Restaurant Review: White Orchids

Name: White Orchids Thai Cuisine

Location: 2985 Center Valley Pkwy # 200

Center Valley, PA 18034-9034

(610) 841-7499

Hours: Mon-Thurs 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

            Friday-Saturday 11 a.m.–10 p.m.

           Sunday 12 p.m.-9 p.m.

Atmosphere: White Orchids is located on the outskirts of the promenade shops veiled in a purple awning. Inside there are clearly two main rooms: one is primarily booths and small 4-person tables, while the other room has a bar with stools and also a few booths. The dim lighting emerges from chandeliers on the ceiling and walls. The furnishings are dark, warm colors like plum and cayenne and the floor and tables are all dark wood. 

Score- 5

Service: Per our own fault, we went to White Orchids on a Friday night with no reservation. We ended up waiting for over an hour for a table and found ourselves constantly reminding the hostess that we were STILL waiting to be seated. Once we were at our table our waitress was very friendly and quickly listed the specials without even one glance at her notes. We quickly were delivered our drinks and our appetizer; however, after placing our entree orders we found ourselves waiting for close to 45 minutes for our food. Our waitress apologized multiple times claiming that the kitchen was backed up however due to all of the waiting we ended up missing the movie we had planned on seeing.

Score- 3

Food: There is no doubt that the food at White Orchids is flavorful and tasty and always a refreshing change from the usual. The appetizer list includes fried spring rolls, lettuce wraps, calamari and Thai "money bags," a type of deep fried pot sticker served with lime chili sauce. The entree lists stir fry dishes, curry dishes, and noodle dishes which can be bulked up with your choice of chicken, shrimp, vegetables, tofu or steak. There is also a list of White Orchids "specialty dishes," which ranges from fish dishes and chicken dishes. All dishes can be altered to your desired spice level: mild, medium, medium-hot or hot.

I ordered fried spring rolls to start, which were nothing special. As my entrée, I ordered red curry with chicken prepared with medium spice. The flavors were delicious; however, I had to search to find the smallest few pieces of chicken.

Score- 4

Pricing: White Orchids is fairly pricey for a quick casual restaurant. Appetizers, soups and salads range from $8 to $12. Stir-fry, noodle and curry dishes range from $12 to $20, depending on the protein added to the dish. White Orchids specialty dishes start off at $19 and go as high as $24. The bill for four of us was $96 which included two sodas, a glass of wine, one appetizer, pad Thai, red curry, soup and a fish specialty.

Overall, it was a good dining experience at White Orchids. The service was the weakest part of the night while the food was the strongest. My advice: make a reservation!