ANNOUNCER: From the folks who brought Tacoma Wild Orchid, Oriental Noodle & Grill has been open just over eight months in the James Center shopping plaza across from Tacoma Community College. Same as Wild Orchid, this new location serves tasty Asian cuisine served in a beautifully decorated setting. Given the rich, deep brown wooden walls graced attractively with hand-painted folk art acquired in Thailand; live orchids in vases; soft, white cloth napkins on every table alongside custom embroidered menus; elegant lighting; and chairs and booth benches made from more gleaming wood, one would expect higher prices to go along with the lush setting. But that’s not the case here; prices are kept exceedingly reasonable without shrinking portion size, taste or quality.



JASON: All right, mouth breather, do your thing. You know, that thing you do when we walk in and you stand there with your mouth open trying to taste the air. Get it out of the way now, so we can go on with dinner like regular people.



JAKE: My gawd, man, let me enjoy this thing we call life! I’ll do my thing, and you do yours. Er, wait. I mean, I’ll breath nose only, and you refrain from leering at the waitress who, as it just so happens, also waited on us at Wild Orchid that time you suggested not so subtly that she should be a take-home item. Great.



JASON: It was witty, I know, just as not including a specific type of Asian food in the name or description of the restaurant. Looking over the menu, there are nods to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, China, Malaysia, and East India — though mostly to Thailand. The most expensive item is only a refreshing $16.95 for Homok, a red curry seafood dish of shrimp, scallops and calamari in a coconut shell. The chef’s recommendation of honey walnut prawns can act as a fiercely good shared starter instead of as an individual entree. In a creamy dreamy dressing, the lightly tempura battered prawns work perfectly with chunks of mango and pineapple with a sprinkling of caramelized walnuts on top. Ah, perfection!



JAKE: I enjoyed the prawns, too, but they were borderline too sickly sweet for me. You’re right; I couldn’t have done it as a full entrée. The fish cake appetizer was incredibly fragrant. The five oddly shaped cakes were a deep reddish hue and had an amazing spice and herb blend of what I believe was lemongrass, saffron, ginger, and scallion. I was afraid they’d be fishy. Not even close. A bowl of sweet, vinegary chunked cucumber, red bell pepper, and red onion acted as wading pool for each bite.



JASON: I had crisp basil on halibut cheeks at Maxwell’s before and loved it, so I ordered the crispy basil chicken and was greatly rewarded. Basil done this way is outstanding. A favorite herb anyway, this preparation combines basil’s distinct taste with another favorite of mine — salty grease, or oil. Sliced chicken breast hits the fryer before being finished in a sauté pan with mildly hot chili paste, more basil, white mushrooms, onion, and other veggies.



JAKE: A nightly combo special of egg roll, summer salad, entrée and rice and noodle dish is a serious bargain for $8.95. Served on a foot-square platter, the food covered the whole thing. After the healthy visit to World Café last week, I opted for the wheat-wrapped vegetarian Thai egg roll. De-lish! And I’ve discovered I like tofu, so the green curry tofu was a pleasant surprise in how creamy and rich it was. The spongy tofu takes on whatever flavor you soak, marinate or grill it in. Summer salad consists of thinly shredded green cabbage, grated carrot, mango and cilantro in a light, sweet dressing. The pad Thai noodles were disappointing — very fishy and oily for some reason. I ate only a few bites.



JASON: You win one; you lose one on the fishy bit. A new one for me was trying Chinese sausage in the Oriental fried rice dish. Along with shrimp, chunks of barbecue pork and egg, the sausage was stir-fried with jasmine rice, cilantro, onion, and green peas for a quick trip to Tasty Town. As we scraped our plates, our server pointed out that we could come back and order a whole grilled trout. I think she thought we didn’t get enough to eat. The house lime garlic sauce has me intrigued. Traditional Thai black sticky rice for dessert is made insanely better with a scoop of coconut pineapple ice cream on top. Trust me.



JAKE: I see you’re back to two desserts again. And not sharing. Have you heard of gluttony, by chance?



JASON: Hmmm, maybe you’ve heard of gluttony’s third cousin, physical pain?