Cha Thai - Orange

1520 W Chapman Ave
Orange, CA 92868

(714) 978-3905

Taking more advice from Dan over at EatInOC, I decided to go down to Cha Thai to try their food. Dan insists that their food is far superior to my favorite Thai place, Thai Lingo. I visited Cha Thai on a Saturday night with the couple that usually eats with us at Thai Lingo. We had no trouble getting in to the restaurant around 7:30 PM. The restaurant was almost empty.

We looked over the menu and saw most of the standard Thai dishes. There was an article posted in the front window from the OC Weekly, talking about the Tom Kha Chicken soup here. I decided to give it a try and ordered a bowl for myself ($4.50). The rest of the meal we decided to order family style. We really wanted to compare this pace to Thai Lingo, so we ordered dishes that were similar to our favorites there. We ordered the Spicy Thai noodles with beef($7.50), Spicy Thai Fried Rice with pork ($7.50), Garlic Beef ($8.50) and Veggie Green Curry ($6.50). We ordered all of our dishes "extra spicy." I asked the waitress if there was a scale of spiciness we could choose from, but she said no.

The first to arrive was my bowl of Tom Kha Chicken soup. I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I've had Thai soups before, but I don't think I've ever had this particular soup before. I took a big spoonful and put it in my mouth. POW! It was like a sour citrus fruit kicking you in the crotch while a can of coconut milk is hurled at your neck! BANG! ZIP! BOOM! YUM!!!!!! The flavor of this soup was strong, but addicting. My wife tried some as well and exclaimed, "Whoa! That's weird!" She then proceeded to take about 10 more bites. I would definitely order this soup again.

Next up was the Garlic Beef. The garlic beef was similar to Thai Lingo's. Strips of beef were pan fried with some soy sauce, garlic, white pepper and spices. It wasn't bad, but the beef was pretty tough.

The Spicy Thai Noodles were also pretty good. However, they weren't that spicy. They were stir fried with vegetables, beef and basil.

The Spicy Thai Fried rice, again wasn't very spicy to me. This is really odd because Thai food is usually pretty spicy. When you order it "extra spicy," it's usually spicy enough to singe your nosehairs. Now don't get me wrong, the food was spicy. It was probably even "too spicy" for people that can't handle spicy food. Since I really enjoy super spicy Thai food though, the spice level was very disappointing.

I didn't try any of the green curry. My wife and the other female we were with said that it was pretty good, but both of them much preferred Thai Lingo's green curry.

It is not a secret that people have different tastes in food. Some people can love a dish, while others hate it. I did not like Cha Thai as much as I like Thai Lingo, but I can definitely see why Dan likes it. I would consider Cha Thai to be a good backup if Thai Lingo is closed, or if I'm closer to Cha Thai and I don't want to drive. For the most part though, I think I'll stick with Thai Lingo. The other three people with me agree.

King & I Thai Cuisine and Fish and Chips-Lake Forest

22421 El Toro Rd
Lake Forest, CA 92630

(949) 855-3970

That’s right. You read the title of this review correctly, and no I am not writing about two different restaurants. In an old strip mall off of El Toro Road, you will find a little Thai restaurant that specializes in authentic English fish and chips. I found this place by accident one day. I was just driving around aimlessly looking for somewhere new to eat. I actually drove by this place once and didn’t stop. After driving for a while longer I decided that I was driving too far from my office (darn those gas prices) so I turned around and started driving back towards Laguna Hills. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a sign that said “Thai Cuisine.” I turned into the parking lot and parked right in front of the restaurant. I got out of my car and looked at the front window. That is when I noticed the little neon sign that said “Fish & Chips.” “Whaaaaaaaaaaa,” I said. Did this Thai restaurant take over an old fish and chip place and forget to take down the sign? I looked at the menu in the window and found out that this place does indeed sell both Thai cuisine and fish & chips.

I walked in the front door as I argued with myself about what I was going to order. There is a counter with a large old school menu board behind it. The faded décor made this place look like it’s been around for a really long time. A little old Asian lady asked me if I was ordering for here or to go. “For here,” I told her. She told me to have a seat and handed me a menu.

I looked over the menu and continued arguing with myself. As usual when I argue with myself, neither side wins. Thai Food or Fish & Chips? Thai Food or Fish & Chips? Thai Food or Fish & Chips? OK!!!! I’ll order both! I finally decided that I would order the 10 piece Fried Wontons ($3.25), Yellow Pork Curry, extra spicy ($5.50) and a 1-piece Fish and Chips ($2.75).

I looked around the restaurant and was amused at the décor. There were posters of Thailand and very Asiany looking decorations mixed with seashells and a large fishing net. There are only 7 tables in this tiny restaurant, and they seem to get a steady stream of customers.

The first item to arrive was my fried wontons. The wontons were fried perfectly and each one contained a little nugget of seasoned pork in it. They were very good. The wontons were served with a watery sweet and sour sauce that wasn’t that great. I asked if they had hot mustard and the waitress stared at me like she had no idea what I was talking about. She then pointed at a jar of hot sauce on the table and said “You could use that.” Oh well.

Next I received my fish and chips. The chips were nothing special, just plain old french fries. The fish though, was fantastic. Flaky, white fish was battered and fried to a perfectly crispy consistency. The batter was crunchy and slightly greasy. My only complaint about the fish was that the piece was a little small. I would definitely go back for these reasonably priced fish and chips.

I then got my yellow curry. I was really looking forward to this, because I love yellow Thai curry. This wasn’t that good though. The curry was a little bland, watery and not spicy at all. It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t great. I added a little bit of the chili powder that they had on the table and it made it a little better, but not much.

So overall, I think that King & I Thai Cuisine is a good place to go for Fish & Chips, but maybe not for their Thai food. The fish and chips may not be the best you have ever had, mainly because of the chips, but the meal is pretty darn good. Especially since it is hard to find good fast food fish and chips for a reasonable price.

Thai Lingo Anaheim

118 N. Tustin Avenue
Anaheim, CA 92807
714-998-3241

Mon-Sat 11:00 AM-9:00 PM
CLOSED SUNDAY

It is my opinion that Thai Lingo serves the best Thai food in Orange County. Actually, it's not just my opinion, but the opinion of everyone that I ate there with. Located in a dilapidated strip mall near the Orange/Anaheim border, between the 55 and 91 freeways, Thai Lingo resides in such an unassuming space that I've driven past it many times without even seeing the place. I was introduced to Thai Lingo by a friend one day, and for that I will be eternally grateful.

I pulled into Thai Lingo last Saturday night with my standard party of four. The strip mall that houses Thai Lingo is so seedy looking that I thought twice before pulling out my iPhone to take a picture of the entrance. This place is the definition of "hole-in-the-wall". The dingy exterior though, ensures that Thai Lingo's rent can stay low so that their prices can remain among the most affordable I've come across in OC. Never fear, once inside you will find yourself in a clean, comfortable environment with friendly staff.

We were offered the option of a large table that could easily seat eight, or a smaller table that was set for four. We chose the smaller table because we felt it was unnecessary to sit at such a large table. The waitress handed us some menus and took our drink order. We all ordered plain ice water. They do however offer both wine and beer here, as well as Thai beverages like Sing-Ha (Thai beer) and Thai iced tea.

We started looking over the menu and everybody started picking out a lot of items that they wanted. I'd been here before, but I was introducing this place to the other three for the first time. It was exciting to watch everyone ooh and ahh over the wide variety of dishes that Thai Lingo offers. My eyes however, zeroed in on my favorite dish here, the spicy garlic beef. Almost every dish on the menu states the "style" of the dish. You then have the option on most of the dishes, to order that dish with beef, pork, chicken, shrimp or vegetarian. We decided to order family style so we could all try as many dishes as possible. Our final order looked like this-



Spicy Garlic Beef ($6.95)


Green Vegetarian Curry ($6.95)


Gra-Pow Fried Rice with Tofu ($6.95)


Noodle Gra-pow with Shrimp ($7.95)


Pad Gra-pow with Pork ($6.95)


They don't have a standard numbering system for spiciness here like some Thai restaurants do. Since all four of us really enjoy spicy food, I told the waitress that we didn't want our food as spicy as they could make it, but maybe a notch or two below. I said, "On a scale of 1-5, give us a 4. On a scale of 1-10 give us an 8".

Our food arrived along with a large bowl of steamed rice. We all eagerly filled our plates with the piping hot food and dove in. We all came to the same conclusion almost instantaneously. We had made a mistake. My wife almost started crying, Isabel's eyes started to water and turn red, Tim started sniffling up a storm and I started to break a sweat. This food was SPICY! Maybe we should have just asked for the standard level of spiciness. We all usually eat really spicy food, but Thai chilis are so spicy, they'll singe the hair right off you. However, even though this food was really spicy, it was so delicious that we couldn't stop eating it. We "ate through the pain" and consumed almost every last bite of food on the table.

Everything was fantastic. The green curry was made with bamboo shoots, basil and coconut milk. The coconut milk added some sweetness to the dish that helped to counteract some of the spiciness. The gra-pow fried rice was stir fried with hot chilis and fresh basil. It was delicious and not overly greasy like a lot of fried rices tend to be. The noodle gra-pow, also known as "noodle khee mao"), was made with flat noodles stir fried with basil, garlic and hot chilis. It was topped off with juicy, succulent shrimp. The pad gra-pow (Wow....we ordered a lot of "gra-pow" dishes, didn't we...) was made with juicy pieces of pork, fresh chilis, bell pepper, garlic and basil leaves.

My favorite dish here, the spicy garlic beef, is made with beef that is marinated in garlic, pepper and soy sauce. Slightly sweet and full of flavor, this dish really packs a punch. The three of us that tried it, (my wife didn't, due to her vegetarianism) all raved at the flavor, texture and overall "yummyness" of the dish.

The service here was also excellent. The waitress was friendly and helpful, (she actually warned us that Thai chilis were really spicy but I told her I knew what I was doing) and she always made sure that our water glasses were refilled in a timely matter. Always important when you're eating food this spicy.

After dinner we were full and satisfied. Some of us though had our stomachs screaming at us for filling them with fire in the form of food. Yes, it was a little too spicy (my fault for ordering it that way) but it was still the best Thai food that any of us had ever had. We were all in agreement on that. I am confident that we will return to Thai Lingo over and over again. We'll just have to make sure to order it less spicy in the future.