Orchid Thai

(3 stars)

Food: Because I was a picky eater, I didn’t try Thai food or any other southeast Asian food until I was in grad school. When I noticed a couple of guys had a Thai food tent outside the college, I gave it a taste and was immediately hooked. Orchid Thai is one of myriad of Thai places in Central Oregon, the majority of which serve my go-to noodle dish. The pad Thai lunch special ($8.95) at Orchid Thai is the perfect amount of food for a midday meal and it comes piping hot with a soup or salad starter. The soup was kind of soothing, something you can curl up with on a cloudy day, packed with al dente veggies swimming in a broth packed full of those lovely Thai flavors of coconut and curry. The pad Thai is served with pink-ish sauce and full of green onions, crunchy bean sprouts, loads of peanuts and egg. Nothing unusual from any other Pad Thai in town. The taste however, brought me right back to that street-side Thai food I devoured while stressing over my master’s projects, full of robust flavors, saucy and tender chicken.

Service: From the time I sat down to the time I walked out was about 30 minutes total. The food was quick to come out, my water glass was always full and my waitress was attentive.

Atmosphere: It’s like a nostalgia trip to what a lot of old Bend restaurants looked like when I was a kid: a lot of wood paneling, lava rock walls and a big wooden sculpture-mural on the wall of a train going through the Cascades. The only different thing was the cuisine and the Thai ballads playing over the radio.

More Info

Location: 1900 NE Division St., Suite 110, Bend (in the Whistle Stop Business Center). 541-388-5177

Hours: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and 4:30-9:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, noon-9:30 p.m. Saturday

Cuisine: Thai

Price Range: $7-$17