Eating at a restaurant that refuses to focus on a specific cuisine is often a hugely frustrating experience. When so many different types of food are pulled off badly, sometimes you can feel like striding into the kitchen, grabbing the chef by the scruff of his whites and curtly asking if a little bit of focus would be too much to ask for. Royal Orchid, we’re pleased to report, is a rare exception. There’s both Thai and Chinese fare on offer, and though the menu may be fairly shallow (think sweet and sour chicken and panang curry) nothing tastes like it’s been thrown together to please the masses.
On the contrary, Royal Orchid’s repertoire of Asian favourites is among the city’s best; the pad Thai noodles, for example – an absolute bargain at Dhs25 – hold plenty of bite and come loaded with a generous amount of fresh-tasting veggies. Add to this some friendly staff and a quirky decor scheme and you’ve got one of the finer Asian restaurants in the capital. Providing you can cope with leaving your preconceptions about multi-cuisine concepts at the door, that is.
