Thai Orchid - Mount Lawley — Restaurant in Western Australia

From the outside, it looks like just another small Asian dining place, located next to an Italian restaurant. We came on Friday night and it was hard to find a parking spot in the complex. We had to park on the street a block away, less than 5 minutes walk.

Upon entering the premise, the waitress was polite and quickly walked us to a table. The layout of the restaurant is quite unique. Since the place is not that wide, it combines several shops to form one whole restaurant, which is quite long and narrow. However, there are still enough rooms to move around and for the diners to sit comfortably. It is not as big as many Asian restaurant around Perth but it seems to fit around 40 - 50 diners in the premise. A few tables for large group of diners are also available. The kitchen is located at the front, on the opposite of the entrance and next to the reception.

The atmosphere inside the restaurant is elegant. There is a sense of an upper class dining place but at the same time there is a sense warm and cozyness. Just as if you are at home. It doesn't make you feel that you are dining in just another Asian restaurant. The place was not fully crowded but lively enough to still giving a sense of a good dining place.

The serve was good, quick and polite. The staff dressed in semi traditional Thai fashion. Menu books are presented elegantly . The tables are well covered in Thai style fabriques. Very nice and give an upper class look.

Prices on the menu are quite expensive. Especially if you compare it to the Chinese restaurant. We ordered a bowl of Massaman beef curry for $25, a plate of fried fish with tamarind sauce for $29 and a plate of Thai fried rice for $19. Overall, it costs about $15 - 20 more expensive than if you dine in a Chinese restaurant.

However, the expensive prices are justified with the taste of the foods. The Massaman Beef was served in a bowl full of meats. We were a bit surprised to find how much meat was inside the bowl. Even though the meats were cut in big portions, they were nicely cooked and soft to chew. Taste was leaning on the sweet side but I like it. Some people might find it a bit too sweet. But taste wise, it is a 9 out of 10.

Similarly, the Tamarind sauce fried fish was served in big portions. The plate was full of fish meats. It was so crunchy and delicious. It was cooked perfectly and not chewy at all. Again, depending on your taste, you might find it a bit on the sweet side. But it was perfect for me. 10 out of 10 score. I have never taste tamarind sauce fried fish cooked this perfect. The $29 price is justified. It also taste similar to sweet and sour fried gurame fish in Indonesia.

The Thai fried rice was also nice. Much better than any of other fried rice in other Asian restaurants. The only complaint with the fried rice is the portion was not big enough.

Overall, it was a good dining experience though a bit expensive. Yet, the price can be justified for the excellent food taste. A nice small boutique...

I went to the Thai Orchid Restaurant on Saturday 13th April for a table of 3. The food was terrible apart from two starters - Thai fish cakes - absolutely delicious and chicken toast - enjoyable. One starter didn’t come, when I asked where it was I was told defrosting still. Alarm bells rang. It eventually arrived and there was frozen cold bits in it so wasn’t eaten. The mains arrived. My massaman Beef - was 3 bricks of hard, tough meat, swimming in a red curry sauce- couldn’t eat. The chicken and cashew stir fry had cold chicken in it. Wasn’t eaten. The Thai green curry wasn’t eaten due to being chicken and we didn’t want to risk eating it. The rice eventually came out was reheated in the microwave. I politely spoke with the chef and was told by all 3 staff members all food is pre cooked then reheated. Not good enough. The owner wasn’t around to speak to so I went back to my table. We were finishing our drink when I got a mobile phone put to my face. It was the owner. I went outside the restaurant to speak in private and not make a fuss etc. the owner was rude, accused me of lying to get a free night of food. Said I was lying the food wasn’t reheated. It was! She said she knows people like me that lie to get free food! I ended up ending the call out of disgust. I went inside I paid for the two starters we ate and a beer that was drunk. I have a receipt to prove that. I have never been spoken to with such disdain. A total stranger came up to us when leaving the restaurant who was eating outside at the Italian restaurant and said he went there and would never go again. Agreed with everything we said. It was a ruined night. I would NEVER recommend the Thai Orchid Mount Lawley again under the said management. Absolutely appalling. The young waitress working front of house was so lovely. I felt sorry for her being left on her own. Terrible management. The owner should be ashamed.

RESONSE TO THE OWNER’S COMMENT BELOW!

I did not raise my voice at anytime. I was out with family and was very considerate and went outside to speak to you in private. At all times when I spoke to your staff I was respectful. You are a liar and a disgrace. I will no longer comment on here. You should feel ashamed of yourself. It was MY choice to pay for what we ate. Lies just lies!! I’m more than happy for you to post the evidence!!!!...

Very disappointing, ate here for the first time tonight(takeaway) and it was the worst thai ive ever had. Tom khar gai was bland and tasteless, no lemon grass in it, absolutely no chilli despite asking for medium heat, also didnt have any coconut flavour it was like it had been watered down, honestly no clue how anyone could cook tom khar gai so poorly it had no flavour whatsoever. The pad se ew was OK, pretty much as expected. The pad thai again was extremely bland which is never a word I've used to describe thai food before eating here, the bean curd was like rubber. The satay chicken tasted ok on its own but the satay sauce was terrible it didn't taste of peanut at all and the texture was just really oily. Honestly couldn't care less if they offer me a refund or a free meal, I will never waste my time going here again it was that bad. Only gave it 2 stars for the pad se ew being alright

UPDATE: in response to the Owner below, this was not an uber eats, I ordered on your site and collected in person. I ordered 2 tom khar gai, one of those was requested no coriander, this does not explain the absence of any flavour, lemongrass or chilli in both dishes. I understand sometimes things go wrong maybe there was a different chef or whatever the reason may be but own it when your staff mess up instead of trying to put it back on the customer. I will definitely not be back. The point of this review is to warn others as if I'd known this standard of food was a possibility I wouldn't have wasted almost $100 eating here only one of the dishes ordered was of a decent standard the rest...