Red Orchids China Bistro

The rice is perfect! All the chefs are Chinese, so the food is close to authentic Chinese food. We ordered garlic eggplant, and change the sauce, it’s very delicious.

This place was the best! We went for a weekday lunch. The décor is very nice and clean, including the bathrooms. I really liked the lunch menu – there are a bunch of different dish options and then you can pick your protein as well. This means lots of vegetarian options because they can all be made with tofu! I love that level of customization. I was also amazed at how quickly our food came out. It was piping hot and seemed very fresh. I ordered the General Chu’s tofu. It was great. The texture of the tofu was perfect and the sauce was very flavorful, a little spicy, salty, and sweet. The portion size was just right as well. We even loved the music played in the restaurant. The service was perfect and I was really satisfied with the price. I highly recommend this restaurant!

This was based on a recommendation from a friend. I am usually the takeout Chinese food type of person but after trying the General Chu (Tso) Chicken you can definitely taste the difference. And i like it! The chicken was better quality then you would get elsewhere. The portions are hefty so expect to take some home with you! Now let me tell you about their steamed pork dumplings, ridiculously good! I would be able to eat them by the dozens! Lastly they make ice cream there and i tried a «shot» (shot glass full of ice cream) of coffee bacon. Yum. It was a tasty and filling night to say the least. I would have taken a picture of my food but i was busy eating ;)

This is a small place but very good quality and has a friendly staff. I had a lunch special and thought I got a lot for my money. If you are looking for a «fancy» night out this isn’t the place but I am going to be back very soon for a yummy lunch option.

Love love love! This is not your average Chinese restaurant. First of all, their cocktails and wine list are impressive. The servers are very knowledgeable and will help you choose the perfect beverage for your meal. Three words. black pepper beef. Order it. Just trust me. Surprisingly, they also have delicious house made ice creams. The chocolate cayenne is superb. We eat here at least twice a month and I crave it weekly.

We’ve been talking about checking out Aya Cookhouse’s sister restaurant, Red Orchids Bistro, a sit-​down Chinese Restaurant in West Ashley, for a while, as I’ve been looking for alternative to pricey Dragon Palace (on Daniel Island). It wasn’t hard to find … next to Big Lots … in the Publix Shopping Center on Sam Rittenberg … and pleased that there was plenty of parking. We were welcomed by Alex, whose congenial service, would actually be the high point of our dining experience. We passed a good sized bar with a large display of spirits and was seated in the moderately sized, comfortable dining area. We were surprised that there were no happy hour specials … neither for beverages … nor apps, but figured it’s not what their customers want (or their business model) so we dove right into the menu and started with an order of spring rolls ($ 3.95) which we shared. Frankly, they were disappointing … very skimpy. Moving on, I opted for the House Soup as my main course and it arrived piping hot … a bowl of unseasoned chicken broth with a few thin slices of chicken breast, maybe two strips of beef, 2 shrimp, a few very thin strips of pork, maybe two pork wontons and some broccoli florets, two snow peas, a few slices of carrots and celery and a few water chestnuts. It was all right … I could not find fault with any of the ingredients … but, it was way, way overpriced. The bowl should have been bigger and fuller with a suggestion that the selection be ordered for two, or much less expensive. (A similar house soup generally runs $ 4.95 or $ 5.95 at each of the area take-​out restaurants all around town.). My husband’s order of tangerine chicken ($ 12.95) was gorgeous … a large portion of thinly sliced, wok fried breast of chicken, tossed in a sweet orange soy glaze. A side of the fried brown rice complemented the dish. There was plenty for the two of us to share. Reflecting, we probably should have ordered a vegetable stir fry dish to round out the meal. The dish was tasty … but, a little too crispy for my taste. We finished with fortune cookies and hit the road back to Mount Pleasant. I’m not sure we’ll return (just the two of us) to Red Orchids, as a destination; however, I’d like to try it again with a group to share a bunch of apps and entrees … family style. I miss it!

Very impressed. Cozy and casual atmosphere. The food was delicious and at a reasonable price. Couldn’t have been happier.

Wow! My wife and I just finished eating here and are both ready for a nap after a sensational dining experience. This restaurant looks like any old strip mall Chinese restaurant from the outside, but when we walked in, we realized that it’s anything but a strip mall Chinese place. The décor inside is nice, with paper lanterns on the ceiling and nice ambience and lighting. The men’s room smelled good and was well-​kept also.
We had a lychee martini and a Mr. *something*‘s mule. The martini was crisp and light, and the mule was spicy and strong on basil, both of which were delicious. We had the lumpia (curry beef spring roll) as an appetizer and it was fantastic. For our entrees, we had shrimp and snow peas and tangerine chicken. The food was fresh and tasty — this is the best Chinese food I’ve had in Charleston, without a doubt. For dessert, we took some lavender ice cream and French vanilla and black pepper ice cream, all of which are made in house. The ice cream was heavenly, and they have several interesting flavors.
Our server, Niki, was absolutely fantastic. It was honestly some of the best service we’ve received in a long time. She gave lots of recommendations, offered a delicious peanut sauce (and many others), and was very attentive throughout the meal.
Don’t hesitate. Visit Red Orchid immediately if you want the best Chinese food in Charleston. The restaurant has high-​quality everything and the service is great.

Decided to check out Red Orchids China Bistro for lunch one Saturday. The location is kind of offsetting, but don’t let that fool you! When you walk in, you def don’t feel like you’re in a worn down strip mall.
The staff was friendly and made you feel welcome in the restaurant. We each ordered a soup for an appetizer and then our lunch entrees. Both the soup and the entrees were large portions for lunch! I ended up taking half home to eat for dinner that evening. The flavors were great. The sesame chicken was delicious. They are large pieces of chicken with not a lot of breading (like some places that offer it). The fried rice wasn’t that great, though. It was basically just white rice covered in sauce. There were no vegetables, it wasn’t «fried» and just tasted like soy sauce/​salt. My husband had the vegetables with brown sauce and chicken. It was so yummy. His white rice was cooked perfectly.
I would recommend this restaurant if you are in the mood for Chinese food. Their prices are reasonable, especially for lunch and the portion sizes!

Had lunch here today and had chicken with garlic sauce (a little too sweet), my wife had Mongolian pork (great). In the past I’ve had the chicken curry (great).
The food was really great! Service was excellent, we’ve had the same waitress both times and she’s super friendly and nice. The ambiance was very cool and comfortable. More than I expected being in a strip mall.
The food is definitely more sophisticated than your typical strip mall Chinese restaurant. They are doing it RIGHT! If you want good Chinese at a GREAT price, this is it!
Food– 4 stars
Service– 5 stars
Atmosphere– 4 Stars
Value– 5 stars

Wait, what?
Random chinese place in a shopping mall that is churning out some awesome food with an equally awesome selection of wine and a bar that is stocked.
There’s more to this place than meets the eye. Yes, they have all your favorite American/​Chinese dishes, but you need to scratch below the service. What’s Chef Tony up to? What’s special today? What is the crazy sauce? Can I try it?
Tony is doing some awesome stuff here.

You know that saying, «aim low and overachieve?» That’s not what I did here.
I went in this place with such high expectations. I mean, I know it’s just chinese food, but it’s gotten so much recognition, I was prepared to have my socks knocked off.
They weren’t.
We went on a Friday night around 8pm. They weren’t busy and we were seated immediately. The waiter was nice, but didn’t really have his timing of everything down. He got us some water, then brought us a cocktail menu and took our food order at the same time. No less than 4 minutes later, the food was delivered to our table, and we had yet to even order our drinks. It led me to believe that the food was just sitting in the back, prepared and waiting to be scooped onto a plate and put in front of us. (The sign out front says «no buffet,» but I think the buffet is actually in the back, and they just serve us from it!)
We ordered the cocktails shortly after the food arrived, but we each had about 2 bites of food left by the time they arrived. When they did, both of them mostly tasted like fruit juice, and seemed like we were paying for some non-​existent alcohol in them, at $ 9 a pop.
We finished our food and then had to sit for 10 minutes while we finished our drinks, which was weird. We ended up leaving before finishing them, because they weren’t that good to begin with.
The food was OK — not nearly as good as I expected it to be because of all the hype.
So, with mediocre food, and service that was prompt, although somewhat disorganized, I won’t be trekking from downtown to West Ashley to eat here again anytime soon.

This place has nothing too fancy or out of the ordinary. It’s your typical Chinese food place, EXCEPT they are super unaccommodating and pretentious. Any Asian place should be able to add eggs to their plain fried rice for a small extra cost. It’s so simple to do, but the hostess asked her boss (I was getting carry out), and the boss said really loudly (not even looking at me, mind you), «Any time you change or add something it’s $ 6 – 7 dollars because of the extra work involved.» Really? To crack one or two eggs into your fried rice? Won’t be coming back here anymore.

I found this place by looking up «Best Chinese in Charleston» and I have to say I’m very disappointed. I think they do very well with their spring rolls and other rolled items. I tried the Generals Chicken, trying to stay on the safe side for my first visit, and it was almost inedible. The chicken was very dry and overcooked to eat, and my rice was undercooked and crunchy! The service was great and he was very attentive and funny, but overall I wouldn’t say this is the BEST chinese food in Charleston!

I love coming here for lunch. No matter what I get it is always good. Some times Chef Tony will have this spicy soy sauce that is totally amazing. It just depends on the season. All the food here is fresh and the service is very good. This is no buffet here it is all FRESH.
The front of the building looks a bit unremarkable but once you walk in the place looks good.
The portions are very large. I typically don’t eat it all and take some home. If you want some Asian American food that has a bit of a twist then check it out. the BEST General Tso’s you could think of.
If your are West Ashley and want to have some great food then stop by you will not regret it.

This is in an unremarkable strip mall/​plaza but it’s pretty good. Nice décor and a step above the typical take out– though similar fare.
I wouldn’t go out of my way to go here again, but everyone at our table enjoyed our meals. We tried the steamed veggie dumplings and money bags and we liked them both. The veggie steamed buns weren’t very flavorful but fair enough. I got the buddha buddha vegetarian dish with tofu and it was good.
The portions were good and everyone left full. They did have some trouble with our cards, swiping them twice, and made some awkward jokes. I appreciate the effort, but it was getting to the point where we just wanted it done.
Overall, I think this is a nice sit down option when you want chinese but don’t want crappy take out.

Red Orchids is a solid restaurant for Chinese food. It’s located in a shopping center wedged in between Big Lots and Burlington Coat Factory. Once you get inside, it’s pleasantly tranquil with a dark moody atmosphere.
Most of the entrées I have tried are really well done with a healthy twist. For instance, General Choo (Tso) is lightly breaded with huge chunks of white meat. The Pepper Steak and Onions is really good as the green and red peppers are still crunchy.
Other noteworthy mentions include the Shanghai Fettuccini (entrée) and the Money Bags (app).
If you are looking for a sit down Chinese restaurant, give this place a shot. You won’t be disappointed.

This 3 star rating has nothing to do with the food, or even the service we received. My friend visited this place years ago, and recommended that we give it a go because she remembered enjoying the food. I am hardly in that part of West Ashley, so I never even heard of this place until the night that we went, but I love Asian cuisine so why not. The restaurant is very small and cozy with mood lighting. It is clean and simple. The food was light, filling and made great left overs. Upon arrival, I was greeted promptly, and the waiter was professional, friendly and prompt to both my friend and I. But there is a but, and after reading some of the Unilocal reviews of this place, I see that some share this owners bias.
I didnt even notice this until after we walked out of the restaurant, but on the front window is a note to the public in capital letters: «NO BUFFET. NO PUBLIC BATHROOM»
I get the no public bathroom bit. In this shopping center, all right next to one another or within reasonable walking distance is a large grocery store and 2 large department stores. To walk into a small restaurant and ask to use the bathroom doesn’t make sense. Actually, I highly doubt this happens. This area/​shopping center is residential and doesnt have heavy foot traffic. To bypass a grocery store and department stores, for this tiny restaurant to use the restroom is unlikely, but that doesnt matter.
Why the NO BUFFET sign? Do you really get an overwhelming number of people who walk into your restaurant and ask you «Is this a buffet?», or is this more of a preventative measure? Are you just trying to weed out customers who may be used to, or dog forbid, just enjoy Asian cuisine at a buffet or to go? You dont want those customers, so you put a sign on the door telling them this is not a buffet so keep on walking? Even if people did walk into the restaurant and ask you whether this place was a buffet, which I highly doubt, why not use this as an opportunity to gain new customers in the future, or introduce them to your menu? Honestly, I was offended when I saw this note. Its obnoxious, its classist, and it definitely changed the air of this restaurant for me.

My first time to Red Orchids and I was torn between a 3 and 4 star mainly b/​c of how the experienced ended but I am opting for the 4 since, 1 — I just realized why the evening ended the way it did, 2 — I’ll go back, 3 — my friends love this place, and 4 — it was my friend’s B-​day so we made the experience ourselves earn another star.
With six in our party we got there at 8PM and ordered a number of apps and meals. I tried the crab wonton and money bag. The spring roll wraps around the money bag is extremely crispy and tasty and the ginger sauce is great. The actual pork meat ball inside was really dry for my taste. The crab wonton was the flavor I’m looking for in a good crab wonton. Crispy with the warm cheese filling then dipped in a traditional sweet and sour sauce. Always a favorite app for me when eating Chinese food.
For my meal I opted for their Shanghai Fettuccini b/​c it sounded fun and definitely is not something I would make at home. My friend said it was her favorite dish there, so I was even more excited. The list of ingredients to accompany the noodles included «ground pork, diced broccoli, bell pepper, string beans, mushrooms, and cilantro in a zesty yet peppery spice». If you take a look at the pic I posted, those other ingredients were far and few between. When I did get a bite of noodles with some cilantro it was very satisfying, but a lot of the bites I had were all noodle and nothing else. I would have really preferred more veg, less noodles. I ate about a third and brought the rest home and plan to re-​heat and add more veggies!
The gin fizz was great, our server was nice and I will definitely go back to try a rice dish, and some of the lighter options like the egg drop soup and lettuce wrap.
So after paying and getting our fortune cookies we sat and chatted for a few more minutes. The entire staff disappeared and went to the back. We were left alone out front for a while and I was really confused when I yelled back to say bye, still no one came back out or replied. Turns out we’re the rude ones! I just went and looked at their hours and they close at 9!!! I had no idea they closed at 9 and it was almost 10 when we left. No wonder they were all in back. They wanted us to get the BLEEP out of there so they could go home!

We went here for lunch and I really liked it. I had the sauteed green beans with shrimp, fried rice, and a vegetable spring roll. Everything came out really fast and was delicious, with great portions as well (I had leftovers). Green beans aren’t usually an exciting food, but these are cooked in a delicious brown sauce with the shrimp. The shrimp are big and plentiful as well.
My meal was a part of the lunch special and only $ 8.50. Red Orchid has a great menu for lunch, with set prices based on the protein you want and various dishes. For the vegetarians, tofu is available as a protein option. All of the lunch specials come with a spring roll.
The restaurant is in a strip mall with dollar stores and a gym, but when you walk in, it has a great atmosphere and seems like a fancier restaurant than what you’d expect from the location. So– don’t let the location turn you off.