I went to lunch with Tim today and we went up to the Quail Hill shopping center for a bite to eat. We ended up at the Thai Bamboo Bistro. Quail Hill is a great place to eat for lunch. They have great outdoor seating for all the restaurants that seem to be clustered in this corner of the center. Being lunch it was busy and the restaurant was full.

Thai Bamboo has all the regular Thai dishes available, but we kept ourselves to a pretty sizeable Lunch Special menu. We were greeted fairly quickly by a friendly staff member who brought us complimentary soup and took our drink orders. We both had waters. The soup was a simple broth of chicken with short grain rice, tiny bits of chicken and bits of fried garlic. It didn’t look tasty, but it was actually seasoned well.

We ordered an appetizer of Golden Tofu which is crispy tofu served with a tangy sweet sauce. The tofu was lightly fried and it was like biting into air. Your first instinct is to bite down hard, but the tofu is so soft and silky that your teeth slide right thru it.

Tim and I both decided to have the Penang Chicken. The lunch special comes with Rice and a Salad. Our plates arrived and it came with a nice sized serving of the Penang. I could have done without the salad. The Penang had just enough of heat, although I could handle more. The chicken was tender and all white meat. The sauce was not greasy and had just the right amount of bamboo. I’m not a big fan of bamboo. I opted for the regular steamed rice, while Tim got the brown rice. 

Overall my experience there today was good. The other patrons there all looked satisfied and saw smiles across the board as I glanced over the floor. The interior decor is contemporary, open and bright. For dinner they offer a wide selection of traditional Thai dishes and they also feature a Kid’s Menu.

I will be back again to try them out for dinner, but perhaps at their second location at The District in Tustin!

Thai Bamboo Bistro
6715 Quail Hill Parkway
Irvine, CA 92603
949-509-4771
Lunch M-F 11:00am to 3:00pm
Dinner M-F 5:00pm to 10:00pm
Weekends 12:00pm to 10:00pm