Rosa's Thai Soho

★★½ I visited Rosa’s Thai on Dean Street with my partner and, while the food itself was excellent, the overall experience was let down by the service and organisation. I ordered the Chicken Pad Thai and my partner had the Vegetable Khao Soi Noodle Soup. Both dishes were superb with great portion sizes. My Pad Thai had generous pieces of chicken and was full of flavour, and the Nam Dang Manao soft drink was one of the best I have ever had. On the food alone, I have no complaints. Unfortunately the rest of the experience was disappointing. We had a reservation for 19:00 and arrived at 18:45 in case we could be seated early. We were told to return in ten minutes as the restaurant was full. When we returned just before 19:00 we were again told there was no space and we were not seated until 19:15, despite booking more than a week in advance and planning our evening around a nearby film showing (Leicester Square is 5 minutes away, so this is likely a common occurence). Once seated, we ordered straight away as we had looked online and already decided, which turned out to be a wise decision as the table next to us waited far longer even for their drinks. Although the server apologised and blamed delays on a “large party downstairs”, there was no sign of this (We went downstairs to use the loo, and didn't see any large tables), and the whole operation felt understaffed and chaotic. The food at Rosa’s Thai is genuinely great, and I would consider visiting another branch outside central London where it may be less hectic. Sadly my first experience was marred almost entirely by the service, which brings this visit down to a 2.5 star rating.