"Coronavirus safety: The landlord seems to be taking things fairly seriously, with notices displayed limiting the number of customers inside the pub to 25 and hand gel freely available on the bar. There 's also a 'one out in one in rule ' in place for the loos, although the absence of vacant engaged indicators (as are being used by some of the big chain pubs makes it hard to know if there 's anyone just about to come out just as you 're trying to go in. There are no plastic screens at the bar (as seem to be common in chain pubs and 'test and trace ' registrations are achieved by using a visitor 's book that 's passed from hand to hand between customers, rather than by using separate forms. I was also surprised that, rather than using photocopied disposable menus, the landlord still hands laminated menus out to customers.Ambience, etc: The pub appears to be well laid-out, with separate areas for dining and for playing pool, etc. However, as it was a sunny day, we opted to take our lunch in the pleasant garden, which has small children 's play area and a very friendly cat.Service, etc: We didn 't encounter any of the landlord 's legendary rudeness. (See countless other reviews here! . We actually found him to be polite and courteous. (However my friend did comment that she didn 't like the way he spoke to the chef and that a properly-trained waiter would never clear the plates from in front of two diners while a third diner at the same table was still eating . We had quite a long wait for our food, despite being the only people who 'd placed food orders at that time, leaving us wondering how well the kitchen would be able to cope at busier times.Prices: The Fox 's prices are definitely at the upper end of what one might expect to pay for a Thai lunch, with a main course (including rice typically costing around £15. That 's over double what some Thai restaurants charge for lunch (e.g. Siam Thai in Braintree , a fiver or so more than some other East Anglian Thai pubs charge (e.g. The Vine in Norwich and even a pound or two more than one might pay in a Thai pub in central London (e.g. The Lemon Tree in Covent Garden . Food: Everything was clearly freshly-prepared to order, using good quality ingredients. A friend and I each had (different prawn dishes, where there were loads of king prawns (rather than just the handful that some places serve one with but we both found that the sauces used were very bland, lacking the 'zing ' that Thai food often has (and which was promised by the menu . Our other friend though, who 'd opted for a yellow curry, seemed fully satisfied with his dish.Summary: While there was nothing to seriously complain about (and, indeed, we generally enjoyed our experience , we still felt that we won 't be rushing back to The Fox at any time in the near future."
