Giggling Squid - Winchester in Winchester

The worst meal I have ever had in a restaurant. The only good thing was the cheery waitress. We were served the wrong curry (I had asked for a mild one, but it wasn't) and then the contents consisted of large pieces of carrot and potato in an unpleasant sauce. With just one lemonade ordered, we felt totally ripped off paying £48 and will not be returning.

Maddy was brilliant and looked after us very well, and the Tapas Lunch was lovely and well presented. The whole the experience was really good

First time visit with friends. Staff were very smart, helpful and polite. The food was excellent, worth the 5 out of 5 alone. Now, I have a bit of a toilet phobe. The toilets, were exceptionally clean. I could have eaten my meal in there (but I didn’t 😂). Would I eat here again? Most definitely 👍

We had a wonderful evening at the giggling squid. Lucy, our server, was attentive and knowledgeable, recommending cocktails based on our tastes and dishes that complemented each other. I had the melting beef and cabbage and it was amazing! The food was delicious and so tasty. Thank you 🙏. We’ll be back again soon

Lovely birthday Tapas lunch at the Giggling Squid 🦑 in Winchester.We love the Bristol one so wanted to try this one in Winchester.Excellent service from Em,food was delicious and served quickly.Happy birthday lunch thank you.

We've been to Giggling Squid a few times and it's a shame that it seems to have gone downhill. We arrived on time and were left stood waiting for our table for 15minutes even though the restaurant wasn't full. Once sat down, we waited an hour for our starters which was a sharing platter, so I asked if we could have plates to eat from. The waiter never came back with them! Watching the staff, there were plenty working, but you could tell most didn't really want to be there! Food was cold when it came out and was a disappointment. The Manager was really good about it at the end and did give us 15% discount, but at the moment we probably won't return when there are so many restaurants to choose from in Winchester.

What a great restaurant with fantastic friendly staff and fantastic food. We went for an anniversary meal and loved every minute of our visit. We will certainly go back and go to more Giggling Squids.

Booked for a friends catch up Took 30 mins for someone to come and take a drinks order We then had to chase our drinks Nobody bothered to check we were ok and if we needed another drink, Food was good Complained about the service was told by the manager that she would take off our drinks of the bill this didn’t happen.

Food great as what i would expect from Giggling Squid however the service was very poor and I even had to tell them that there was no toilet paper in the ladies. there starter came out quickly I wasn't given a side plate and the mains came before our starter plates had been cleared and I had to ask for a plate.

I'm afraid I have to agree with a few of the previous posts. Food was excellent but the service was a bit lacking. I don't know if staff are a bit lacking in numbers generally but catching someone's eye to order and pay wasn't great. Really great food though! Just needs a good manager to observe and oversee the dining experience.

Second visit to The Giggling Squid in Winchester. Last time the service was poor but the food was excellent. This time the food and the service were poor. The beef was dry and tough as old boots.

Slow service, enjoyed a street food starter, then waited waited 1 hour 10 minutes for our main course to arrive. All four mains eventually arrived but were all cold and had to be sent back. waited a further 20 minutes for replacement food which didn't all come together, so 2 of our party of 4 had virtually finished before the other 2 meals arrived, one of which was again cold. I asked to speak to the Manager, however he wasn't on site. The waitress phoned him, told him I was disappointed, he simply instructed her to deduct the cost of the mains from our bill. Easy fix for him! Although I scored this 'unmanaged restaurant' a 1, I score the 2 young ladies that serviced us a big 10. They were the only 2 servers in the restaurant, which was extremely busy. These young girls were working so hard, running around trying to please all the customers. Clearly this restaurant is extremally under staffed, where was the Manager or at least a supervisor! This was my first and last visit to Giggling Squid Winchester.

Birthday celebrations with a group of 12. We pre ordered food which came out in a timely manner. Service was excellent keeping our drinks topped up but not in a pestering way. Starters were a little small but tasty, mains were the star of the show and were delicious and filling. Can't comment on desert as we brought our own cake.

One of the worst meal i've ever had. Everything on the menu sounds tatsy. It's not! The pad thai tasted dreadful. The squid was soaked in fat, sticky chicken was sickly chicken. The whole meal was mediocre. Food arrived cold and items were missing from the order. I tried phoning to query the things but they hung up on me. I tried contact via social media but they don't seem very interested. I've had better ready meals than what this place served up. Awful customer service. AVOID. Before i posted this, i really tried to resolve it with the restaurant. I tried phoning and they were rude and hung up straight away, via social media they just didn't give a toss. Stringing me along asking for proof which i was fine with providing. I gave them proof of my order, everything they asked for. They really didn't care. They served up cold slop for stupid prices. Again, Awful customer service and bad food. AVOID.

This is the second time I have been to this restaurant. I thought the first was a one off and decided to try again. However I was disappointed with the food again. The staff were really accommodating and nice but the food was over priced, salty and lacking flavour. I ordered a cashew stir fry. This arrived in a very small bowl with just half cooked veg, a LOT of onion and spring onion and about 4 small prawns. Looked more like a side than a main dish for nearly 16 pounds. Other dishes are definitely larger portioned. No noodles or anything. More like a fry than a stir fry. I have to say I left hungry.

Looking for a centrally- placed restaurant in Winchester, we stumbled on the Giggling Squid while visiting the Cathedral. Very glad we did! Perfect location just a walk from central Winchester’s attractions, bars and other restaurants. Great Thai menu Friendly, attentive staff Decent Singha beer and a good Sauvignon Blanc Ideal evening meal Highly recommend!

We ate here today and it was my husband and son’s first time. The starters were really good We had the squid, prawns, papaya salad and dumplings. All were flavoursome and the papaya salad had the punch which both my husband and son love. This gave us hope for our mains. My husband had the soft shell crab curry, the portion was small baring in mind the dish is £20. He also said it had very little flavour and the sauce was watery. My son had the sticky chicken, which I also tasted. There is no sauce, so if you’re going to order you don’t really need rice! It had flavour but not the flavour that you would expect from the description. I had the chicken pad Thai, it was unfortunately mushy and no flavour. I’ve had this dish before in Chichester and it was great, so I’m hoping it was just an off day. Maybe suggest that when they’re clearing tables, that any food on the table is taken away and not brushed on to the floor and then left! Our bill came to £120, a lot of money to spend on an average meal. We didn’t say anything at the time, as my husband is typically British, but afterwards I wished we had. Like I said, I hope this was just an off day as I’ve had better here. This aside, the staff and ambience were really pleasant.

The food was lovely, but service was dire. It’s wasn’t busy, so no excuse. Missing cutlery, missing starter, no ice at 8pm on a Saturday evening, waiter cleared plates, starter and main, while some were still eating. No toilet roll in any of the ladies cubicles. Just awful. Don’t bother saying you hope you’ll get a chance to put it right; we’ll not be back. Our family members were very kindly treating us to the meal, so we couldn’t say anything on the evening.

There are far better restaurants in Winchester. The curry was excellent but not served at the same time as the rice. The drinks are very over priced.

This was my second visit to a Giggling squid, the first was Windsor. The food is wonderful, the service not so good. I had booked for five (family & friends) as a pre-theatre meal at 5.15pm. On arrival two of our party had already been seated at a table normally for four people but set for five with bench seating. Some of don't find bench seating comfortable and we thought with lots of dishes the table would be small so we asked to move and pointed out a window table for six that was empty. The person we approached who seemed to be the maître'd for the evening was very reluctant to let us move, by the time he had agreed it felt like we were just a nuisance, no smiles on arrival, no smiles from him at all! The rest of the staff were fine but nothing outstanding. The drinks are expensive but the food is absolutely amazing and we all enjoyed our choices. Because of having to move table and the time that took were were a bit pushed to be out within the 1.5 hours allocated to us but we managed it. The door staff here need to take a tip from the cheerful welcoming and professional attitude at Windsor. The food is worth the money and the decor is lovely but the atmosphere was not a match. Finally of the four toilets in the Ladies two had broken toilet seats, one didn't flush properly and one was dirty. It won't put me off visiting another GS, in fact I wish there was one in my town, but I expect better service next time! I've marked 'very good' overall because of the food but the service would be 'poor'.

The food at the Giggling Squid is always flavoursome and well proportioned. What stood out at this location was our waitress Victoria. She was helpful without being pushy, chatty without being intrusive, efficient without rushing. Victoria made us feel very welcome, and significantly added to the enjoyment of our evening with family.

Extremely disappointed food was terrible ,no atmosphere staff disinterested. Food had no flavour was extremely salty and poorly presented

Really enjoyed our visit. the food was excellent and the waitress was very polite and knowledgeable, will defiantly return

My friends had recommended and hadn’t been, so decided to go on my own before going to midnight mass on Christmas Eve. The best Massman Curry. Waiter was very kind. Will return highly recommended

Good lunch menu. The sets are great for lunch - 4 different dishes for a competitive price & it’s a shame they don’t do them in an evening. Everywhere in Winchester was full due to the Christmas market but fortunately we had reserved. Good food, service ok and most of the pushchairs were gone by the time we arrived!

Went just before Christmas and it was really busy. Service was good and friendly. Food was amazing and the non alcoholic cocktails were delicious. Definitely be back.

Very greasy pad Thai. Overall not nearly as good as Chichester Giggling Squid or Wagamama Won’t be returning

Really dreadful service. Felt like we were sitting in a playground. Staff inattentive and unreliable. Awful tableside manners. Food pretty disgusting and lukewarm and we could not wait to get it all over with and leave!

Very disappointed with the Winchester branch having visited Tunbridge Wells branch in the past. I wanted to take my mum as was visiting her in Winchester. We waited 1/2 hr for 2 'warm' beers which we declined and asked for 2 glasses of pinot grigio instead and would they be nice a Cold, was told yes but they were barely chilled so asked for ice, not ideal diluting wine. The sharing platter was also barely warm. The prawns were mushy. Pad Thai was delicious , red curry runny and not a great taste, more like soup. The young staff were friendly but seemed detached from the job and just kept saying, ' oh sorry' . They did deduct the wines from the bill.. but I still left feeling like we had spent £50 on food that we didn't enjoy. Won't be returning to The Giggling Squid.

Disappointed with a visit to the Giggling Sqiud in Winchester. We were put on a table directly near the entrance, unfortunately the outside temperature was -3°C, so we got a cold blast, with the door opening frequently. We asked if we could be moved, to a table for two, but we're declined. Tables were available, even as we left. My Red Star Duck Curry Wass missing the Pea Aubergines, which I had to point out. My wife also informed me, the ladies toilets were in a dreadful state, and no toilet roll available. This was not up to standard to the Giggling Squid, where we frequent in Oxford. Being busy is no excuse, standards need to be maintained.

Ordered a take away from here. Starters were delicious but main course was inedible - incredibly salty like someone had put concentrated sauce in instead of diluted. Impossible to eat. Thrown away. Told the staff day later - was told that I would be called back - nothing…. This is not how you keep a customer. All in all expensive, variable quality, poor after service. Not a repeat experience.

Very helpful, even gave my son a small chocolate birthday cake to celebrate his 18th. Never left us waiting too long. The food was good, hot and delicious

Visited here 11th November with family . The restaurant is situated just off the high street and is a nice place . The service was good and the food is of good quality. The prices are quite high but it’s worth it as the food is good . So it’s worth a visit .

Absolutely appalling I booked this in August for a birthday we turned up and were sat in the dishwasher bay told that if you book a table for 2 that’s what you must expect - we walked out !!

Aweful service as soon as walked in the door. I guess if a walk in and everywhere else is full go for it but plan ahead and you can do much better