Reviews The Thai Orchid Restaurant

This place is the only thing keeping me sane during isolation. Best Thai food I’ve ever had!

After a number of years not going here, we ordered takeaway and were not disappointed. After all this time their pad thai and beef massaman is still incredible. The decor and atmosphere is very stylish. Lovely place and people!

Great flavours all round. Minimal wait for food, unless they are really busy of course. Prices aren't cheap, but the quality is amazing. The banquets just seem to be endless and we never finish all the food.

I only bought one dish from The Thai Orchid and it was delicious. I picked up just before the busy period so it was ready super quick. The food was really good and pretty well priced. I would totally recommend this place to anyone.

The Thai Orchid - Upper Mount Gravatt, Brisbane. My cousin was coming up from Melbourne to stay in town for a day, and knew that I was a bit of a restauranteur. Thus he was asking if I knew of any good places; to make it simple I asked for any particular preferences namely with cuisine - he mentioned that he quite likes Thai. After extensive discussion and searching for a Thai restaurant that was both close by and relatively cheap (and new of course), the Thai Orchid was found.
Monday nights are a hectic time of the week, and after a bit of negotiation and discussion in several degrees my dining buddy along with my mum went with me to pick up my cousin for dinner. He was staying close by, so this was a good choice in the end.

The location is a bit awkward, the entrance is on a main road and outside is seemingly quiet thus bypassers do not often get the encouragement to come inside. There is a car park out on the front kerb, so the placing is not so much inconvenient - again as mentioned, just awkward. Inside the restaurant is well decorated with all sorts of artworks and decorations. It is really spacious, with several dining rooms. One table that the four of us got to sit at was off to the side a bit. Service here was good and friendly enough; they told what each item was upon bringing them to the table. It was a Monday night, and they had a couple more big tables to serve including a birthday party; balancing tasks is a difficult skill and they were managing well.

One of the pluses to the service was that when the four of us were seated, drink requests were taken; I quickly perused the non-alcoholic beverage menu ending up requesting a Thai iced coffee. This was strong, had the warmth of heated up coffee and was refreshing. I also tried out some Jasmine tea, which my dining buddy ordered, straight black and had a mild flavour to it.

Upon the main meals, everyone was really hungry thus with a suggestion from my mum it was quickly agreed to go the banquet route. Looking at the "Thai Orchid Banquet", it seemed the best value and that was chosen. No one left hungry, and servings were generous and various.

At first there was the mixed entree, a selection of goodies from the entree menu which allows you to try the majority of the entrees. When it comes to banquets they usually offer one or two entrees as starters; here there was five different appetisers, not all of them came out at once.

The first plate had curry puffs & chicken satays; both of these were good and what I would respect from the respective snacks. On the side, the peanut sauce for the satay was especially delicious. Often with Thai banquets, I would nick the vegetable garnishings off the plate as well; this time the effort made with a cucumber to - at least in my mind - make it look like a bit of sushi (at least to my mind) was too good to sully.

The next plate contained the seafood appetisers, a handful of fried calamari and four coconut prawns. The prawns were good, however the calamari was a bit stodgy after a while. Last but not least, the steamed dim sims. On their own, these would have been very good as the pork filling was juicy and tasty; after several types of fried appetisers the steamed nature clashed a bit. After all that, it was hard to believe that more food was to come.

There were three main dishes: a beef red curry, a peanut stir-fry with chicken and a mixed seafood pad ped. The beef curry was really popular, that is was almost too small to really justify putting in the doggy bag; it was the usual reliable red curry - .
Coconut rice, then regular rice. The peanut chicken consisted of a thick, viscous sauce, and finally the pad ped was spicy, and had a generous selection of various types of seafood including king prawns and scallops.

I was starting to feel nearly full, but knew that there was enough room in my stomach to include dessert. The choices were either between a mixed fruit salad or deep fried ice cream. I went with the latter choosing caramel sauce. It was a nice and smooth finish to a big meal; the ice cream was coated with coconut. On the side was a bit of strawberry and some whipped cream.

It is not the best Thai that I have ever had, or even the best Thai on this side of the city. The food was generously portioned and filling. With the banquet menu, I would suggest it not be as appetiser-heavy as it was to be able to give the chance to try other mains and/or another course of Thai dining. The dining was good enough for me to leave a generous tip (note the note in amongst the coins). For the time, it hit the spot.

Sensational. I have tried many Thai restaurants, Thai being my favourite, Thai Orchid is absolutely my favourite. My favourite dish here is Vegetable Massaman Curry, the flavours are amazing. The service is excellent, Linda and Michael are my favourite staff, so helpful and friendly, beautiful people.

Great. ·The food here is very authentic definitely worth going here. Food is so tasty, delicious, cheap, you can byo wine, well well worth it yum!

Simple as that really. If you like good Thai you will like this place.

Food was ok but there is lot better Thai places. Price is on the high side considering the flavour.
Overall 6.5 out of 10.

Love this place! Have been here twice in few months and everything my family ordered has been delicious. we were never disappointed.

I was impressed by this restaurant. Great value, I have eaten Thai inane places & this one is definitely recommended!!!

SENSATIONAL THAI RESTAURANT IN BRISBANE. Service is magnificent . The staff are friendly and always welcome customers.
Food is delicious. Would recommend anyone to go there.

Hospitality. I am quite shocked to read the reviews about the Thai Orchid restaurant, staff and manager. I agree with Mark. I have been regularly dining at the Thai Orchid for over ten years. I have dined with family, friends, international guests and business professionals - all have enjoyed the experience, the food and the service. It has become a favourite restaurant of my international friends. They have tried other thai restaurants in Brisbane and the Gold Coast during their stay and although prices are little more expensive at the Thai Orchid they believe that the quality of the food is worth it.

As for the customers complaining about the Manager I have had many discussions with the Manager and she has always been helpful. Yes sometimes people are exhausted working on their feet in the hospitality industry 10 - 12 hours a day. I think customers forget that the staff don't just start work as the doors open, there is cleaning, preparation, etc etc. With the economic downturn it is difficult to know how many customers will arrive without bookings so sometimes there are not sufficient staff when there are many walk-in customers, but the staff do the best they can for their customers. Yes they do a large trade in takeaways which is also hard to plan and the floor staff are required to manage the takeaway orders as well as seated customers.

Perhaps your complaints should be directed at the owner to implent some changes to assist the staff. At the Thai Orchid the owner controls the number of staff permitted to work that day, the owner sets the price and the rules and the Manager has no control over these decisions and is not permitted to change such rules. The Manager role is name only.

To the customers stating they have eaten in many thai restaurants and that this manager was screaming at them in thai. Firstly, let me say that I have never heard the manager raise her voice at anyone, even dining there sometimes twice a week doing my human rights advocacy work. Secondly I dont know which Thai restaurants you visited but if you knew anything about thailand you would know that the Manager does not speak Thai as she is not from Thailand. There are Thai staff in the kitchen but the staff on the floor are from other cultural backgrounds.

On the other hand, I have observed a number of rude customers whilst I have been dining and I have considered the Manager to be quite restrained and polite when dealing with their requests that she has no control to authorise. I have often wanted to confront the customer and suggest they learn to use their manners and stop being so rude to a staff member who doesnt own the business, doesnt make the prices, and can't see into the future to know how many people will be dining tonight. These customers need to learn some manners, some patience, and some dining etiquette. Sometimes they try bullying tactics to try to get discounts or free meals. Its quite absurd and if you were speaking that way to an Australian born Manager they would have escorted you out the door.

I have come to learn a bit about the Manager, her background, her extremely difficult life. I wouldnt switch places with her for a million dollars. She has worked hard to learn hospitality skills and tried to improve her English without the advantage of any formal schooling, she has learned the new menu technology introduced, she has trained the ongoing casual rotating staff (they often have international students who come and go regularly). She has a work ethic that many Australian born workers would fail to achieve.

I would say that the people making the negative comments you need to learn a bit of cross cultural awareness. What you perceive as someone's behaviour can be easily misinterpreted. I have never heard the Manager raise her voice let alone 'scream across the restaurant'. I find this highly exaggerated and all I can say having come to know the staff at the Thai Orchid is that you must have been a really rude customer for that Manager to have lost her composure. I also know that if she had lost her composure it would have distressed her greatly as its not in her demeanour to behave in such a manner.

I also often dine there alone to de-stress from my working day. Whilst dining i observe the staff and customers and have seen many happy customers enjoying their meal, thanking the manager and staff. Those customers have a great attitude to dining, cultural awareness, patience when the restaurant gets busy with customers and takeaway orders. The dining experience is what you make it. If you are there to enjoy the experience you will enjoy it.

Fortunately I have only witnessed a few rude or difficult customers. If you have the personality to pick and complain at anything then you will not enjoy the experience and it wouldnt make any difference who served you or what the price was or the food. Different types of customers.

All I can say is please if you feel that strongly then dine somewhere else as dining with customers with such attitude would make my dining experience less enjoyable.

What's that saying there are people that never fly as they stress and focus on the planes that have crashed. There are people who enjoy the flying experience, the freedom of travel and focus on the thousands of planes that land safely every day. Your life experience depends on your attitude towards life and people. What you give out is what you get back.

There are a number of negative reviews. If only we could ask every customer that has dined at the Thai Orchid what there experience has been over the ten years. I think you would find its like the planes.

I highly recommend dining at the Thai Orchid with your friends, family and coworkers.
Few tips to remember:

Surcharges: if you dine on a public holiday (as with any restaurant in Brisbane) there is a surcharge - goes without saying really.

Closures: Sometimes events occur that mean that a restaurant may need to change a closing time. This is a business decision and more than likely not known at the time of the booking.

Menu/Prices: The menu is set, the prices are set. If you have special dining preferences then its always wise to go online and check the menu. if any questions call the restaurant to ask if they can accomodate your request and if the price will be reduced. I guarantee they will try to accomodate your request but the price will remain the same as the owner sets the price not the staff.

Be prepared: I have never made a restaurant reservation without first checking out the menu and prices before making a decision to dine there. Even if I'm looking to walk-in to eat I check the menu at the front counter to see if it appeals to my appetite and budget or dietary requirements.

The outcome of your dining experience is largely up to your behaviours.

Balanced Feedback. I was taken back at reading some of the recent reviews on this restaurant. The restaurant has been going for about 25 years, the manager has been there for about 15 years and we have been regulars for about 10 years.
Like everyone I have the occasional bad eating, shopping or travel experience where things did not go according to plan. Yet personally at the Thai Orchard we have never found anything less than excellent food and service. Certainly there have been occasions when the staff are run off their feet and like others we understand this and take it into account when assessing the experience.
It is impossible to get through life without a bad experience or two and I respect that unfortunately this seems to have happened for a small number of patrons recently. In my view, considering the long term success of the business I think the solid reputation of the restaurant speaks for itself.

Old fav. For years we have been getting takeaway from this joint- and it never fails. The chicken panang is to die for, as is the coconut rice and ton tong. We dined it last night and I am sad to say the service was lacking and we had to wait quite a bit. I think they focus more on takeaways as that must be there big money maker. But their food is definitely quality- you must try it. Dine in if you have the time and patience or order out!

We have always loved Thai food but rarely venture out from our local favourites. Last week, we decided to try Thai Orchid Restaurant at Mt Gravatt - And boy, are we glad we did!

I have to say, I enjoyed every single bite of the meal at Thai Orchid. I celebrated a banquet meal, with a couple of highballs. Considering the quality, the price is reasonable and the service was quick and prompt. Ideal for those who want a wonderful date night out. There was also plenty of room for bigger groups. Thanks Joey!

Newly renovated and really friendly staff, it was a great experience overall. The food was great, really authentic and perfectly seasoned . Had the pawpaw salad which had an amazing dressing and the Penang chicken . A wide variety of food to have by yourself or share with others. It was definitely a great dinner.

Great night out with a friend SERVICE Prompt friendly service upon entry Jug of water upon being seated FOOD Entree Fish cakes and Toong Tong delicious Green curry and coconut rice was fresh and tasty. ATMOSPHERE Dated and much as it was 20 years ago

Awesome food- very fresh and authentic... banquet meal was great value and for 3 people we ate for around $100.. and we were certainly not stopping for ice cream on the way home. Service was great- very friendly and attentive. Genuine customer focus and accommodated our needs including those of my elderly father who needed help with the menu. Satay sticks -highly recommend you order a plate of these as they were amazing.