Oriental Chinese Restaurant

1910 Fruitridge Rd

Sacramento, CA 95822

Rating:  

When it comes to Chinese food, I set very high standards. Oriental Chinese Restaurant opened fairly recently in my neighborhood. Previous iterations of Chinese restaurants at this location failed after a couple years. After walking into this new restaurant, I know that this one should be here to stay. As we walked into the restaurant, practically every table was taken. In my opinion, the owners probably should have waited to open after they finished expanding into the next-door suite. With that being said, 30 minutes of wait allowed us to sit at a table.

Tea was of high quality, provided to us after having our table set. The menu was quite colorful with easy to understand descriptions in English as well as Chinese. In addition to the food menu, a drink menu filled with tea-house favorites was also available. The decor of the room was appropriate, including an abundance of lucky cats.

Today we ordered: Yanzhou Fried Rice, Honey Sauce Rib, Singaporean Style Rice Noodle, Beef with Veggies, and Sizzled Chicken with Ginger Sauce. The Yanzhou Fried Rice is a solid 4.5/5, where variety of ingredients and cook quality shine through. I will come back to the Honey Sauce Rib. The Singaporean Style Rice Noodle was tasty, and I would give it a 4/5, but the dish did not have enough curry taste or spice (I usually order this dish without any vegetables though). The Beef with Veggies was really good and meaty, scoring 4/5. The Sizzled Chicken with Ginger Sauce is not really my taste, and I found this one to be quite bony, and thus, giving it a 3/5. The only reason I give the chicken a 3 instead of a 2, is that the dish is served at the table thoroughly sizzling on a hot plate. Unfortunately, the Honey Sauce Rib failed the meal today. I give the Honey Sauce Rib a 1.5/5 because most of the pork was in the form of bones. At least 85% of the dish was bone, and the rest was meat. The only saving factor of the dish was that the honey sauce was really good. Oriental can really improve on the quality of this dish by providing more meat. At the end of the meal, fruits were provided for desert.

Overall, I would come back to eat here for convenience. With their hours closing at 12 midnight or 2AM on Fridays and Saturdays, Oriental becomes a reasonable late night option. I will probably review this location again, but not until they finish their renovation and expansion. I do not feel like waiting 30 minutes for a table again in a small cramped location.

Their menu is available online through Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Oriental-Restaurant/308588689186100?sk=photos