Monday, June 1, 2015

Orchid Thai Restaurant & Bar

Businesses are beginning to open at the new 16 Powerhouse building at 16th and P. Insight Coffee Roasters and Sun & Soil Juice Company are already serving customers, and Magpie Cafe is expected to open there shortly.


The reason I stopped by the building for lunch last week, though, was to try the new Orchid Thai Restaurant & Bar. I was not disappointed. The restaurant is beautifully decorated, and they have a vegetarian menu the server told me is completely vegan -- no fish sauce in any of the vegetarian items. With that in mind, my biggest problem was trying to decide which of the long list of dishes to order.


I started with the Tofu Thai Lettuce Wraps and received a plate of lettuce leaves, tofu, slivered ginger, peanuts, coconut flakes, and lime, served with sweet chili sauce. This dish usually includes red onion, but I had them leave out the onion in mine. I really enjoyed the mix of flavors in this appetizer.




The server brought me a complementary portion of Tofu Satay, deep-fried tofu served with a thick peanut sauce and a light cucumber sauce. The tofu was delicious, especially dipped in the sauce that came with the lettuce wraps.




For my entree, I ordered Pra Ram, a stir fry with tofu, broccoli, cauliflower, and a thick peanut sauce. Loved it!




Orchid Thai is located at 1609 16th Street, and their phone number is 916-476-3681. Their website address is http://www.orchidthai916.com/, and their Facebook page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/orchidthai916?fref=ts. The restaurant is open Sunday through Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.



8 comments:

Dawn | KitchenTravels said...

Looks good! Thanks, I've been wondering about this place. :)

Pam said...

Let me know how you like it, Dawn!

Kathryn P. said...

This place is killing me. It is soooo good, around the corner from my house, and SO GOOD. The fact that they have a vegetarian menu is awesome and they always do light oil for me. My poor wallet.

Pam said...

Glad you like it, Kathryn! Sorry about your wallet, though...

Unknown said...

I saw a post in SN&R that a lot of their Vegetarian dishes contain fish sauce, rendering them not vegan. I don't think SN&R officially confirmed this. Has anyone heard otherwise??

Pam said...

I asked the server when I ate there and she said there wasn't fish sauce in the vegetarian dishes. For what it's worth, though, I specify that I don't want fish sauce in any of the food every time I go to a Thai restaurant, even if it's one I visit all the time.

Sonja said...

True, good point. I asked the same whenI went. The pineapple fried rice was delicious!

Pam said...

Good to know! I'll try that next time.