Thai Garden in Orangeburg
-
- May
- 2
Continuing on my quest for the best Thai in LoHud land, I paid a lunch visit to the Thai Garden in Orangeburg yesterday. I had a refreshing Thai iced tea. Delishy.
The restaurant is in the space that used to be the Peanut Grill at the corner of routes 303 and 340. I never went to it when it was the Peanut Grill, but I can pretty much surmise that it was not decorated with Thai art, like the golden rooster on the bar.
I started with a rice paper roll:
The sweet chili sauce was light and the filling was good but not as varied as I would have hoped. It was mostly chicken. (This may be a bonus for some people. I was hoping for something more surprising.)
I adored the Tom Kha Gai soup:
I admit I was worried when I saw how white it was, but the coconut was just a lovely perfumey addition to the soup, not its main component. The vegetables were carefully and beautifully sliced on the bias, the mushrooms were cut in quarters and sauteed and there was plenty of juicy chicken.
Pad Thai was next:
It had a deep, earthy flavor from the soy and just enough heat to be interesting, but not enough so my Grandmother couldn’t eat it. Beans were crisp and fresh and the noodles and bean sprouts were tossed evenly — no clumps. It is in contention for being the closest thing to authentic I have eaten since my trip to Thailand.
The green curry:
Also well-balanced with good heat. It didn’t leave my lips burning like the one from Sripraphai, but it was awful good.
At lunch, both the pad Thai and the green curry (and the delicious chicken basil that I took to my husband back at the office) came with rice and a salad with peanut sauce. Quite a steal for $8.
The Thai Garden is owned by the same woman who owns The Thai Garden in Sleepy Hollow, which many say is the best Thai in Westchester. (On a side note, her brother owned The Thai House in Nyack for 10 years. He sold it last year and moved to North Carolina, which may explain why I find the Tom Kai Gai so salty these days!) She said she opened this branch to be closer to her home in Nyack. I’m really glad she did.
The Thai Garden, 303 Route 303, Orangeburg. 845-680-6437. thethaigarden.com
(3 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
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This entry was posted
on Friday, May 2nd, 2008 at 9:00 am by Liz Johnson.
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(4.65 out of 5)
We went their on Friday night. We ordered the veg. wontons, really nice crisp and tasty. The mee grob (sp?) also good, the coconut soup (w/ shrimp), as you mentioned, good but a bit thicker then the norm. Pad Thai, a bit on the sweet side, more then the usual, and a tofu ginger veg dish, that while it was ok, I wouldn't get it again. The service was good, and we enjoyed the meal overall. I plan to go back at lunch time to try a few more dishes. One suggestion, a few more condiments. I like the chile peppers in the vinagery sauce you usually find at Thai places, and they didn't have this one.. But they did have the dried chile, which I enjoy too.
I'm relatively new to Thai cuisine, having recently tried The King & I and then The Thai House. On Small Bites' recommendation, four of us went to dinner last night at Thai Garden so we could round out our own little tour of Rockland Thai restaurants.
We thought the food was very good at Thai Garden, and the setting was cozy and friendly. I would guess that each person you asked would rank the three Thai places differently, based on personal tastes. In my case, I liked King & I the best, followed by Thai House, then Thai Garden. They were all very good, but the Nyack setting adds to the overall experience.
Plus, I thought it was really neat how the staff at The King & I was dressed in (what I would imagine is) authentic Asian outfits. And I loved my meal there.
My sense is you can't lose at any of these three places, and I'm looking forward to going back to all three again. Thanks for the tips.