Thai Orchid is our takeout place for lunch. We've never eaten in the restaurant and it seems to do more of a takeout than an eat-in one. The restaurant is small and fairly nondescript. We usually get some kind of stir fry and a curry dish. The food is fresh and delicious. I like spicy food but anything at the spicy level is usually too hot for me. I order my food medium and it's plenty spicy. There's a young guy at the counter when we pick up. He's friendly and efficient and gets our food out right away. read more

I've been wanting to visit Thai Orchid in Rensselaer after reading all of the great reviews it received. Now, I'm adding mine to the growing list of rave reviews. This is a case of don't judge a book by its cover. The outside of the building could use a bit of work. Inside, it's not a very big restaurant. The decor is simple, but the aromas from the food being cooked are fabulous. I arrived for lunch with a friend on a weekday. The young man who greeted us served as both the waiter and the host. I ordered a chicken Penang Curry. I realize the restaurant doesn't have a large staff. Still, it's able to get a lot done efficiently. Our server disappeared and came back with our orders a short time later. I couldn't tell if he also cooked our food and I didn't ask. There were two other tables occupied with customers. I have to say the meal By did not disappoint. I loved my Penang Curry. What's more, it was a lunch special which cost $10. Considering how much I ate, it was very reasonably priced. I've already thought about what I'll order the next time I come back. Can't wait. read more

Thai Orchid - Chicken Penang Curry. - Thai Near Me - Rensselaer, New York

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Best Thai restaurant in the area! Small family restaurant but the food is as authentic as being in Thailand.

First time here. The space is cozy and quaint. The food was fresh, delicious, and the best Thai food I've ever had! I ordered the fresh spring roll which was served standing up. Large pieces of shrimp and cucumbers. The sauce had a hint of pineapple and was enjoyable. The pineapple curry chicken was cooked perfectly and included good fixed cuts of vegetables as well as pineapple. No over cooked pieces in this dish, like I've had at some other restaurants. Service was excellent. I will definitely come here again. read more

The food was fantastic. I enjoyed the curry and the noodles. Go for at least this heat rating of two and you'd be all set. I would highly recommend it for anybody who likes food, whether it be spicier. Otherwise, because you can adjust the heat, just ask him read more

Got takeout, always quick service. Food was great! Dining room was open for seating, but we like takeout. Highly recommend the Pad See Ew, Pineapple fried rice, and pad Thai (HOWEVER order mild spicy if you want spicy, medium was very hot but still yummy). Will be back!! read more

Decent Thai food in the area. Good value for lunch. Been doing a lot of takeout here. It's quick easy and filling. What more could you ask for? read more

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I've wanted to go to this place for the last couple years and finally was able to try it out. It was my husband and mine anniversary and we ordered take out. The pickup was very easy and all masks were being worn per COVID-19 rules. The food.... was amazing!! It all tasted fresh, hot and had leftovers. I'd definitely order from here again and it's always nice to support a local business. read more

Thai Orchid - 6 Pieces Crab Rangoon 6 Pieces Thai Pierogi Tom Yum Soup Pad Thai Drunken noodle Thai custard - Thai Near Me - Rensselaer, New York

Don't let the exterior fool you, the food is some of the best casual Thai I have had in a long time. I lived in NYC for 20 years, Boston 6 and Miami 3. I would have thought that those cities would set the standard. Hey Rensselaer! This place is excellent...... I am not an expert "chef" but have toured the world and consider my palate experienced. Go to Thai Orchid. I hope I find an excuse to return soon. It's a bit far from Miami. read more

Whatttt a Thai Spot we actually love in the middle of nowhere in the Cap Region?! Wow! To Start the host/waitress Nay was welcoming, sweet, and very accommodating. She listened to usual Thai stuff we order and made suggestions. Also, the app prices are great so we had to get a few things (this is why the husb loves it too -Queens prices). -Duck w/ apple salad -duck marinated well flavorful, I wish it was mango though but he liked it -Fried calamari-good fried batter -Larb Moo chicken-top yum spice lime with ground chicken and peanuts -winner! Flavor and texture was top! -Drunken noodle-made it with extra garlic and sauce wonderfully right! -mango w/ coconut sticky rice -fresh and sweet -Thai Iced tea -strong and sweet -2 spring rolls-complimentary and perfect crispyness Also, they have a deal 10% off until March. My husband is ordering for their work lunch tomorrow and I need to tell him to bring me home leftovers-lol! Thank you Nay and team, see you soon! read more

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Great food, friendly helpful waitstaff, adjustable levels of spice (3 out of 5 is still quite a lot of heat!)

The reviews for this restaurant misled me. I can't believe that it's so highly rated. This is by far the worst Thai food I've ever had and I've eaten an abundance of Thai. I guess I'm spoiled having been raised in the city where your average Thai restaurant has good food. Thai is usually my go-to for that reason. I foolishly didn't think it was possible to mess it up. But this place...well, for one you can tell they use low quality ingredients just by the smell of the food. I ordered takeout twice. The first time I went with old reliable basil fried rice, which I requested to be very spicy. It was terrible. The rice was inundated with pepper seeds (unnecessary for added spiciness) to the point where it was inedible. The standard spring rolls were glass noodle rolls. Despite the description on their menu there was no cabbage or carrots. It's just packed with glass noodles and they taste like bulk frozen rolls. I gave this place a second try thinking maybe I chose the wrong dish the first time. I ordered pad key mao, this time with mild spice. When I opened the container it smelled kind of like Maggi cubes (bad sign). It tasted even worse. The vegetables were not fresh and crisp. The dish was just unpalatable. I had the tom yum soup, which was average, but it's fairly hard to ruin that. I would say if you're from the city save your money. read more

This was my first time here and I am very pleased. For starters it is a small place most likely family owned. The place itself is perfect for a first date or lunch/dinner with a friend. I went during lunch time and it was a nice quiet place to enjoy our meal. Our server was a young girl and she was super kind throughout the entire service. I ordered the yellow curry and it was really good. So good that I honestly ate and left no crumbs. I would 10/10 recommend this place to a friend. read more

Thai Orchid - Yellow curry and Thai Fried Rice - Thai Near Me - Rensselaer, New York

What a gem of a restaurant! Traveling to the capital region for pleasure, and not wanting to eat at the train station, a short little commute down a big hill and we came to this inviting Thai restaurant. Though we got it to go, the workers let us wait for our cab in the restaurant. When we finally got down to eating, we were so pleased! The curry puffs were not too spicy, but packed with flavor! The chicken pad thai was really excellent, the noodles were perfect! The tofu pineapple fried rice was so flavorful, with lots of chunks of tofu and pineapple. Through and through, this was a delicious spot and one to keep on your radar around the Albany/Rensselaer area. read more

Thai Orchid - Curry puffs, chicken pad thai, tofu pineapple fried rice. - Thai Near Me - Rensselaer, New York

A little store front Thai Food place! Nothing fancy but a decent lunch with nice portions and affordable - the Pad Thai was very good - nice and juicy not dry at all . I had the chicken and there was plenty - the Tum Yum soup was tasty too . Convenient parking in front . Will go again . read more

That was a disappointment! I had high hopes for a delightful meal after reading the rave reviews. I sampled Thai staples and was very underwhelmed. The green papaya salad lacked a balance of flavors of sweet, acid, etc and was redolent only of sweet carrot. Boring. Annoyingly it was served at the exact time as the Tom Yum soup. That soup was weakly flavored. A poor rendition. Why they served an amuse bouche of a fried eggroll is beyond me -- it does not showcase flavor in the eggroll or the sad sauce that it puddled in the plate. The pad kee mao, on the menu listed as just "drunken noodles," also lacked flavor and had no balance. I added heat from some dried pepper on the table. Underwhelmed. The decor inside is way better than it would appear from the dumpy neighborhood and exterior. I'm leery of trusting Yelp reviews from Rensselaer anymore! I was misled by reviews of Asian Tea House also. I won't be back. What's better Thai than this is Sri Siam in Rensselaer and Sadudee in Watervliet (not Celadon which is very mediocre). When I was at Thai Orchid eating the papaya salad I was thinking longingly of the rendition at Sri Siam which is very tasty with tantalizing balanced flavor. Have I made the point that none was interesting here? This will probably get removed because it seems Yelp does not like our mentioning other restaurants. But for now, this is my review. read more

Thai Orchid - Inside from rear/bathroom/ high chair storage area. - Thai Near Me - Rensselaer, New York

Found this place on yelp and what a great find it was. Simple and nicely decorated. The Tom Kha soup with shrimp was definitely not my favorite. Tasted like Tom Yum with added coconut milk which still tasted extremely sour. On a positive note, it included two large shrimps. Personally not a dish to repeat. The papaya salad was excellent. Good portion and great seasoning. The larb gai salad was amazing. Also a good portion. Has a complex flavor that goes well with the fried rice. The fried rice with chicken was great. Very large portion. Chicken was moist and well seasoned. For a future visit would share the papaya salad, the larb gai and a fried rice with a different meat. And mix half the rice with half of the larb gai. Can't wait to try their green curry. The complimentary spring rolls were a nice surprise. read more

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If you like beef garlic pepper, this is probably the best in town. Lean beef with broccoli and lots of sauce.. If you like spicy, you should probably order it spicy. It was very mild ordered off the menu I like this place and look forward to further explore the menu.. Great drunkin noodles. The beef was erfect read more

Thai Orchid - Beef garlic pepper is very good here - Thai Near Me - Rensselaer, New York

Thai Orchid is one of the best Thai restaurants in the Capital Region. They have warm, friendly service, really flavorful noodle and curry dishes, and a really nice ambience. Star dishes Larb kai: this dish has everything that is great about Thai food - spice, lime, and ground chicken all mixed in with finely crushed peanuts for texture. Drunken noodles: saucy! Thank you Thai Orchid for finally giving me a saucy noodle dish that is hard to come by in this region. Tip: I sometimes ask for roasted garlic as an addition on top to really elevate the flavor of this dish. Green Curry: their green curry isn't too spicy and is very milky in texture. If you happen to eat this dish along with the larb kai, the spice from the larb, mixed with this dish, is a memorable combo. read more

Thai Orchid - Spring rolls - very thin and crispy - Thai Near Me - Rensselaer, New York

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There is a new player in town for great Thai Food. This is truly a "hole in the wall" type of location. A very small dining area with nothing to write home about I joined a group of friends to experience a wide array of dishes. We started with a green papaya salad which is a quintessential Thai dish. This version hit all the notes: crunchy, sweet, savory, salty, spicy, bitter. I loved that they used pea pods which I don't recall ever seeing before. Next up was Larb Kai. Wow! What a perfect harmony of flavors. Every bite was incredible. If you are experiencing Thai for the first time one might say you should try a curry first. I would say that too. We went with green curry and it was delicious. Some how I was talked in to trying it with tofu. Even with the tofu it was spot on :) Then we had crispy chicken over ginger rice. It came with unique dark sauce. When combined together it was really, really good. This dish also came with soup which was unremarkable. Our final entre was Bermi Hen. We had stuck with rice in every dish up to this point (the official Thai greeting is, "Have you eaten rice today?") This was a noodle dish. Very light. It didn't represent the powerful flavors of the previous dishes. My party felt it would have been a good dish to start off with. I added some chili sauce to mine to kick it up. The table comes with a wide array of condiments to add to your dishes. We completed our meal with two desserts. Mango with sticky rice and this custard deal with chocolate sauce. The mangos were not ripe put passable. The custard and sticky rice had a delicious consistency. My group was the only people in the joint but our waiter hussled to keep things moving. The dishes flew out of the kitchen. The price was also very very reasonable. In summary.... The chef is clearly the real deal. I was very impressed by everything I tried and would not hesitate to go back. Rensselaer is sort of an after thought in the Capital Region but this restaurant makes it worth the trip! read more

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This is my favorite Thai place in the capital region. Their Tom Kha soup is AMAZING and hands down the best I've ever had. The spring rolls, dumplings, and green curry are similarly delicious! And you definitely don't want to skip the Thai iced tea! I moved out of Albany a while ago, so I haven't gotten to order from here in ages, but my new job is right nearby so I'm excited to be eating here a lot more often! Got lunch there today and it's just how I remember it. read more

Tasty Thai, Friendly Thai Fresh and tasty Thai food served by friendly people. And great Thai iced coffee. What's not to love? In Rensselaer, no less. read more

Thai Orchid - Duck with pepper and garlic. Awesome. - Thai Near Me - Rensselaer, New York

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A nice little gem of fresh Thai flavors. The yellow curry is fabulous. Great Tom yum also. Family run, reasonable prices. Highly recommended! read more

Thai Orchid - Tom yum soup Yellow curry noodles - Thai Near Me - Rensselaer, New York

Amazing food, nice ambience, and great service. Such a cute restaurant, I definitely recommend 12/10 read more

Thai Orchid - Vegetable Soup - Thai Near Me - Rensselaer, New York

first time ordering from Thai Orchid and I will definitely order again. the two dishes I ordered were abundant, fresh and wonderful taste and aroma. From the outside one would not know how sweet the inside dining room is, too. read more

I've only been here twice as of this writing (veggie drunken noodles the first time and veggie red curry the second), but each time has been a great experience. Delicious food and fast and friendly service; I'm very glad Thai Orchid is here because I live just a few blocks away and I no longer feel the need to trek to Pad Thai Noodle in Albany to get excellent Thai food. read more

Cute little clean place with yum food. We had basil fried rice, minced chicken special and a veggie dish. Good service and clean place. read more

Thai Orchid - Dining area - Thai Near Me - Rensselaer, New York

Food and service are fantastic! I've had opportunity to both dine in and do takeout. Prices are average but service is exceptional. We've tried many of their dishes and all have been really good. There was only one I wasn't crazy about-it was a fish entree. The Drunken Noodles and bubble tea are awesome! Definitely give it a try! read more

Chicken pad Thai was delicious but maybe a little heavy on the peanuts. Was served very quickly with a savory mini spring roll as an included appetizer. Small place 6-8 tables. Street parking is plentiful. I would come back. read more

Thai Orchid - Spring roll - Thai Near Me - Rensselaer, New York

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We were on our way back from Lake Placid and decided to stop somewhere for lunch. Our family love Thai Food so we looked for the nearest Thai restaurant... and what a gem we found. We had Thai food from so many place - we all agreed this is the best Thai Food we ever tried. My husband even asked who is your chef, the young man mentioned it's their mom who cooks. Environment is extremely clean with beautiful flower fragrance. read more

We found this place on yelp on our way back to Boston from Lake Placid. The food was wonderful. Everything was very fresh and of high quality. The sum tum "papaya salad" was wonderful, the shrimp spring rolls were very tasty and fresh, the pa Kapaw and Thai orchid bamboo entrees with duck were both very good. The lunch portions are large and prices are very reasonable. Highly recommend if you are in this area looking for great Thai food. We will definitely be back the next time we are in the area. read more

I had been holding off writing a review for only selfish reasons. This place felt like my little secret. Well I hope now the secrets out because I don't want this place to go anywhere. Drunken noodles is my go to but I have no issues going in blind and picking anything and have been happy. The portion for the to go is outstanding. I am always full half way through. But can not stop my self. I love this place. read more

Thai Orchid - Drunken noodle - Thai Near Me - Rensselaer, New York

This is a hidden gem! I wish it could stay hidden for selfish reasons but I also want them to stay in business (also selfish reason ) the must try's are: Tom Kha soup, crispy chicken wings and the Drunken Noodles. Pair all of these with their delicious and rich Thai Ice Tea. We've have been to quite a few Thai restaurants in the Capital Region but this one is by far our favorite. It is clean and provides excellent service. Do give this place a try! You can thank me later! read more

Thai Orchid - Drunken Noodles - Thai Near Me - Rensselaer, New York

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This place was awesome!! Really authentic and yummy Thai food. The samosas were legitimately better than my favorite Indian spot (the secret is egg roll wrappers). Pad see ew was delicious and the red curry was very tasty. Recommend highly! read more

Delicious Pad See Ew, and we really enjoyed the pot sticker appetizer! Attentive and quick service, and it was a great spot to dine-in. We parked on the street and found it easy to do at night. Overall, really enjoyed our meal and the whole experience! read more

Fantastic food. I've been to Thailand and this is pretty close to the real thing ... authentic. I order the red curry, tofu (which is delicious), and add broccoli .. superb!! I'll definitely eat here again and highly recommend. In addition, the people who run the restaurant are very professional, nice, and it's clean. When I was checking out, the Mom of the fellow I was talking too, is from Thailand . Love that! read more

Ummm I'm a Pad Thai snob, let me just put that out there. Living on this side of the river has some challenges, especially when it comes to good Asian food. Mostly we have "I'll order because it's close", until now. Why did I not know of this place sooner? I came home to find a flier in my door and thought why not?! While we only ordered take out, we ordered small and got Thai orchid dumplings to go with our Pad Thai, I can tell you this.. the portions were generous, the flavor was amazing, and the chicken?? It was real. Not like that rubbery stuff Asian restaurants often feign as real chicken only to be like chicken flavored bubble gum because it's so chewy. REAL chicken and lots of it. Can't wait to dine in and try other specialties. read more

So delicious! It looks like they mostly do takeout but we ate there in their small dining room and it was so satisfying and flavorful. My kids loved it too! read more

What a great find! We needed a good meal ready for pick up for a group we were hosting at work. This was the only Thai place in the area that could guarantee the timing we needed so we gave it a try. It was ready as promised and oh so good! We ordered some appetizers and many of their lunch dishes. The Pad Thai was delicious! Everyone loved everything we got. Thank you for a great, hot lunch! read more

This restaurant is a model of that adage that you can't judge a book by its cover. It occupies a small frontage in an unassuming neighborhood in Rensselaer. However, inside it is clean, bright, and well decorated, and the staff is attentive and gets the orders right. My dish (duck with red curry) was the best Thai food I've had in the capital district. The curry sauce was authentic, rather than overly sweetened as many restaurants seem to do, and the vegetables were very fresh with plenty of tooth and flavor left in them rather than cooked to lifelessness as one often finds. My companion's dinner (Pad Thai) seemed to impress her less than what she gets at BonTong Thai in Delmar, but she still enjoyed it. We were both super impressed with the dessert: definitely order the Thai custard. It has warm spices and a lovely Taro flavor. It was perfect for a cold night and we haven't seen anything like it around the district. As for accessibility, the whole restaurant is on one smooth floor, so wheelchairs or walkers can navigate it once inside. The one bathroom, while an odd shape, has enough space to support a trim wheelchair or a walker. The physical menus themselves could use some work. For celiacs, the menu appears to have many items which are rice noodle based and hence should be gluten-free, but for whatever reason the restaurant does not mark them as such. I would advise them to mark gluten-free items with their next menu update so that customers who avoid gluten can visit with confidence. Also it gives no indication of how spicy a dish is, and does not give common English names for Thai dishes (for example, it lists a dish as just Pad Kee Mao rather than also listing it as "Drunken Noodle"), leaving guests unfamiliar with Thai names a little confused as to what they might be ordering. For ambience, the con I would note is that the space is small and the surfaces are hard. This makes it easy to keep clean, and that's a plus, but sound really carries. This means that when the place fills up, it is an acoustic jumble, but when it is empty, what you say can be heard clearly on the other side of the restaurant. So it's not a place to take someone for a conversation you want to keep private on an off night. read more