Thai Garden

I stopped in here for lunch last weekend, not long after they opened, probably around 11:30 — 11:45. It wasnt very crowded which was perfect for me.
I ordered the lunch, #18 Me and My Ginger with chicken. It came with the soup of the day and then a salad on the plate with the meal, and rice. I spread my rice across my plate, and dumped my chicken dish on top… I like to mix everything together from the beginning.
There was just the right amount of ginger flavor in this dish. Good flavor, and the food was hot and fresh. The service was really good as well.
There were quite a few other dishes I wanted to try, so I will definitely be back here!

I appreciate the authentic spicy hot dishes they have, but overall, I have to say I had better.
We had:
Chicken fresh eggrolls. This is delicious. The 2 sauces were amazing each in their own way. ~8 dollars
Pan fried tofu noodles. Not really what my husband thought. Noodles not crispy. ~10 dollars
Beef curry noodles. My out of town friend enjoyed and loved the creeping «zing» spiciness from the dish. ~12 dollars
Thai bbq. Lots of chicken pieces. Definitely get what you pay for. The marinade for the chicken was curry like so it didn’t go well with the sweet and sour sauce. Sometimes the chicken fell off the bone, some other pieces were dry and hard to cut through. Had to drown my food in sauce to moisten it. ~12 dollars
Atmosphere is nice, gets average busy during dinner. Service is amazing. Unfortunately, if your nose doesn’t get used to the smell… it kind of has that bleach like smell mixed with food.
Noticed they have a bar with an average selection of beer and wine.

I’m an avid Thai connoisseur and this was the first time stop at this Thai restaurant between my appointments I ordered the simple Pad Thai with chicken and it was pretty good yet a little runny with big carrots in which normally they come sliced or shredded which is nice. The chicken was okay and the flavor was pretty good so I’m giving it a 3.4. The prices were fairly reasonable as well

Food was not bad but very expensive and I didn’t expect the tips 18% to be added. Disappointed. Even though we had a bigger group of 8 people. We wanted to spilt the charges. But they rushed and made into one big bill

Crying tiger is one of my favorite. Thai ice tea is so good. Pad Thai chicken is really tasty. I gave four star due to it’s a bit expensive.

We have been coming here for 7 years and we love the food, service and don’t leave without the rice and mango desert! It’s amazing!

Been here twice now and this place it so good. I hight recommend it. Very good food, generous portions and very clean restaurant. Friendly service.

Some of the best Thai food I’ve ever had. Staff is friendly and accommodating. Pricing is good.

Love love love this place. Their food is consistently delicious. I have never come here and left dissatisfied. I gave 4 stars only because the service can be slow at times but this is my go to Thai food place and I’ve moved about 30 minutes away and still will make the drive to eat here

Second time coming, went around 11:30am with friends. We ordered the crying tiger, the meat was really moist, the best dish we got. I was disappointed that the tom yum chicken was mixed with dish soap. It may look like tom yum chicken soup, but the taste was purely dish soap. It was my favorite Thai dish too!
The server kindly took it away and replaced it with an order of pad see ew. In which this time, tasted better.
Overall, I will not come back.

Thai food restaurants are a dime a dozen in South Orange County which is a good thing for me as I crave it all the time, especially when I am not feeling well for some reason. It is comfort food for me, go figure, as I am not Thai. All Thai restaurants are not created equally though, that’s for sure. There are cheap places and high end places. I would say this place kinda falls in between price-​wise.
This is a sit down restaurant located in a strip mall in Lake Forest. There is plenty of parking here as this strip mall shares parking with a very large hotel and a business park.
There are a lot of Thai dishes I love. I usually use certain favorite dishes as caliber for judging if I will be back to a Thai restaurant. Often this is either Tom Yung Goong soup, Crying Tiger, Spicy Fried Rice or Pad See Ew, as these are all things I crave and enjoy. The Tom Yung Goong Soup here can be ordered on your preference for spicy. I like to think I can handle spicy but most of the time at Thai restaurants what they view as mildly spicy seems like medium to me, so I err on the side of low spice especially for Tom Yung Goong. I prefer this soup best with shrimp and that is how I ordered here. It was tasty. You can get a small or a larger size for sharing. Even with the small, if you want small portions, you can share this size. The Thai Wonton Soup is delicious here, too. Chock full of pork and wonton, it is yummy. I would have to say, I have two favorite things here at Thai Garden. One is the Crying Tiger, which is pieces of marinated prime beef that is charbroiled and served with lettuce and spicy lime sauce. So good. The meat is really tender and absolutely delicious. My other favorite thing here is on the appetizer menu. It is the Shrimp Sa-​Rong. These are skewered shrimp, wrapped in a wonton skin and deep fried. This is a pretty standard appetizer at many Thai restaurants, but, OMG, here is is absolutely delicious. I love that at this restaurant, I can make a meal of their delicious appetizers and a cup of soup if I wanted to. Also, Fried Bananas with Coconut Ice Cream for dessert. Do I even need to say anything more than that? Seriously, I love bananas and coconut, so this was a no brainer for me and whoa, so totally yummy!!!
This comfortable restaurant has booths and banquette areas and a bar but it not on the super large side. All of the staff that I have encountered here have been humble, friendly, helpful and kind. Glad that this place is really close to me as they are convenient for food to go ordering and a nice place to sit down in and enjoy some tasty Thai dishes.

Love coming back to Thai Garden (our new Thiya for having our Thai Food craving taken care), close by to our new place and good quality food with quick service .
Even good for large group and food is delicious, especially Fresh Thai rolls with peanut sauce & must try the Crazy Cashew (our favorite).
Needless to say — we will be back soon :)

Excellent food. We treat ourselves to Thai once a month at the office. Everyone is always impressed with the deliciousness of this food. Try the green curry; its spectacular and super spicy!
We’ve never eaten in the restaurant but it looks pleasant and clean.

Good service, OK food. Seating was cramped. Overall, not bad.
cashew chicken with bellpeppers, onions, mushrooms, carrots in a dark oyster sauce was not bad. Not overly seasoned so a little bland but pretty light. Veggies were crunchy
Chicken teriyaki stir fry with steamed vegetables was not great; the chicken was dry/​over cooked, the broccoli and other vegetables were cold! The white house special sauce was too oily. Was not a fan of this one.
Their brown rice and white rice are basic/​nothing special. I’m glad they have options! I’m also glad they don’t load their food with sodium.
I’d probably go back to try something different.

Not worth $ 10 to buy a plate of pad Thai, pad see ew, or even fried rice. Quite bland. Might as well drop $ 7 on Panda Express.

I do think this is the best tasting Thai restaurant for this area. I use to live in NoHo near Sanamluang and Krua Thai and a ton of other really great authentic Thai places. I’ve had two items:
–Crying tiger (lunch portion): the beef is tender and tasty. The spicy lime sauce it comes with is heavenly. Lunch size is pretty decent. Comes with a small side salad of peanut dressing and a portion of rice. Overpriced though.
–Fried pork belly dish (only dinner size): it’s very delicious, my friend and I get it for lunch but pay dinner price. It’s fried pork belly pieces stir fried in a yummy sauce with some vegetables. The pork stays crispy though. Also overpriced.
I find the food good enough, but the prices a bit steep for me. It’s a few dollars more than even the local competition and you’re getting slightly less food too. The quality is ever so slightly better, so I will keep coming here, but not on a regular basis since it’s not an amazing value. Do I find the food here truly authentic or mind-blowing…no, but it’s the best we got that’s close to home.

My brother’s been raving about this place for awhile so I had to come check it out for myself! Wow, he wasn’t lying. The crying tiger ($ 12.95) is plentiful, so tender and flavorful. They did a really great job with the marinade. It comes with a lime sauce on the sauce, which I liked, but you don’t even really need it because each bite is perfectly seasoned like a flavor explosion in your mouth!
The Thai noodle soup ($ 7.95 for a small) warms your insides and is perfect as a smaller sized meal or good for sharing between two.
The service is attentive and servers are very nice. I brought my crying tiger leftovers home for Nam and now he can’t wait to visit Thai Garden himself!

It’s so difficult reviewing restaurants in Orange County. Why, you ask? Because I hold them to a Chicago food standard, which I’m beginning to understand may just not be fair.
With that being said, I will round up my 3.5 star decision on Thai Garden and give them a 4 based on my new bell curve. I mean, you can’t expect a fifth grader to win a debate against a high school senior, could you? (Sorry for the burn, OC, but the food scene here could take some notes…)
Chalk a win up to our boss closing the office and taking us all out to lunch! Woo-​hoo! When I heard we were going Thai I was excited and had reservations at the same time.
I LOVE Thai food. The first job I had while in college was serving at a little Thai restaurant in Wheaton, Illinois run by a 4 foot 8 firecracker named Chun. And when I say firecracker, that woman would flat out call a customer a «LAI-​YAH» (liar) if they denied her food in any way shape or form. Chun also had an endearing habit of making the staff fruit smoothies she referred to as «Sly Elephants» …memories :)
Thai Garden presents it’s large Tom Kha Kai (coconut milk chicken soup) in a neat heated vessel that you ladle from. I would have snapped a pic had I not been with work people. The soup itself was a ³⁄₅ lacking spice and any essence of lemongrass, however the serving bowl kept it piping so a 3.5.
The other dish I got was chicken Pad Thai, which was a little too sweet for my liking and lacked the proper amount of crushed peanuts mixed in. Again a ³⁄₅ increased to a 3.5 because upon asking for lime to cut the sweet, they delivered lime juice in a ramekin. Also a huge
portion for a lunch order. Awesome!
I’d try another Thai joint in the area before returning here although it was a decent meal with snappy service.

I give this Thai restaurant 5 stars for taste and atmosphere. Located in the big parking lot by the Marriott Courtyard this is a really good Thai restaurant. Great curry especially the green. The Thai spring rolls are very fresh and great with shrimp. Also the pineapple fried rice is outstanding. Some tips.
Order pineapple fried rice with extra veggies. Over the top
Thai tea is great. Order with just a little ice as they sometimes put too much and you are left with too few sips.
They make the food a bit less spices than you may want. Ordered spicey 7 on a scale of 1 – 10 and it was more like a 5.
A little pricey so, look for coupons as they have them out a lot.

: VENUE :
I must agree with the other Unilocalers that Thai Garden is one of the better & rare Thai spots in this Foothill Ranch area. This is a sit down restaurant & not a fast food type of joint. It’s a clean establishment w/​friendly service. There are booth and table seatings on the inside. There are outdoor & bar seating (with TVs) as well. Very easy to find restaurant and parking is plentiful.
: FOOD :
Food quality is good and portions are generous. I’ve only dine here for lunch to take advantage of their lunch special prices. But I’ve yet to try out their other menu items!
CRYING TIGER (⁵⁄₅)
— The flavors are sooo there. Generous portions of grilled tender beef. Consistancy of how the meat is cooked ranges from medium to medium well. The spicy lime dipping sauce is amazing.
SPICY CURRY NOODLE W/​CHICKEN (⁴⁄₅)
— Pan fried wide noodles that is very yum! It’s not super curry tasting but enough that you can taste it still. Came with lots of mixed veggies as well.
SPICY EGGPLANT W/​CHICKEN (3.5÷5)
— Came with bug chunks of veggies that I wished was a little more thoroughly cooked.
THAI ICED COFFEE (2.5÷5)
— Just A-​OK. Something is lacking… for sure it doesn’t beat Thai Bite or Thai Spice.
: NOTES :
1) Restaurant does not open all day. From Mon-​Sat they close between 2:30 — 4pm
2) Aside from phone ordering — online ordering is available also