To prepare my alimentary canal for the upcoming Thanksgiving Day feast, I plan to visit and review three restaurants in the next week:
1. Kim's Deli (Korean on 309 near Southern Lehigh)
2. White Orchids (Thai in the Promenade Shops)
3. Island in the Sun (Jamaican on MacArthur Road)
Also, I intend to report on an "American" ethnic food: barbecue. We've had several barbecue joints open in the Lehigh Valley in the past five years, including Grumpy's, Conway's and another place north of Easton (sorry, the name escapes me). We'll see how the Lehigh Valley matches up against Allen & Son in Chapel Hill, N.C. and Sonny Bryan's near Love Field in Dallas, Texas.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
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15 comments:
I have tried White Orchid and it falls under the usual Promenade Shop category of all looks, no substance. The Thai tea was sickly sweet, the appetizers were more akin to something I would get at Chili's than a real Thai restaurant (complete with thai chili sauce that tasted conspicuously buffalo like) The main rice dish I had was not bad, but not what I would call good either. Keep your money, go to Touch of Thai in Easton for the real thing.
The barbeque place north of Easton is in Forks Township on Sullivan Trail. It's called Fat Daddy's.
Thanks, Candi. Any barbecue with the word "Fat" in the name can't be bad. I look forward to trying it. Especially after a lackluster pork BBQ sandwich at Conway's today. The pork tasted like it came out of a crock pot rather than a smoker. I'll provide more details when I do the barbecue overview.
I am sooooo happy Conway's left, to be replaced by LOUIE'S!!
Fat Daddy's is online at
http://fatdaddysbarbq.com/
Thanks, Bob. I'm a Louie's fan, so I'm with you.
I concur with Robin's post re: White Orchid; though, my dismay lay in their over-cooked whole fish (sea bass?)rendition...very dry, which could have been semi-saved, if they had included more of a sauce.
I tried the entrees my friends ordered, though, I reckon because thy did not stand out in my mind as being spectacular, I cannot tell you which other dishes to steer clear.
Supposedly there is a good Thai place in S. Bethlehem? Can anyone point me in the right direction?
Thanks.
Anon, I think you're talking about Thai Kitchen on Broadway, just east of 378 (five points). I've had several quality meals there. The menu is relatively sparse, but the quality is excellent.
I wonder if White Orchid is inconsistent or people just have highly variable tastes.
I was there for lunch. Had green papaya salad, panang beef curry and a shrimp dish (can't remember the name) and all were good. My friend said it was the best Thai food she'd had since she was in Thailand.
As much as I'd like to try it again, I won't go near any mall until after the Xmas insanity. Tsang's sounds like it certainly worth a try. Thanks for the tip.
Jay
Tried White Orchids. Tofu dishes were very unimaginative and sort of so-so. Didn't feel confident that the vegan options were truly vegan. Soup was watery and bland. Service was also lacking. Server had to keep asking everyone what they had ordered. I expected much better.
Looking forward to your reviews of Allen & Sons and Sonny Bryan's.
I have been to Grumpy's, and to be be fair it was pretty good. But it certainly is not any where near the best BBQ I have had.
That award would be Roy's BBQ. I will not attempt to describe it.
You knows it's got to be great when the sigh on the building says. "Open at noon till the food runs out" roysbbq.com
I'll include brief reviews of Allen and Son and Sonny Bryan's when I do my BBQ round-up. I can use those two as my baselines for pork and beef BBQ, respectively. It's been almost a year since I've been to both, but the pleasant memories remain strong. Thanks for the note on Roy's. Not sure when I'll be in Kansas, but I'll be sure to try if I'm there. I've had Ron's Ribs on South Street in Philly in my sights for a while. I've read good things on Philly websites. Generally, the less pretentious a BBQ joint looks, the more delectable the food, as the owners put more time into slow, careful cooking than they do cosmetic upkeep.
I was not a BBQ convert until Roy's.
Truth is unless the place is cooking everything over oak for many, many hours it's just not going to be any good.
Great BBQ needs time and smoke.
I have been to all three Thai restaurants that I know of in the Lehigh Valley. Most I've actually been to a couple times. I'd have to disagree about White Orchid. I actually went with a group of 6 people and we all had the best Thai food there of all the restaurants. Meal prices are higher by 5-10 dollars and I think now they have a 2 week waitlist for large parties but it is in my mind worth trying. Probably don't bother getting the Thai tea or appetizers but seriously the dinner portions are large and excellent themselves which is really what matters. Our second favorite is Thai Kitchen in Bethlehem. Prices are more reasonable and food is still quite good regardless of what dish is served. Thai tea is fairly good here as well. I would not go back to Touch of Thai in Easton. It had a weird feel to the place, there was an annoying song being looped over and over while we ate, and 4 of our 6 dinner items were pretty bad. Not to mention an appetizer that was completely inedible. Although they did not charge us for it. Probably another indication is that there was no one else there. Sorry, in my mind its not even worth the lower priced meal.
I have to add my comments to the reviews of White Orchid. I've been their twice now. Once with my wife and a friend who dines in NY frequently, and once with my son and his significant other (both of whom have traveled internationally as well).
I thought the food was good. I've sampled several of their dishes now and would recommend them. I'm not sure it's the greatest Thai I've ever had, but I've reached the age where I can't remember this morning's breakfast, so I certainly can't remember my greatest Thai meal ever...
We tried White Orchids for the first time last night. We arrived at about 5:30 without a reservation. The booths were full, but almost all of the other tables were empty. A couple tables had reservation signs on them. The hostess, without looking around, told us it would be a 20 minute wait. We chose to wait. Five minutes later, another couple came in, also without a reservation. The hostess was on the phone and another worker, perhaps a manager, asked the other couple to wait a second. When the hostess got off the phone he asked her about seating availability. She looked confused. Then he seated the two people. When we asked her why we hadn't been seated first, she said something like "I don't know, that's his thing." Then she curtly seated us at one of the tables that had been empty when we arrived. We're not sure what the problem was but it felt like incompetence or some kind of discrimination. The experience ruined our meal completely. Then the waiter began with the very pushy "what appetizers can I get for you tonight?" Although the food was pretty decent for Lehigh Valley mall fare, the pad thai was very greasy. If it weren't for the completely unacceptable service, we might have considered trying it again.
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