Never had Thai cooking? Take the plunge at Thai Garden located in Orangeburg New York! Highly rated, we stumbled upon this tiny little hole in the wall totally by accident. We were waiting for a nearby place to open up at 4 pm called Hans Mongolian. We had an hour to kill and were very hungry, so we found this via Yelp. My husband is an avid Thai cuisine buff and very hard to please. He likes to judge the quality of a Thai place based on his one favorite noodle dish, Pad Thai. If that sucks, then the whole place sucks basically--in his opinion.
Up until now, his highest ranking Thai spot is located in Fort Lauderdale Florida called A Thai and is the benchmark for any other Thai place. It too is a hole in the wall which always seems to be the best places we have discovered.
Here, at Thai garden, as guests walk in they are greeted quickly without reservations. We sat promptly, and I had plenty to take in as I sat and looked over the menu. The joint is splashed in ornate molding, gold leafed Mallard ducks hanging from the ceiling, and origami-folded napkins.
The place loaded up quickly as the dinner crowd rolled in. It's also priced super reasonably for both lunch and dinner portions. The staff was extremely friendly and the atmosphere was casual and appropriate for this type of restaurant.
Before they take your order, they serve complimentary shrimp flavored crisps served with freshly made peanut sauce they that also sell for at home use. (My husband got a jar to go of course) Quite honestly, the crispy cups looked like Styrofoam at first, but I gave them a try. They were light and tasty and I highly recommend dipping them in the peanut sauce: the sauce was amazing and I could not get enough of it. The service was really fast, and the food came out very quickly. Everything is really fresh and tasty. The spice level was perfect, and the portions were generous. I also got the Thai iced tea which was very rich, almost too sweet.
For my entree, I got the Ginger Beef with vegetables- sort of my own ranking system on a good Thai place. And it was superb; veggies not overcooked, still crunchy, and the beef cooked medium well done and wasn't chewy like most others I have tried. My husband got his golden dish, Shrimp Pad Thai, and it tasted just as good as his Florida spot! Theirs is on the sweeter side and not oily like other Pad Thai's, and the sprouts had a crunchy texture so it had not been sitting long before getting served.
All our food came with a side of rice and a typical side salad with peanut sauce. We also ordered some spring rolls which were heavenly! The insides were dense and they didn't fall apart easily- a huge plus. For dessert, I shared a sticky purple rice served with warmed sweet creamed coconut milk over top. Nice a chewy the way I like it, and not overly sweet.
This was my first time here and we will definitely return. It is a hike for someone who doesn't live in the Rockland area, but it is definitely worth the trip. My husband no longer needs to make excuses for taking trips down to Florida now, we have it right here in our own backyard! I'm excited to try the other menu items as I peaked at other's dishes as they poured out of the kitchen and onto the tables.
This spot too attract the business types as it's located near central offices like Ferrari and several others. I can see where this can be an awesome lunch break spot, and it deserves it's four-star rating! We can help but dream of Thai Garden Cuisine! read more