Thai-o-rama: Siam Orchid

For the 12th round of our survey/review of Thai restaurants in Portland we visited Siam Orchid which is located in the One City Center food court.
Appetite Portland – read the full review

A second trip confirmed the first. A Thai basil shrimp tossed with light oil in the wok – very tasty. A pre-made crab rangoon fried to a crisp and stuffed with gooey, crab-flavored paste – not so much.

From Away – read the full review

… All Malcolm wanted was satay; in this case, a sassy hunk of chicken on a stick, that he reported having some nice flavors, in spite of their sad rubbery appearance. And so it was. The peanut “satay sauce,” served in a plastic cup on the side, was rock-solid frozen. So that was too bad. Finally, my rice. Was. Also. Satisfactory. It was savory, with bits of onion, chicken, and green stuff (basil?). I was starving. And so I slowly ate every mediocre morsel. And then I was sad and bloated forever times infinity. The end.

The Blueberry Files – read the full review

My dish was steaming hot and came with carrots, broccoli, onions, and chicken in a thin, brown sauce. The broccoli was crunchy and bright green, and the chicken was not *as* overcooked as some Thai stir-fry chicken can be. The sauce was very flavorful and made me wish I had a spoon to better scoop it up with the loads of accompanying rice.

While the dish I ordered was not particularly ‘Thai,’ it’s a good quick fix for a workday lunch, as well as some great people watching.
Where is Jenner’s Mind – read the full review

I thought that the spice was pretty mild, particularly as I requested a spice factor 2 out of 3. Perhaps a tad bland as well, but still passable Pad Thai with wide noodles served with scallions and mung beans. Sometimes pad Thai can be a bit on the sweet side. The Pad Thai, from the restaurant whose name shall remain a mystery, was not too sweet, and that was nice. If you need a quick and affordable Thai fix for lunch (I’m pretty sure this is a lunch only joint) that will leave you with leftovers for dinner, hit this place up. It won’t knock your proverbial socks off but it does the trick.

The Press Herald published one prior review of Siam Orchid back in 2007.
That leaves us with just one more stop before we finish up the series: Sengchai Thai. We should have the groups thoughts on that restaurant before the end of the 2010, aka the Year of Pad Thai.