Thai Orchid Restaurant

Every other Asian food I've had in the Aurora area has been seriously disgusting. The Pad Thai here is amazing. Everything I've ordered has been great. Big portions too. I ate my last order of Pad Thai for 2 and a half large meals last time. I can't speak about the service, I only do carry out. Get extra peanut sauce... the food doesn't need it, but it's amazing.

Good for the lunch special carryout......poor service when dining in and tables often left uncleared

I have eaten at this restaurant almost every few weeks for the last 7 years and have usually had very good meals until last night. We walked in at 7:30 on Saturday night, the place was empty and the tables were filthy. We had to wait until the high school girls decided to stop talking and actually clean a table before we could sit down. Since we have eaten here many times, we figured it was just the inexperience of the wait-staff. We should have known better.

Even after sitting down, we were not given any water, the plates were not put out and no silverware or napkins were put on the table. The girls were behind the counter talking and ignoring us. When one of them finally came over and offered us a menu (note I said "a menu" when there were two of us), I knew we were dealing with complete idiots. Still no water, plates or napkins.

Finally, after at least 5 minutes one of the girls eventually made her way over to our table. Remember we were the only ones in the place. I asked to get a can of Pepsi and we proceeded to order the Satay, the Pad Thai and the fried sweet potato. This is the same thing we usually order every other time we have been here. Still no offer of water, plates or napkins.

A couple of minutes later, I had to as again for the Pepsi. I had a bad headache and really wanted something to drink. I then had to ask for water. Now I am getting pissed off. Still no napkins, silverware or plates.

Shortly after that, one of the girls asked if we wanted everything we ordered together or if we wanted the appetizer of satay and sweet potato first. Huh? I guess she hasn't ever been told of the meaning of an appetizer.

When the satay came out it was presented as usual so I started to eat it. It turned out to be totally undercooked, almost raw. The worst thing you can do in a restaurant is serve raw chicken. I asked the server to return the dish to the kitchen and to have them make me a completely new dish that was properly cooked. No apology or comment, just a bored "okay".

While I was waiting for the satay to be redone, the pad thai was delivered. It had absolutely no flavor and the noodles were chewy, not the way the many previous dinners I have had there had been.

The satay was finally delivered and it was okay. No comments, no apologies and certainly no comment from the cook.

Oh yeah, we finally got our glasses of water after I pointed out that it would be really nice to have something to drink. We also asked for a couple of knives and were given one to share?

Needless to say we decided to skip the rest of the meal, paid the check and walked out.

I don't know what the owners of this place were thinking when they hired those two girls and I am not sure where the usual chef was, but  based on this experience I don't think this restaurant is going to be around much longer. I know I am going to tell everyone I know to avoid it which is a shame because it used to be a really nice place to eat.

It will be a long time before any of my friends and I ever walk back in this place. One bad meal, dozens of lost customers. Not a good way to operate if you want to stay in business.