1) I love finding good Chinese food
2) I've lived within a five-minute walk of Oriental Wok for the past ten months
3) It took me ten months to make the trip
There are a few reasons for this, all overshadowed by my pure laziness. First of all, Oriental Wok is a fine-dining establishment; consider it the Chinese equivalent of a high-end steakhouse. Such fine-dining establishments typically attract my company for special occasions only. And because of the casual reputation of most OTHER Chinese restaurants, I was never previously willing to spend one of those "special occasions" by potentially getting handed some boxed Chinese food. Secondly, the location is strange - on the ground floor of a condo building, which itself is not close to any other buildings. This kind of gives the surroundings a strange energy.
Nonetheless, within those eerie woods and uninviting condos is an oasis of a chinese restaurant. I'm typically not a sucker for niceness (a lot of times people can misrepresent themselves as being "nice" merely by being quiet. The less you say, the less chance you have of saying something you shouldn't). However, I was overwhelmed by how kind the hostess was and how keen she was on making sure our first Oriental Wok experience was wonderful. And it was.
Keep in mind that there are two types of people in this world: those who order Egg Drop soup and those who order Hot 'n' Sour (guess which group is more fun). Oriental Wok's Egg Drop soup is the best I've ever had, and it's tough to really stand out in a dish that only requires a few ingredients. But trust me, it's special.
The rest of the Chicken dishes we ordered could've used a few more vegetables to break up the predacious portions, but I did appreciate the quantity of meat included in each dish.
Also, we were there for my friend's birthday; I can't tell you what they do for birthdays, just know that this is definitely a place that puts a lot of thought into making their birthday guess feel VERY special (unlike a restaurant that brings out an extra Andy's mint with a used candle sticking out of it).
AND they have this drink called the "Volcano," which is for 2-4 people, and has coals burning blue in the middle! If you're with more than just yourself, definitely order this to make everyone more fun than they usually are.
In my mind, Chinese food is the most inconsistent in quality from restaurant-to-restaurant out of all culinary genres. It's tough to find a good Chinese restaurant - luckily, I've found one here.