Wild Orchid Downtown Hamilton

When we arrived at the restaurant it was mostly empty so we were seated immediately. I wasn’t a fan of the atmosphere of wild orchid. It didn’t feel but like a restaurant. It felt more like aBeer hall. Everything was wood and old looking.Server was fairly friendly and attentive and took our orders quickly. Pop was from a fountain and completely flat. It was also served in plastic cups. Not onlyDid this feel cheap, it’s incredibly wasteful.The first thing to arrive was calamari. It was by far the worst calamari I have had in my life. You could tell that it was frozen and not fresh. It has a freezer burned taste to it and was hard, rubbery and nearly impossible to chew. For the first time in my life I had to spit food out into my napkin. When another girl came around with our mains, we told her we wanted to send the calamari back as it was rubbery and her response was “yes, that’s what calamari is like”. Sorry, that’s not what good calamari should be like. LolFor our mains we all got the chicken. The fries were undercooked and greasy but not terrible. The chicken on the other hand was very good, as was the peri peri sauce. Only complaint was they didn’t give enough sauce.When we asked for the bill we asked our server if the other girl has told her about the calamari and she had not. They were nice enough to take that off of the bill.

We had heard good things about this Portuguese restaurant in downtown Hamilton.They have a patio option or indoor dining, it was a bit chilly so we sat inside.We started with the mussels and the sardines for appetizers.The sardines were excellent, the outside was nice and crisp, and the meat wasn't overly salty.The mussels were made in red sauce, but I was disappointed that there were barely 1 dozen mussels VS most places at that price point usually serve 2-3 dozen.For mains, the boys each got the Beef a la Casa which is a strip loin with fries served with an egg on top, in piri-piri sauce. It was very good, and a bit spicy.I wanted the lamb but they were out, so my wife and I ended up sharing the Arroz de Marisco, which is a seafood rice and comes in a large size to share. For those used to Spanish paella, this was a bit different. First the rice is a short more stiff variety, also it has piri-piri sauce so its all a bit spicy. It does come with abundant shrimp, mussels, clams, crab legs and lobster.Service was good despite mixing our orders up, but they fixed it quickly enough.The atmosphere inside is a classic 80-90s restaurant with incandescent lighting.

Amazing traditional Portuguese food, and maybe the best in Hamilton. The service is great and the patio is really nice as well. I highly Recommend this spot!

We used to love dining at this restaurant pre Covid, and it was the first time we visited it in three years. The restaurant must have changed the management and the chef or, to put it mildly, chef was not involved in cooking the meal we received. We had a calamari appetizer, which was rubbery and tasteless, The fried chicken dish was prepared a long time before our arrival and it was reheated it was dry and not tasty at all. French fries were reheated as well, were limp and terrible. The other entree had the same terrible fries. We were really disappointed that the restaurant we loved to go to became just another eatery with bad food.

This place was Extremely disappointing. I was hoping to Enjoy a meal out with my family, and we decided to eat in. I ordered theSamon and roasted potatoes, The salmon was very Salty, and way to charred on the outside, all I could taste was pure salt and burnt fish. the flavor was to salty, and the Quality of the salmon Tasted like the frozen cut packs from the 10 dollar bin at the Grocery stores pretty sure it was). The potatoes where not seasoned and tasted very plain. I also almost bit into a hair on one of my Potatoes. My Daughter ordered the Rabbit with Roasted potatoes. The Rabbit was not too bad just very very oily, and mosty bone not worth the price based on the flavor and the bone. The potatoes were the same very bland just plain no seasoning at all. My Husband, and son ordered the chicken dinner, legs and thigh With fries, my Husband tried his first the Chicken had a fishy taste and was so dry he could barely get it down with water. My son is 10 and gas Autism and refused to touch his after that can't say I blame him) the fries where not good either. The waitress took of the chicken meals, but did try to make excuses about the issues which made it very uncomfortable. The sangaria was the only decent that was ordered. Even the pops where flat* The order would have cost around $159 but with the chicken dinners removed it was $109 very small portions for my daughter's Rabbit dinner, and my salmon dinner but it was gross anyway. The atmosphere was also bland when we arrived it was dinner time and we where the only people dinning should have saw that as a red flag. Every other place we walked by was packed with people. Trust me don't waste your money dinning here. There's also not a huge selection of food so they should be able to get these things right. I'm honestly surprised they have over 4 stars for reviews. Was not appetizing at all.