Tag Archives: Thai

Get a Traditional Thai Massage

Having a baby is tough on your body, not least your shoulders and back once you’re rocking and hauling him around. I, therefore, finally decided to make use of Michael’s parents birthday gift to me: money for a massage.

There are a number of places where you can get a massage in Sonderborg, with most of them seeming to be at a physiotherapist. However, I decided to go for something different: a traditional Thai massage. This is offered by a Thai lady called Nisa Rodphet. I called her on a Saturday and made an appointment for 1.5 hrs later.

The clinic is located on Ringgade. It is easy to find the building, but maybe less so the actual door as the first sign directs you to the basement but actually it is round the corner. Once you are walking out, however, it is easy to spot the place.

First impressions are that the clinic is actually part of the living space in her apartment that has been turned into a massage area. It is relatively well cut off from the rest of the living space so it doesn’t feel intrusive. However, it is less shielded from the road where, considering you are getting undressed, is a bit surprising. Also, if the next client arrives early there is less privacy than I expected.

Nevertheless the massage itself was really good (at least for my first Thai massage!). Nisa worked mainly on my shoulders, back, arms and legs, with a bit on my head/face as well. These areas are quite a bit looser now, which was the aim. Don’t expect the massage to be very relaxing though, as expected the massage is quite thorough, but it does feel good.

So if privacy is not your biggest concern (or having a sterile-clean location) and you fancy a Thai massage do try this place out. It cost 300 DKK for a massage, which is a good price for a massage in this area. You can drop in, but if you can it would be best if you call ahead to make sure she does not have other clients.

Orkide – Thai food in Sonderborg

While living in London we were spoilt by a very good and very cheap Thai restaurant just round the corner from where we lived (check out Spicy Basil if you are in the area!). So I have been putting off visiting the local Thai place as I knew I had high expectations. However, when an occasion came up we decided to give it a go.

Atmosphere

On the day we visited there was no one at the restuarant, though a guy did join us later on. This is, possibly, understandable, as we were looking for dinner around 4:30 pm – not exactly Danish dinner time! Since we had good weather, we opted for sitting outside. If you do like we did, do go check out the inside!

Service

The person serving us, possibly the owner, was very friendly and open to giving suggestions. It was really service with a smile. However, considering that we were the only people in the restaurant, the food did take a bit long to appear.

Food

Between us we had the spring roll starters, a pad thai for me and a beef curry for Michael. I would probably opt for something else instead of the spring rolls. The pastry was absolutely lovely – crispy, flaky, thin – but I was less impressed with the filling. I felt that there was too much filling for the pastry, and would have probably expected a bit more vegetables in there. The consistency of the filling was quite uniform (as though everything was made into a mince). This might be the right way of doing it, but it is not what I have had before. They were perfectly edible, but would be willing to try something else.

On to the main dishes. The first thing that you notice is that the portions are huge. They looked nice and colourful, which is also nice with the eyes being the first to eat and all that. My pad thai was good, though not as spicy as I am used to. However, considering the different neighbourhoods of this restaurant to the more ethnically diverse London one, I was expecting this. The curry was very good, however, and spicy – just as we like it!

Red beef curry at Restaurant Orkidé in Sønderborg

Overall

Don’t go if you are in too much of a hurry. The starter was a bit of a miss for me, but the mains were good. This meal, including drinks, came to around 400 DKK. And if visiting, don’t forget to check out the inside (and the toilets are not too shabby either!).

Enjoying the food at Restaurant Orkidé in Sønderborg