wth?

Where: Thai Orchid Cafe, Lexington, KY

This is basically the best little restaurant. Located in a strip mall that appears to be a former warehouse (next door to a Jalapeno's), it's a small family-owned restaurant with the most amazing, authentic cuisine. (For certain values of authentic which I, an American who has never been to Thailand, am able to judge.)

The whole restaurant is adorable, painted a classic pale orchid purple, and photographs of orchids line the walls of the dining rooms. All kinds and colors of orchids-- for whatever reason, this is their gimmick. (It's continued in the bathroom-- above is pictured the lone attempt at bathroom decor.)

The bathroom, however, is disappointing, and it totally breaks the charm of the place. In the first place, it's very Spartan (very econo-closet chic) and doesn't seem to be cleaned very often (or at least very well.) The floor was wet with some unknown substance when I entered.

The mirror was literally a piece of glass mounted on the wall-- no frame of any kind-- and the light, a long fluorescent bulb, was covered with cheap clear plastic. It was doing that awful flickery thing, which I loathe. (The picture below attempted to capture this effect but instead my camera made some weird stripey thing as a reaction to the light, so you can see neither the light nor the mirror clearly.)

Most perplexing of all: on one of the taupe walls was mounted two 8.5" x 11" pieces of clear plastic. Held in with screws, they seemed to be meant to hold some kind of papers in place-- but there were no papers of any kind in evidence.

To conclude, I'd have to judge this a very confusing bathroom experience, and might suggest to the owners of this restaurant that their establishment could become THE Thai dining venue, if only they would class up the restrooms a bit.