Royal Thai Orchid Restaurante — Restaurant in Mijas

We came across this gem on our short our visit to Malaga for our anniversary. The interior was so inviting with beautiful traditional Thai details. It truly reflected the love and care it takes to make something like it. We ordered larb chicken, Tom yum with seafood and sticky rice . Ended up ordering so much more. My my!! the everything was amazing. The stir fried duck was yum. Never had new Thai desert ( boiled banana in coconut milk ), which was undoubtedly a treat for our sweet tooths. I was looking for that level of authenticity , comparable to Bangkok from the taste bud memories of my younger years. I am from United States and have been to so many Thai places with only few living up close to the expectation but never to that level. All the ingredients including the sea food were so fresh. We found out from the owners that the place dates back to 23 years. It is a family owned place . They have been following the family recipe. Surprisingly the place was not too busy as it was before summer. We were surprised to know only 5-10 percent of the locals do eat here as per them. Tourists make it busy during summer which is great. This place would easily recieve a great recognition , even Michelin star if it was somewhere else like San...

Decor: In actuality could be a really lovely place. But they filled the whole place with extra knick knacks that take away from the original lovely Thai decor. One huge whole corner of the restaurant alone is closed off and filled with nonsense that makes you stare at a storage area your whole meal. They still have Christmas decorations in October. I guess if you leave them there long enough Christmas comes again so why bother removing them. Service: The wait staff was friendly and attentive. They looked more like they were going to play a round of golf and not serve food though. Food: Pad Thai was sweet and strange. Lacking anything that makes Pad Thai tasty. Not recommended in the slightest. Massaman curry with lamb. The portion was quite small. Lamb was terrible. And for me the worst part is you think you ordered your meal and it’s not expensive. 14€ or whatever. Then the massaman curry comes with no rice. Makes no sense. I asked for rice. Charged 3,50€ for the most bland, small portion of rice. Then comes the bill and you see the prices don’t include the tax. So what you thought would be a tasty and cheap meal ends up being bland,...

Having been here a couple of times before, although not for a while, we expected it to be pretty reasonable. We were not expecting the worst Thai we have ever had. The spring rolls consisted of 5 tiny ones, still cold in the middle. The pad Thai was nothing short of horrible. Tasted slightly of a sweet and sour but with way too much fish sauce. When I asked if it was Pac Thai I got an abrupt answer after which the owner walked off. That was the last we saw of him. His wife brought the bill at the end. The pad krapao (chilli chicken) was made with what looked like thrown up chicken. Tiny pieces with an odd texture that may have been mechanically recovered meat. It was full of heat but zero flavour and totally unappetising. The portions were also half what they were before . Tiny amount of rice. Cost 54€ inc 2 drinks. Unfortunately not worth half that. Very disappointing and a shame to see it go...