Oriental Cafe Part II: Now with actual Camera

Oriental Cafe 

905-884-8678

9425 Leslie St. Unit 3, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 3N7

Here is my first visit to Oriental Cafe with my coworker Maria

It seems like it's the co-worker's restaurant of choice when im suggesting we hit up the AWESOME RICHLANE MALL.  Today, i wrangled my quad neighbourino Mark to hit up Richlane Mall when i heard him retort he wished to try something new.  And just when Maria agreed to go, i gave them both the tour, you have:
Most Excellent BBQ (hanging meats galore!)
Lemon Grass (delicious southeast asianess!)
Ichiban Fish House (a staple for quick japanese fix)
Some HK Cafe that i've been too but didn't post! (something something)

My conclusion. is that my non asian coworkers are freaking scared of the unknown. and Oriental Cafe had the most non-threatening decore, and white pleathery seats in an open space.

This picture really does nothing to explain my theory.

Anyway, Mark's friend swore by Hot and Sour Soup, and he'd never had it before, so we ordered 1 to give it a try.  I was a little apprehensive cause he's a picky mofo (who kept asking me if there was fruit in anything... he really doesn't like fruit!) So i wasn't sure how he'd take this flavour combo.  I was almost afraid to tell him what the black stuff was, but he ate it, and i confessedd, it was fungus. haha. shrooms! He almost finished 1 bowl. good job!

One of my fav parts of Shang-Hai cuisine are Xiaolongbaos! mmm those tasty lil soup dumplings filled with tasty moist and juicy pork... well unfortunately/fortunately Mark isn't the biggest fan, so my attempt to WOW him with little pockets of meat and juice was um, unsuccessful. He did finish one whole dumpling! and dumped the juice :(  To be honest, these werent the best dumplings so i'll let it go.  I had to eat the other 5. So i'll let it go.

If you've ever read my blog, or know me. you know that everything is my dad's favorite.  This is my dad's favorite.  The green onion beef brisket green wrap.  Again, i was apprehensive if Mark would like it or not, with his distain for fruits and sweet.  Im not sure what kinda sauce, im just guessing its some hoisin type sauce, or equally sweet (if you know, please correct me), i compared it to a sweet BBQ type. He actually kinda liked it. and he finished a whole one! good job Mark!

 Mark picked this one, we were going to go for Shanghai noodles but this caught his eye.  A pretty basic dish i think, beef and veggies on rice.  I normally go for the flat rice noodle variety (HOR FAN!), he asked me if this is what my family eats, i explained it was usually steamed rice, with several accompanying dishes, like a veggie dish, meat dish, etc.  which explains why i would choose a noodle dish over rice, since it's like something i would get at home. makes sense.

All in all, i think Mark had a good experience, i was totally impressed he tried something new outside of his usual subway, mr. sub, wendys, etc lunches.  And the total came to around $23, so it wasnt bad at all! I think he would have really liked the BBQ meats place (cause what man does not like a plate full of BBQ meats), if he can get past the hanging meats part. next time!