Orchid Fine Asian Cuisine — Restaurant in East Brunswick Township

I ordered takeout here twice. The first time I just got the beef chow fun because it’s one of my family’s favorite dishes. Wasn’t amazing the first time. Just average. Went again to give it a second chance. Maybe I just needed to order more items. Got beef chow fun, crab rangoon (a Chinese American staple), and cold sesame noodles. Very simple dishes, hard to mess up.

I was wrong to give this place a second chance. The crab rangoon had no crab. Not even imitation crab. I really do mean it was just fried cream cheese. I actually ate two because after the first one I had to try another one to make sure I wasn’t going crazy.

Cold sesame noodles had little sauce and the sauce had no peanuts. They could’ve done better with the sauce in terms of quantity. I did not specify that I was peanut allergic so that leads me to believe they don’t use peanut butter in this recipe. That’s fine, can’t be disappointed if they didn’t have it in fine print. But definitely weird for a Chinese-American restaurant.

The beef chow fun was the same as before. Nothing different, still average at best.

-3 stars since I ordered 3 items and they all didn’t quite hit the mark. I’ll give 2/5 because Service. while I’ve never dined in, the takeout service is fast At least they are consistent in their quality and taste. I went twice, once at the beginning and once at the end of the year and both times I can say the food was consistently average. Have to give credit...

Update - 3/6/25:

3 years after my original review and Orchid continues to impress. My family and I have ordered several times in the past couple of weeks and everything has been spectacular. Some standouts are: Malaysian Fried Rice, Sambal Chicken, Roast Pork Fried Rice, Pad Thai, Hot & Sour Soup, and Ma Po Tofu. All are perfectly prepared and loaded with flavor. We're regular customers now. Excellent food.

I've eaten at Orchid in the past, and while I'd had a few good dishes, I didn't quite get the hype. Fast forward to this year, I've begun ordering from Orchid again BECAUSE I'M SO RIGHTEOUS making it easier to eat. I do wish the broccoli was a little more crunchy, but my daughter likes it better the way they make it so... The brown sauce is very good - not too sweet like some other places I've tried. The pork fried rice is delicious- nice pieces of flavorful pork, and the rice itself is seasoned nicely. The hot & sour soup is OK but for me, it misses the mark of what makes a truly great hot & sour soup. I prefer a richer, darker hot & sour with a bit more kick. The staff here are very pleasant and provide excellent and thoughtful service. Overall, Orchid pleasantly surprised me, and I will definitely be a...

I tried this place after reading all the good reviews in here. Well! I was a little disappointed. The decor is indeed better than most chinese restaurants but it is not as impressive as I expected after reading the reviews on Google. It is rather simple. The price is quite expensive. The quality of food is not bad. The seafood is quite fresh but not as fresh as the price would have indicated. The food is definitely not for Chinese people. They taste like Chinese food but they lack the real Chinese food essence. It may be good for westerners. I felt like this is a glorious Chinese take-out place where I spent $13 to get the food that I could've gotten for $7.

The waiters are nice and courteous but the food takes too long to come out. There were not many people but it was taking way too long.

So, my conclusion is that it is a Chinese restaurants geared toward westerners. If you want real Chinese food, you will be disappointed. Or if you want real Thai food, you will also be disappointed.

One good food is the chip with duck sauce. It...