Ocha Thai Noodle Restaurant — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

I HATE OCHA THAI NOODLES. This restaurant ruined all Thai restaurants for me. Ocha outclasses other Thai restaurants to such a baffling degree I physically cannot bring myself to enjoy any other Thai restaurant. Ocha is HANDS DOWN the BEST Thai restaurant in all of Pittsburgh, and for me personally, IN THE WORLD.

I had a pretty tough workout today, right after my workout, I was famished and had a fatal craving for Ocha. Around 7PM, I head out, and as I started walking, it starts to rain and lightning streaks across the sky above me. At the time of writing this review, I live in Panther Hall, roughly 0.7 miles from Ocha. The winds were unrelenting it was a challenge just to control my umbrella. As I descend the Pittsburgh slopes, the rain only picks up and becomes increasingly hard to stay dry; but it’s all worth it. The journey, the suffering, the hardship, it’s all worth it as soon as my Ocha Thai Noodle order hits the gates buds on my tongue.

My order today:

1. Shrimp Pad-See-Ew
2. Thai Style Beef Fried Rice
3. Crab Rangoons

Shrimp Pad-See-Ew -My order was all to-go today and by the time I got back up to Panther Hall, the food had cooled down to a much more manageable temperature. I’m usually not a fan of shrimp but Ocha does it different. The shrimp is crunchy, and has a very fresh taste. That’s all I think is really relevant for now as I think the shrimp’s freshness is the topic of question here. The pad-see-ew speaks for itself and is to die for. Another thing I’d like to add though is how misleading the portions looks, it looks like you’ve been skimped out but I’d assume for a normal person, it would be difficult to finish it entirely as my friend was not able to finish their fried rice. I think this may be due to them pushing down the food to fit it into the container.

Thai Style Beef Fried Rice -Not much to speak about here; it’s fried rice. It’s delicious, they definitively use day old rice, there big chunks of beef in there, and is very filling.

Crab Rangoon -Absolutely phenomenal. I had Ocha the day before writing this review that is being written the day I got the order below, and I could not be happier that I got to eat Ocha’s crab rangoons two days in a row. Perfectly crispy with a creaming crab filling in the middle. Comes with a sauce that tastes similar to fish sauce but I believe it to be more of a sweet and sour sauce. I took some creative initiative and added some Tajin seasoning on top and truly, from the bottom of my heart; 10/10 item menu, and I say 10/10 because I think this item will be universally enjoyed...

ANOTHER FOODIE’S FIND for A SUPERB THAI in Pittsburgh, a town littered with dismal so-called Thai eateries. This establishment has a good menu, several entrees look a concoction of a creative chef.

There are appetizers that deceptively look like lifted from Americanized Chinese-style food, BUT their flavors are classic Thai, mildly sweet spiced with tangy, slightly sweet dipping sauces. I refer to the Crispy Chicken Eggrolls, generously packed with well seasoned ground chicken; and the Thai Steam Dumpling served with sprinkling of scallions on a fresh lettuce leaves.

Entrees recommended as of October 2022: Crispy Duck Pad Thai: classic pad Thai with boneless duck breast and fresh bean shoots and ground peanuts. No sauce needed with the noodles oozing with sauce they were made in.

Eggplant Basil with tofu, exquisitely vegetarian with mild brown sauce. This is not like the sugar-sweetened one prepared by other places. Sweetness to the taste is the natural goodness of fresh aubergine and veggies.

Duck Curry, exquisitely Thai in mild curry with veggies. Simply delicious!

I ordered them heat level 4, which lifts up the flavors of goodness.

Oh, don’t forget to use the spoon instead of the fork or chopsticks. Spooning with rice sups up all the goodness in the sauces.

Very highly...

The food here was excellent and the place was clean and well ordered despite it being a restaurant next to a beer store and in the middle of a major university.

This place is open super late to serve the drunk college students and I'm glad they are because after 10pm finding a place for a sit down dinner is a challenge.

The food we got was excellent and was brought to our table in quick order. Our server did forgot a few things we ordered which disappointed the family members whose stuff they forgot but we had ordered enough for them to feel full as well. When we told the server she had forgotten a few things she didn't seem to care and just came back with our bill.

I think during the day or when Pitt students are not around the experience would have been better, it's clearly also geared towards takeout as there were a ton of people coming in and out to pick up orders so the server was probably annoyed we were sit in guests.

I'm still giving this place a 5 because the food was excellent but the service gets a 1 star due to the server.

If your looking for takeout this place would be perfect because of their speed.

One thing to note is there is basically zero parking after 7pm because all the streets become permit only...