5 Nights in Bakersfield: Night #4, continued

After prepping my tummy and my liver at Prime Cut Meats & Eats, we strolled across the 105 degree tarmac of the outlying strip mall over to The Orchid, Thai restaurant and wine bar.

The concept here is seriously cool. We had a great time. They have wine, good wine, installed in this customer-run wine bar. You prepay at the cash register, then you take a card to the bar, choose the glass size and hold your glass under the spout while the wine pours out.



There is a white side with old and new world whites, that shockingly did not rely overly on California chardonnay. Impressive. The red side was even more so. Chateau Montelina cab was a stand out. There were many excellent choices.




FYI, D! You need to hold the glass under the right spout or the $20 glass of wine spills on the floor and the deaf busboy has to mop it up. Just saying.



I was loving the Singha patio, for cooler days.



The above two fellas must be of heartier stock than I, to enjoy a long supper and red wine in that heat out of doors. That, or they are cold blooded lizard men.

The menu looks promising at The Orchid, but does not deliver. We ordered a few small plates and just took them as they came out of the kitchen. When I get the chance, I order crab rangoon because it is rarely on menus in Los Angeles. It is a decadent little dish, something people from the US without exotic tastebuds can enjoy. These were meh. The sauce tasted like something out of a bottle or jar, and the rangoons themselves were not particularly crabby.



D ordered the naked shrimp salad. This was the stand out, and we gobbled it up.



Bakersfield Life is an online magazine. Their restaurant critics are two ladies called the "Dining Divas". Their commentary reads like the script from "Bronx Beat" on SNL. They raved about the lobster truffle mac and cheese. Well, lobster? Truffles? One martini and a glass of wine down my gullet? Try and stop me!



This was a sad disappointment. There was no lobster. There was no truffle. In place of the lobster were chunks of prawn. In place of the truffle were shavings of some large type of dark mushroom. Sad, sad, sad. And a gut bomb.



The last dish was a little salad with shrimp (?) and avocado underneath a tidal wave of creamy dressing. The dressing was not as gross as it looked because it was miso rather than cream or mayo based. But still. Why not just serve me a saucer of dressing? Just asking.



The benefit to having eaten prior to arriving at The Orchid is that I wasn't that hungry. We tasted bits here and there, but truly didn't eat much. It wasn't that good, and the calories were not worthy of consumption. I might go back, though. I love the concept. I love the wines. And our server was charming despite mentioning that his "heroes" in life are Mel Gibson and Christian Bale. A gay Christian anti-semite? He seemed to have no problem with D. Maybe he found D attractive. This bears further exploration. LOL.