The Orient Thai Cafe

Had a satisfying meal here the other night! Stopped by without a reservation on a Friday night and were happy that the restaurant was not too busy. We were able to be seated right away before it was very busy. There was a rush right after we arrived, and the one server was definitely not prepared for the amount of patrons. It was a little annoying since our table sat right by the line of people waiting for a table. We ordered the pad thai and drunken noodles, which came out very quickly. Overall, we enjoyed our meal. We wish it could have had more sauce, both dishes were on the drier side, but the flavor is there and due to its proximity to everything in Pacific Beach, we will likely return!

This food was so so good. Could say best Thai in the area and you would not guess from what it looks like from the outside! Definitely will be getting this more often, prices not too bad. No alcohol and can't byob either.

I was surprised to receive a notification on Doordash that they have a $100 maximum on deliveries upon checkout... This restaurant just left an additional $50 on the table! After deleting some of the items that would have given us a taste of some our favorite Thai dishes, we were left with only 2 dishes, an appetizer, and a small side salad. The total bill came out to almost $100 for Thai take out from PB! My guest said jokingly, "It must be inflation..." As a native San Diegan, my recommendation is that this is not the right price point for the region.We started with the vegetable spring rolls, which were tasty, but very greasy. The sweet and sour sauce was light and the perfect consistency. However, the fried tofu side salad came with a very thick peanut sauce. You will need to dilute it 1:1 v/v with water in order to make it a dressing. If it was a dipping sauce for the tofu, then no dressing was provided.The Pad Thai w/ Beef was more sticky that traditionally made. You will need to cut the noodles with a knife in order to dish out a square of the Pad Thai. Also, the presentation was nothing to write home about. They could have topped the entire dish with scallions and chopped peanuts in order to make it more presentable.The Panang Coconut Curry w/ Chicken at a spice level of 1 was just spicy enough to make this dish palatable. However, they did not include the side of chili paste that I requested in order to increase the spice level, if needed... The Panang Curry was way too watery! This may be a form of "shrinkflation," according to my guest, but either way it ruined the dish.Overall, I was not impressed... This was a $50 meal at most, not nearly the $100 that was charged, and it was average and overpriced! I know of several other Thai restaurants in San Diego that have better food with more reasonable prices.

Great customer service, fast service. My 2nd time here, Im hoping the chef just had a bad night but. The pad Thai was dry and bland. And the orange chicken was watery like soup. I think the chef forgot to add the corn starch. But the flavor was good.

This is my go to spot for pad see ew! Now, since moving away this is a must stop for dinner while I'm in the area! Still some of the best I've tasted.

Solid Thai spot in PB. I always get the pad see ew with chicken, cuz that's my jam. Like most places (it seems), the spicy scale leans higher than you'd expect. My first visit I got a level 3 spice for the pad see ew and oh boy was it still spicy. Even getting it at a 2 the following visit still had quite a bit of heat. Be forewarned.If you come on a Friday night, be prepared that it gets busy. I hadn't realizes you could make reservations. When we dropped by, there was only outdoor seating and it was a tad cold and unpleasant for that. Once a table opened up, our server invited us to move inside which was great. In addition to my regular choice, we decided to get an order of the kari puff apps, which were tasty. And also shared a bowl of Tom Yum soup because my companion was feeling a tad under the weather. You can chose between meat options, tofu, or veggies. We opted for the veggies which included a bunch of stuff like mushrooms, broccoli, carrots, cabbage. The soup has some heat to it which I thought would be great for any congestion. On first sip (It was my first time ever having Tom Yum) I said "this soup tastes like healing." My companion agreed. It just tastes like amazing nutrients and warmth and comfort. A delightful beginning.We got an order of drunken noodles with beef and it looks nearly like Pad See Ew but with a bunch of peppers instead of broccoli and a more sweet and sour type sauce. My pref remained with the Pad See Ew. I love broccoli.The staff is so very friendly here. It is very popular for take-out but I enjoy dining in.

I'm super glad I stumbled on this place during a Friday night visit to Pacific Beach.Parking might be a little tough since the plaza only has a few spots, but there is plenty of street parking in Pacific Beach. The inside is decorated very nicely and the restaurant is very clean. You sit yourself down and look over the menu.For my go-to: this place does thai curries and pad thai very well, but rarely do I ever see glass noodles on the menu.I got the glass noodle dish with pork, and let me tell you, glass noodles is the perfect dish that when you finish, you feel full but not uncomfortably stuffed. It was absolutely delicious.Highly recommend checking this place out.

This place is a secret hide away with amazingly authentic Thai food.We have a knack for finding off the beaten path spots with traditional (read fantastic) dishes. This one might just rank top for Thai in SD.Located next to a yoga spot, and a Taco shop, sharing a parking lot with 7-11, you would not see this place as the Mecca it is. (Did you see there is a parking lot, in PB!?! It's unheard of!)But since you got this far in my review, you trust me right?! So yes, next to a convenience store but once you walk thru the front entrance you are transported via all the senses to a quaint , family run restaurant deep in the heart of bustling streets of Thailand.The decor is ornate and purposeful. A mix of quirky English signage and Thai language, buddhas and shrines adorn the walls. Deep rich colors, shiny bits mixed with natural wood decor, it is truly eye catching.We eat a lot of Thai food, so we felt like we knew what to expect. But our goal in 2022 is to branch out of our typical choices, so while we were still at Thai, we forced ourselves to order something different than our standard fair. We were SO GLAD we did!We ordered the spring rolls veggie only which were a perfect starter. The peanut dipping sauce was creamy and perfect. The rice paper wraps were soft and pliable, obviously made fresh! Our first entree was the Panang Curry with chicken, it was delicate and delish! I literally drank the sauce like soup! Added the Hot Basil with beef, which was over the top great. Fresh crunch on the veggies, perfect cut on the meat, and overall flavor was deep and rich without being too heavy.We had to wrap with the mango sticky rice, because, did you even go to Thai food is you didn't order the sticky rice!?!The mangos were perfect, not overly ripe but sweet, my only suggestion was to use less sticky rice ;) but it's not really a bad thing to get a giant portion of that yummy gooey sweetness!This place is a gem, a perfect little spot. Give it a try, you won't be sorry!Pro tip: eat at the restaurant! they seem to be using delivery services which overly complicate their ordering system. Other reviews mention similar issues but in person, the customer service was fantastic!

This is kind of a hole in the wall place, but like many hole in the wall places, the food was pretty good. We ordered the pad thai and yellow curry. My 5 year old son devoured the curry. The seating is pretty limited, but we had no problem since we came here late on Sunday night. It has a small parking lot in front, which was convenient. Our waitress was very friendly. Would highly recommend.

Stopped by here for a quick Togo lunch, but I won't come back again. Pro: quick order because it's empty during lunch time. The noodle was hot and chewy. Cons: -Rude customer service. I ordered Togo, but I sat down just to open the box to check my order. She immediately told me that I can't eat here because I ordered Togo. It's a sit down restaurant, what if I changed my mind to eat here and will tip her? With her attitude face and voice, I felt so offensive and ofc I had to leave asap. - The chicken smelled like it was too old from sitting in fridge for a while. - There was no green onion, no lemon, barely any bean spouts. And no spicy for Medium spicy level. - A bit too sweet for pad Thai. -Asked for utensils but I had nothing to eat with. Had to borrow my co-worker's.