I haven't gotten any Chinese food or dimsum in a very long time so I was quite enthused to check out Oriental Garden when my friend suggested this place. We also went in thinking that it was BYOB because he had read an article from Eater saying that it was so. It was not so. There was a $10 corkage fee which is actually on the higher end but since we already brought a bottle to share, we ended up going for it. 😭
I was also in a dumpling mood so we basically went all out with the dumplings. The first thing we got was the chicken & mushroom dumplings which was $4.95. I wasn't terribly impressed with this because it literally tasted like any frozen dumplings that I can get from a supermarket. But I only got 4 pieces whereas I can get 20 pieces at the grocery store.
And then the rest of the dumplings we ordered arrived. We got a total of five steamed dumplings. The shrimp dumplings (left) was $5.50 which was probably the best out of all of the dumplings. The skin had that nice chewy texture and there were a lot of shrimps inside. The sauce was very much needed however because otherwise the dumplings lacked seasoning.
The taro and pork dumplings (middle) was $4.95 and I was quite disappointed with this one. It came slightly lukewarm rather than piping hot. The filling also lacked flavor and the skin was, by far, the most disappointing. It tasted mushy and reminded me of Taiwan's rou yuan which are these delicious meat and bamboo fillings wrapped in this chewy delicate skin. However, the consistency was on the mushier side and I was very disappointed.
The scallop dumplings (right) was $5.50. The skin of those dumplings were the same with the taro and pork ones so I was already not impressed. There were also a distinct lack of scallops in the fillings. Once I bit into it, I found out that it was mostly skin and very little filling.
We also ordered the seafood dumplings (left) which was $5.50. In terms of the filling, this was probably one of the better ones as it was stuffed with seafood. I actually felt like I was eating a good amount of seafood especially compared with the scallop one 😓. The skin was also the same with the taro/pork ones so not great.
Then the final dumpling that we got was the snow pea and seafood dumpling for $5.95. This one was pretty decent as well. Though I wasn't a fan of the skin as it was still the same texture as the taro/pork ones. And honestly, all of the dumplings lacked any real seasoning or flavor though they all ranged from terrible to decent. I did have to dump them all either in the hot sauce or in soy sauce just so there was more flavor in my food.
We did end up ordering a few more items which ended up being the highlight of the entire meal. I would definitely recommend skipping the dumplings entirely and go with the fried stuff LOL 
. We got the fried shrimp balls (left) for $6.95. This was so good! There were tons of flavor and it was really hot as if it just came out of the fryer. I was impressed with the amount of shrimp inside. The mayo on the side also had a sweet kick to it so it actually really complemented with the fried/greasy aspect of the shrimp balls. I definitely recommend these.
. We got the fried shrimp balls (left) for $6.95. This was so good! There were tons of flavor and it was really hot as if it just came out of the fryer. I was impressed with the amount of shrimp inside. The mayo on the side also had a sweet kick to it so it actually really complemented with the fried/greasy aspect of the shrimp balls. I definitely recommend these.
The second fried item we ordered were the shrimp rolls (middle) for $5.50. This was also really good. There were a good amount of shrimp inside and the oyster sauce it came with worked really well with the shrimp rolls. Thumbs up on my end.
And finally, the last item that we got was fried crab claws (right) for $7.95. There were supposed to be three but my friend was too fast and too hungry, I guess , so he didn't wait for me to take a picture first. Out of all of the fried items, I was least impressed with this one but I still liked it more (much more!) than the dumplings. There were a good amount of crab in each piece and the mayo it came with was the same as the fried shrimp balls.
, so he didn't wait for me to take a picture first. Out of all of the fried items, I was least impressed with this one but I still liked it more (much more!) than the dumplings. There were a good amount of crab in each piece and the mayo it came with was the same as the fried shrimp balls.
In terms of the service, it was relatively decent. There was always one or two servers lurking around so if we needed anything, they responded very quickly. The only downside that night (other than the food) was the amount of parties going on. When we first arrived, there was this large group of school kids. It was as if the teacher brought his or her entire class for dinner. Then there was birthday group and finally, when we were wrapping things up, this huge group of tourists came in. We were wondering if they came straight from a tour group because they clearly looked the part. So while the two of us never heard of this place, it was clearly very catered toward tourists and large parties.
Overall Verdict on Oriental Garden: 🌟🌟
I N F O R M A T I O N O N R E S T A U R A N T M E N T I O N E D
Oriental Garden
Oriental Garden
No comments:
Post a Comment