Orchid Thai – Tasty Thai Food in the D

Just last week, the wife and I moved into our new loft in Midtown. Before moving in, I said to my wife, “Where do you think we’ll eat out at first?”

If you know me, and hopefully you will get to know me, you know that I LOVE to eat! Not only that, I LOVE to eat out! So naturally, one of the first things I’d think about when moving into a new loft in Detroit is, “where are we gonna eat?”

Well, I never guessed this would be it, but the first place the wife and I (along with some buddies of mine who helped us move in) feasted at was Orchid Thai.

Orchid Thai is the new comfortable, accessible and friendly Thai restaurant located just off Campus Martius on Monroe in the first floor of the Compuware building. After enjoying dinner with my crew, I decided that it’s a place that I’ll definitely come back to.

Upon making the decision to move to Detroit, I remember saying to the wife that I hoped there would be a good Thai restaurant in the area. Orchid Thai was the answer to my hope!

Now, if you eat Thai food regularly, then there’s no doubt that you like Pad Thai; a noodle dish made with a myriad of ingredients (too many to mention here). Most every Thai restaurant serves this dish and it can even be said that if the Pad Thai is good, then the rest of the food in the place is probably just as good. The Pad Thai sets the bar! Now, I’ve had Pad Thai at a number of Thai restaurants. And upon doing so, I’ve found that each restaurant makes it in its own unique way. Unfortunately, some restaurants make some pretty sub-par Pad Thai, which led to a sub-par dining experience overall. Not the case at Orchid Thai! The Pad Thai at Orchid Thai was delicious! Upon my first bite of Pad Thai at Orchid Thai, I knew that it was a winner.

Other dishes we ordered were Spring Rolls and also Kra Tiem Prik. Spring Rolls are similar to Egg Rolls, except that they are smaller, the wrapping is thinner and crispier and the contents are generally fresher. Thai Orchid’s Spring Rolls were fresh and flakey and a great appetizer. The Kra Tiem Prik was also enjoyable. Kra Tiem Prik consists of your choice of meat and lettuce leaves served in a brown sauce seasoned with garlic and black pepper (I prefer it with beef). Perfect to eat mixed with rice! Pad Thai and Kra Tiem Prik are items you’ll see on the menu of nearly every Thai restaurant you’ll go to and with good reason: they are both delightful to all who enjoy flavorful food! Both items were above average at Thai Orchid!

A growing trend I’ve seen in Thai restaurants as of late is the addition of Bubble Tea to the menu. Bubble Tea is one of my favorite drinks EVER! I don’t have time to go into it (perhaps another entry) but the Bubble Tea at Orchid Thai is pretty good. Not great, but good.

If you’ve never had Bubble Tea, give it a try at Orchid Thai. And if you love Thai food, Orchid Thai is a great place to go for Thai food in downtown Detroit.