1 Star really, but I've had worse experiences and the food was 3 star quality.
Im looking forward to trying Pho Lang Thang tomorrow, despite that I'll probably need to hitch a cab from the hotel. Orient Chinese-Vietnamese did not satisfy.
My biggest disappointment is actually focused at fellow Yelpers. They ate here, so they must have read the sign (Vietnamese Chinese) and neglected to mention, or notice, that its actually Chinese fusion on Vietnamese. Plus, they speak Mandarin. The beef noodle soup is NOT pho because pho is always made with a beef broth with star anise and a shit ton of other spices providing a complex flavor... But this is made simply with clean, simple tasting vegetable broth... Or maybe it was chicken broth... But far from Pho broth, anyways.
To the fault of the restaurant, the ancient asian woman who appeared to be a cook gave me a nasty look like I was in the wrong place when I walked in. The server dude, typically the owner in these types of places, looked at me like I had 3 heads when I politely asked for the "steak on the side" and then sternly said "no." But in most places outside of California, I get that a lot and it's usually because of public health and safety laws requiring red meat to be "somewhat" cooked when served.
Anyways, the soup was tasty up until I discovered a hair in it. And what kind of asian restaurant doesn't have tea? The place was dingy and lacked rooster sauce and proper Vietnamese condiments (fish sauce, hot oil, chili garlic sauce were replaced by Chinese hot mustard and sweet and sour sauce), but I liked that it was very empty.
Conversely, I should have taken that as a clear and present sign:
Dinning Fail
Decidedly average. Â Saturday lunch chicken did not taste particularly fresh and they were out of snow peas. Â Additionally, this is another downtown business that frustratingly does not accept credit cards. Â The ~1.5% charge would be recouped in repeat business if they made paying easier. Â Does anyone like carrying cash anymore?
Review Source:I liked it. I got the Pad Thai for lunch and ate at the bar. Service was quick and pleasant. Be sure you bring cash. It's cash only. The Pad Thai dish didn't have the peanut butter flavor that I like, but with a little of the house hot sauce, it was pretty good. This is a good place for a quick lunch downtown if you're looking for some Chinese-type food.
Review Source:I love the combo pad thai here, and the seafood noodles is also popular. Â The highlight for me is their hot oil, which is even available to purchase. Â
There are only 8 booths and 4 or 5 seats at the counter, so you really want to avoid the noon lunch hour. Â The staff can easily be overwhelmed.
The food is the reason to visit this place. Â It is excellent! Â The price is very good for the amount of food too. Â
It is very easy to pass by the place, and the climate control can't keep up during the peak times with the door opening and closing.
Regrettably I even tried this place. After so many lunches at Shanghai Mama, I thought a little adventure wouldn't hurt. Well I must say, please trust your hunches and don't believe in hype. I tried Orient Chinese lunch time around 12:45pm. There's about 3 tables with customers. I decided to order take-out and waited in the bar counter. Nearly an hour later when I got my order. I ordered fried egg roll and tofu veggie stir fry. The egg roll is not hot and fresh. It is pre-cooked sitting in the kitchen. I know because while sitting in the bar counter, a couple customer walk-ins ordered the egg roll and the server walked to the kitchen with a little wax paper bag and came back with the egg roll and handed them to the customer. I noticed my egg roll was actually across from the bar counter the whole time I was waiting for my order. The whole place is filthy. I'm surprise food health safety and sanitation hasn't shut this restaurant down.
Review Source:We've tried several nearby locations for Chinese good. Â Nothing but misses-tasteless, bland, mushy. Â Finally, we find something, located downtown, with decent Chinese food! Â It's not the best I've ever had, but it's pretty darn good. Â Open until (I think?) 7, which is nice for downtown. Â A lot of places with takeout close before I get home from work. Â
The chicken and broccoli with fried rice was what we ordered, and it was really good! Â It was served in a Styrofoam to-go box instead of your standard Chinese food boxes, which (in my opinion) meant the servings were a little smaller. Â I could be totally wrong on that-I admit to preferring the standard Chinese food to-go boxes. The fortune cookies weren't stale, which beats about half of the local Chinese food places-how hard is it for them to not serve stale cookies?! Â
The owner/employees were friendly, and the food was served pretty quickly. Â The interior seemed small, but we got carryout so I didn't look around too much.
The one thing I was annoyed by? Â No menus to take out. Â As in, no photocopied or printed pages to take with you. Â If I'm calling in an order for takeout, I kind of want a menu at home to look at first. Â They only have menus in binders there, which I thought was kind of weird. Oh well!
If you're downtown, this is a great little place to satisfy your Chinese food craving. Â I definitely recommend it!
Orient is one of those hidden gems that gets virtually zero Twitter or Facebook love. Â You can find the unassuming Asian restaurant at 627 Main Street in downtown Cincinnati, across from Izzy's and Penn Station.
The decor at Orient is minimal: some (possibly plastic) potted plants line the front window and the dining room consists of about seven or eight worn booths. Not exactly sexy or Twitterific. When an order is placed, Caucasian patrons usually don't get much in acknowledgment from the owner beyond, "okay," but what he lacks in conversation, he amply makes up for in food.
Full review: <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cincinnatibites.com%2Freviews%2Forient%2F&s=2561cc4c09a2910f95de908a972b21e15bfc7bfc45b6c69f7084025d4ddca1a6" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.cincinnatibit…</a>
I almost feel like I need to write 2 different reviews for this restaurant because of 2 very different experiences, but I've averaged it out to about 3 stars and just read on for what to and not to order...
#1 Beef Pho--4 stars, not the best I've ever had in my life, but the only one available in downtown Cincinnati and pretty darn good at that (note: this is not the only pho show in town as a previous reviewer says--also try Cilantro in Clifton). Not sure if there's a separate 'Vietnamese menu', but this is not on the regular menu, so don't be afraid to just ask.
#2 Chicken Pad Thai--1 star, worst pad thai I have ever had in my life. Bland, tasteless chunks of chicken on equally bland, practically sauceless noodles. Absolutely no flavor. Serves me right for ordering a Thai dish from a Chinese-Vietnamese restaurant, I guess!
I REALLY do not understand the last reviewer's comments.
I'm Asian (Southeast Asian, part-Chinese), and so I know my Asian food. I also come from Dallas, Texas where there is a number of unbeatable, good Asian restaurants that I really miss.
He is right that there is no where to go in Cincinnati for Asian food, but this is the one place I will go to and love and continue to take people to. Their pho (beef rice noodle soup) is the ONLY offering in town and pretty good and accurate. Their rice dishes are all very good. Their pad thai is the ONLY pad thai I will eat in Cincinnati.
I am thankful this place exists. Even with the long, long wait and slow service due to it being a small family establishment, I still love to go there and I always bring people there. It is a little bit of a dive, but, their food is GOOD! (Plus, it's so affordable!)
Oh, P.S.: OK, the one thing I do not like there (but I never like anywhere) are the eggrolls.
Lately, I've had the misfortune to go to various Chinese restaurants in the great state of Ohio And since then, I've been reaching the same conclusion over and over: I really wouldn't be able to survive out here in this state. Every day, I'd be missing the delicious asian food that you can only find in the big cities. There really is no comparison.
If it says anything though, some of my co-workers really love this place. They always make a point to get here early before the lunch rush (surprisingly, this place gets packed during the lunch hour). So I keep coming here over and over again... unfortunately. At least the food isn't inedible. At least it didn't give me food poisoning like Shanghai Mama's. At least the plates are clean and the prices are modest. At least it's close to the office.
But you know a restaurant's pretty bad when all you can come up with are a couple "at least"s . I'd rather go to Panda Express, and that's saying something. I haven't found one nearby yet, but I'm sure that when I do, my co-workers are going to have a new favorite restaurant.
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