#53) Totally Terrific & Tasty Thai @ Blue Orchid Thai Cuisine

Blue Orchid Thai Cuisine in Jacksonville, Florida, is as lovely and as beautiful as a blue orchid itself. And since our move to The Sunshine State, this restaurant happens to be the very best Thai we’ve found since being Floridians. I highly recommend a visit there; and once you go, you’ll pretty much want to start planning your return visit, right then and there, before your meal is complete.

Located @ 13475 Atlantic Boulevard, Blue Orchid is the winner of numerous local dining awards, including the 50 Best Restaurants Jacksonville Magazine 2018 Award and the OpenTable Diners Choice 2019 Award.

In fact, being an OpenTable member is the reason I discovered this place originally. I reserve nearly each visit on OpenTable, whether for lunch or dinner - and I earn 100 points in the process. If you’re not yet on OpenTable and you love to dine out and enjoy new culinary experiences, it’s something that I would definitely consider.

OpenTable is a free dining membership program based through an app on your smartphone. Instead of calling the restaurant itself for a reservation, I always reserve digitally through OpenTable. The only requirement being that the restaurant needs to be a member of the dining program. And since my membership began, the list of participating restaurants has only been climbing. Each reservation earns 100 points or more, with some exceptions to that. But the average seems to be 100 points. And once you reach roughly 1000 points (meaning roughly 10 reservations) you can redeem those points for rewards such as an Amazon gift card. But there are many options for reward redemption.

And with the reservation in the OpenTable system, my favorite part is the calendar reminder. Chances are if I call a restaurant, I forgot to write down my time, and thus, forget when my reservation actually is. OpenTable syncs with my iPhone calendar, and sends me reminder texts. It’s nearly impossible to forget that I have a dinner outing upcoming. And I always know the time I need to be there.

So, basically, I always reserve through OpenTable whenever I can. When we arrived for our first lunch outing at Blue Orchid, we were given our requested table - a booth. And that’s another nice feature of OpenTable’s app. If you have a special request… whether it’s a birthday celebration and you would like them to sing to your table, a dietary requirement or allergy, whether you are vegan or vegetarian, whether you would like a table or a booth… all of that can be inserted into your OpenTable profile, and restaurants are extremely good at honoring and taking note of these special requests and modifications for OpenTable members.

After we were seated in a booth, and enjoyed an amazing lunch on that first visit a few years back, another lovely experience at Blue Orchid was that we met the husband of the husband-wife team restaurant owners of Blue Orchid. Their passion really shows in the authenticity of the surroundings and the dishes on the menu itself. And it was a lovely experience to hear more about their history and how they are so passionate about serving Thai food to the local community in Jacksonville.

We shared with the owner that no matter what town we are visiting, traveling through, or have lived in, we are always searching for the best Thai restaurants to try. And Blue Orchid is at the top of the list. I was blown away enough by that first meal, that we have gone back consistently throughout these last few years of living in Jax.

So on our most recent visit, I really felt compelled to finally share with y’all my love of Thai food, as well as the beautiful presentation, and taste of Thailand, right here at home.

We both chose the lunch special, which is offered regularly Monday thru Friday from 11am-3pm. The special comes with a cup of soup, an entree with choice of protein, and a side of white or brown rice.

On this visit I ordered a delicious cup of their Thai chicken noodle soup to start, and hubby ordered a cup of the tom yum soup. I noted a generous portion of both soups. Sometimes, I tend to get a tiny little saucer cup of soup which consists mostly of broth when served a lunch special at a restaurant. But at Blue Orchid, the soup portion was much larger, and there was a lot more than just broth in the soup. The carrots in my soup were still so fresh I tasted the crunchy texture, but they were not overcooked and not overcooked, but I could tell the veggies were new and recently chopped.

For our entrees, I ordered the mixed vegetables, priced at $12.00, with beef as the protein option. I selected the side of brown rice - which is a healthier alternative over white rice - and at a $1.00 up-charge, a very common fee that I am used to paying for. Also, I loved the cute little heart-shaped carrot resting atop my rice.

And hubby ordered the garlic and pepper stir fry as his entree. Also priced at $12.00, with a side of the white rice, at no extra charge. The presentation of both dishes was perfection. And we both absolutely loved our entrees. Loaded with savory flavorings from the top of the bowl through to all the delicious juices at the bottom.

And yeah, I did go home with a box in hand. My leftovers made a fabulous dinner another night. But, it’s a darn good thing indeed that Blue Orchid is close by, and we can come back whenever we’re looking for a Taste of Thailand.

For some of the best Thai food within the very large and vast Duval County, I’d highly recommend a visit, whether you happen to be in the area, or, go ahead and take a drive on over and enjoy a relaxing outing, with all the wonderful flavors of tasty Thailand surrounding you. ~

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Author:

Christine Pieper is an Artist and Lifestyle Blogger, living, writing, and painting in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, with her hubby and eight year old puppy. She made a major life change in 2017 by uprooting and moving from Illinois to the Sunshine State, and has been living her best life in Florida since - detailing all her many and varied adventures living and traveling the Deep South to share with you. Her mission is to help you live YOUR best life - by getting out there, going for it, and making that big change you always dreamed of. Christine will inspire you to get over yourself, show up for yourself, and get out of your own way. The only one stopping you - is YOU.

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Hey there! Go ahead and check out these other dining reviews and Floridian adventures below, all are pulled straight from my Floridian Dreams:
4] The Boathouse @ Disney Springs ~ Disney Dining At Its Best
5] The Reef On SR A1A: Worth Pulling Over For
11] Eleven South Bistro & Bar ~~ Supper Club Of The South
15] V Pizza ~ The Very Best Pizza In Jax Beach!
*Part of ~ Bean’s Best ~ Award Winner 2019
16] Beach Diner ~ If You Feed Them They Will Come
19] Another Broken Egg Cafe ~ A Taste Of NOLA @ The Beach
29] Dinner & A Show ~The 26th Annual St. Augustine Nights Of Lights
35] Happiest Of Holidays @ Hawkers Asian Street Fare
40] Visiting The Florida Cracker Kitchen ~ Jacksonville
45] Dessert First, My Friends ~ Cantina Louie
50] Sundays Are For Diners ~ Super Diners

What’s your favorite Thai restaurant? I’d love to know! Drop me a comment down below:

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