| rev:text
| - Has anyone noticed that when a crowd of Yelpers gathers the discussion inevitably turns to "the best Thai in Pittsburgh?" What a lively discussion, too! My vote for the category? Definitely the Red Orchid in the tiny, little, difficult to get into (and out of) strip mall on Babcock Boulevard in Ross. The risk of those very necessary Mario Andretti sharp, quick left turns are definitely worth it!
Why? Let's start with Tom Yum and Tom Kha soups. Rich, spicy and totally satisfying kissed with lemongrass, kaffir lime and galangal with just the right heat. I ordered a 5 on a scale of 10 and it was just right for my heat-loving palate. If you're not a fan of heat, I'd go tamer than what you think would be a medium heat of 5. It was definitely more of a 7...and I like that!
Green Curry is my Thai food yardstick. I measure every new Thai restaurant by the quality of their green curry because it's my go-to favorite dish. The good news is I found Green Curry heaven at the Red Orchid! Spicy, yet sweet with coconut, crunchy green beans and silky eggplant made an especially flavorful curry with basil as the accent. I love that they give you the choice of jasmine rice or brown rice! And the portions are huge!
Kimber raved over the Wild Curry. She too likes her food spicy and ordered a 6. I really don't think there was much of a Scoville Scale difference between a 5 and a 6. I truly didn't see (or taste) much difference in flavor or ingredients between my Green Curry and Kimber's Wild Curry either...but both were delicious.
The Red Orchid is on my way home from work. Why mention that? It means I can place an order to pick up take out to eat in my jammies in front of the TV. Score! The last time I did that, Drunken Noodles (Pad Kee Mao) was the choice. Oh my goodness! I know Pad Thai is the national dish, but the wide rice noodles with chicken, napa cabbage, basil and lots of spicy red pepper paste won me over. Not that I'm abandoning Pad Thai mind you. Other faves have been appetizers of grilled Nam Tok (beef) with lime, cilantro and sticky rice and Chicken Satay with yellow curry or entrees of Spicy Basil Fried Rice and Spicy Green Beans.
The restaurant is lovely...and tiny with only 24 seats. Get there early or you may have to wait - this place is popular! Maybe it has to do with the fact that when the owner moved here from Thailand (a tsunami wiped out her restaurant there), she cooked at the Bankok Balcony, Nicky's Thai Kitchen and the Smiling Banana Leaf too, before opening up her very own restaurant in the North Hills. Keson knows Pittsburgh Thai-loving palates. Thanks Keson, for bringing GREAT Thai food to the North Hills!
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)