After seeing a review about Thai Orchid in the newspaper and having it just a couple of blocks away, I was really eager to try it. I have noticed it a couple of times while sitting in Øst, which is another Thai restaurant across the street, but the outside always looked too shabby for me to go in. There were a log of people in there when my husband and I went, but were able to get the last open table.
I ordered an iced tea because my stupid American self is used to a Thai menu saying Thai iced tea and iced tea. I hate Thai iced tea and thought I was going to get some cheap Lipton stuff. I think it's so sweet it almost becomes bitter again and the milk doesn't do much to improve it. After painfully drinking half the glass and filling it up with water, it was something that resembled normal iced tea. However, I don't knock them down a star for this because it was completely my ignorant self's fault.
We also ordered spring rolls, chicken and cashew, and pad thai. Both my husband and I really like spicy food and it's never a problem getting it spicy at the other thai restaurants in the city. At this restaurant, they just bring out chili powder and expect you to mix it in yourself. It just doesn't taste the same doing that. The pad thai was okay and my husband had no complaints. We both agreed that the chicken cashew wasn't the best and had a really sweet sauce, which just didn't taste right. The springs rolls, which ended up coming out when we were nearly done with our meal were really good. They were just filled with chicken, cabbage, and noodles, which is exactly how I like them. I can't stand when shrimp and crab stick find their way into my egg rolls.
It's very clearly a family run place. There was one girl serving all the tables and every now and then an older woman who could not speak Norwegian would walk out and serve the food. The service was decent and waitress was nice, but I did longingly look at Øst a few times.
I would come back here if I was craving egg rolls, but I think I would stick to those and maybe test how their curries are. read more