Thai Orchid

It was a cold, rainy day in Santa Cruz... finally! The drought is the major drag, so we welcome the rain. And some hot Thai coconut soup goes with it perfectly...

Ah, deliciousness!
Jim, my buddy from work, joined me since he's a big fan of the Orchid. It's close by and is always good. Let's see how they do today.

So you walk in through a bead curtain and see these crazy fish tanks. The full name of this place is Thai Orchid Seafood restaurant. Not from these tanks though. Cool wood carvings in the decor. It's like walking into a different country... that speaks English and accepts US currency.

The lunch menu includes one ($7) or two ($9) items from the list and soup or salad, steamed rice and a Spring Roll. The list includes curries, stir fry, rice and noodle dishes and some specials. Jim and I hemmed and hawed over what to get. He said for me to order first and I went "Pad Thai with Chicken".

"Oh man, I was going to order that!" Instead, he got Pad Cashew Nuts with Chicken. Something new to try.

The service was very good, with them coming over to refill our waters often. There wasn't many people there yet, so we got all the attention. The soup was very tasty - a sweet and sour concoction with generous bits of chopped veggies. No mushrooms, which I missed, but carrots, scallions, zucchini and lemongrass. I was sad when I saw the bottom of the cup!

My dish, Pad Thai, was a good size for a lunch dish and it looked good. The Spring Roll was wrapped up tight with tofu, mint and veggies inside. The peanut sauce, in which to dip it, had a good peanut flavor and wasn't greasy. But I ran out after like 3 dips! I asked the wait staff for some more and was rewarded with a larger bowl. Success! The noodles were cooked well and had pieces of chicken and veggies throughout.

Jim's was a good size too. He said the the chicken, veggies and cashews were in a light garlic sauce, which he liked. The onions were chopped big enough for him to take them out easily. The rice for both was warm and fresh. A good compliment to the flavorful main dish.

There's a reason we like to come to the Orchid for lunch: you don't leave hungry! Okay, there's another reason: it tastes good! We won't wait for another rainstorm to come back.

Scores out of 10:
Food: 8
Service: 9
Atmosphere: 8
Price: 9 ($7 for a filling meal)
Overall: 8.5

Thai Orchid webpage

It was more rainy than this when we got there!