Siam Orchid

Authentic Thai restaurant run by a very friendly Thai lady. Service was attentive, polite and friendly.
Typical selections of curry, fried rice, noodles, soups and salads.
I went with the Thai Fried Rice and Tom Yum Gum Soup. Tasty and filling. They had the traditional Thai spices too which is always good.

I have been to this restaurant many times. I have been a Thai food fan for many years. I once travelled in Thailand for 2 months and was living on street food Pad Thai and red curry chicken everyday. The food in Siam Orchid was really authentic and it was never too busy to find seats without booking. The location is also good, right on Portland street, easy to find.
I have tried many different dishes and I love that they have sticky rice. I often order king prawn coconut curry soup and sticky rice. It’s cheap and tasty.
I recently went there last week and had their special duck dish which was quite sweet. The crispy seabass was also really good. I will definitely go back again.

Visited here with a group of friends on friday for some karaōke. The karaōke and bar are based upstairs and the room even though it looks small when you first arrive actually also runs behind the bar area so it’s a lot bigger than first impression lead you to believe. The place looks a bit drap and dingy but it definitely fits it’s purpose of a cheesey karaōke bar.
We were pretty much the first people to arrive at 8pm so we had run of the karaōke and bar, however as the night went on the place got pretty packed.
There’s no song book so unless you’ve got ideas in your head it can be quite difficult to think of things to sing, however we asked for a variety of songs and they were all available. There were a few technical hiccups throughout the night, but they were rather entertaining.
Definitely easy on the purse/​wallet strings as the drinks are cheap and there are quite a few good drink deals.
The toilets definitely need a bit of attention — as the night went on they got worse and worse.

If you want an unpretentious place for quick eats before running off to a bar or a show, this is the right place. This is not where I’d take a date for a romantic dinner though, because the noise from the bar upstairs would be too distracting.
For me, what won me over was the waitress, who was attentive and pleasant, and even acknowledged my «thank you» in Thai by thanking me back in Thai.
Unfortunately, there are no sauces nor salt/​pepper on the table, so you have to specifically ask for them. And if you don’t specify a spice level, expect extremely mild.
There is a substantial vegetarian-​specific menu (since traditional Thai food uses fish stock for most dishes, this was quite helpful in avoiding misunderstandings.) My vegetarian soup was alright, although the portion was a bit small. The highlight of my meal was the warm pancake dessert with ice cream– yum.
Hint: for those of you who like mixing your Vietnamese food with your Thai food, ask for the Vietnamese menu– I had no idea they served Vietnamese until after we’d finished. Oh well.

Probably the worst bar, karaōke, dive I have ever been to. Words cannot describe this place. Hot, sweaty, horrible and nasty come close to describing it. I your in Manchester can I suggest you avoid this place. You will thank me for it!

It’s a funny story behind my night out in this place. My friend was in an open relationship at that point, and his bird was going down to London to meet another guy for a date or something. This guy was broken and he wanted a fun night out, getting drunk and being load. So, me and boyfriend decided to take him out to a pub, to have a few and chat to him. After that, we all got pretty tipsy I’ll say and we saw this Karaōke bar. Tiny place, really, quite expensive as well but with a massive book full of songs that you can sing in front of the people around. Imagine three drunk people, singing the lamest songs ever. It was well funny and he ended up staying there until a ridiculous hour, having a great time. The morning after, we were pretty upset to notice that we spent more than usually, but hey, anything to make our friend happy.
I will recommend it though, at least for fun. Try to go somewhere else if you need to go to the toilet. I’ve never seen something so tiny and smelly in my entire life. Well, maybe I exaggerate a bit, but you get the picture. And don’t get too drunk, because you will end up with no money after a night in the Orchid Lounge.

It’s the middle of the night, you’re drunk in Manchester city centre and you’re not ready to call it a night. What do you do? Well, if you’re anything like me, you’ll hit this karaōke bar with a few friends, so you can drink warm, overpriced beer and sing your heart out to strangers until the wee small hours.
This karaōke bar draws in the drinkers like a magnet. It’s certainly not the best drinking den in Manchester, but I always seem to have the time of my life when I go! Hidden away down a flight of stairs, it’s quite a small place it just seems bigger due to its mirrored walls and the fact that the clientele are normally pretty drunk when they get there. As I’ve said, the beer is nothing special and it can be a little pricey. But there’s always a real party atmosphere and the karaōke itself is free!
There’s a great selection of songs available, from Karaōke classics by Belinda Carlisle and the Weather Girls to the latest pop and Indie songs by bands like Radiohead and White Stripes. So whether you want to show off your vocal talents or just embrace your inner Bonnie Tyler, you’re in for a treat. However, this place can get very busy, especially at the weekends and nearer Christmas. So if you want to get a seat and a song, I’d recommend getting in early.

So I’ve been above Siam Orchid many many many times to the Chinese Karaōke bar, Orchid Lounge (See ‘Orchid Lounge’ review for more details). Messy times.
I’d never actually been into Siam Orchid until the other week when my friends and I were gearing up for karaōke… but we were also hungry.
It was actually OK. Not fantastic, the place is kind of in need of doing up a bit, it’s quite dated inside and not the most comfortable of places but the atmosphere was lively and the waiters were friendly so we were happy.
The food was actually really good, very tasty and not too expensive, drinks are very cheap so that made it very reasonable indeed.
Would head back again, good location and it’s open late, plus the karaōke above it, good night in my opinion and all under one roof!

There aren’t many places that claim to be the first Thai restaurant outside of London. There aren’t many Thai restaurants that also boast a karaōke bar upstairs. This intrigued me enough for a visit once upon a time.
The décor isn’t anything to write home about, it hasn’t got the ambiance of an upmarket restaurant but this doesn’t bother me so much if the food is good, and I have to say, it wasn’t half bad. The dishes were well prepared, fragrant and garnished with fresh sweet basil. It tasted like the paste for the curry is made fresh although the only suggestion I would make to you is that you ask for it spicy if you’re a real Thai food aficionado — I found it a little on the mild side. The menu is extensive and includes good buffet choices and banquet menus for groups. At £7.90, my all time favourite dish, Spicy Green Papaya, was generous. The Tom Yum Gai (hot & sour chicken soup) was also a steal at £5.50.
Upstairs, the karaōke bar is small, busy and humid, but the drinks are cheap and the entertainment is, well, very entertaining. Not necessarily good, but very entertaining.

Visited here after a few shandies last week — it’s in a great location, upstairs from the Siam Orchid Thai restaurant opposite the Portland Tower.
As karaōke bars go its not bad, each attempt at singing is interspersed with various funky disco numbers to keep the crowd warmed up. It’s a fairly friendly atmosphere, the crowd will keep singing along no matter how bad the singing on stage is. They do have a large selection of songs to choose from, though why anybody would choose to sing Radiohead at a karaōke night is beyond me, thankfully no-​one did!
It does get quite busy, especially after 11pm (when the restaurant downstairs closes) so you may want to get your requests in early, as the DJ will pick and choose who he wants to sing next and you may be in for a long wait.
It’s ok, would give this 2 ½ stars if I could but I’m feeling generous today