaman curry with chicken which was very savoury with a creamy and mildly spicy gravy. The curry was very tasty with rice but the chicken was slightly over cooked and tough to bite.
I also ordered the basil chicken but was disappointed when it was served as it is very different from the once I had in Bangkok or Singapore. The meat is typically minced but here it is served sliced. The flavours were passable and I could taste the strong fish sauce and oyster sauce flavours but the dish was on the salty side and I needed lotsa water to finish the dish.
The drinks were great with the lemongrass tea very citrus and refreshing and the thai milk tea very sweet and thick in consistency.
Overall, the restaurant does serve nice dishes with somewhat nice Thai flavours but I think to suit the local’s tastebuds, some of the dishes were adjusted and not so traditional anymore. I know the boss is Thai so it could be the taste is how his hometown food is cooked but not the usual style we are used to in Bangkok.
Address: Unit 6.1, 2 Duchess Walk, London SE1 2SD, UK
Operating hours: 12 pm to 10.30 pm
Nearest station: London Bridge
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