Oriental Express
| Address: | 510 E Jackson St, Tampa, FL 33602, USA |
| Phone: | +1 813-224-9888 |
| Site: | orientalexpressfl.com |
| Rating: | 3 |
| Working: | 10:30AM–10:30PM 10:30AM–10:30PM 10:30AM–10:30PM 10:30AM–10:30PM 10:30AM–10:30PM 4–10:30PM 4–10:30PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 5
AL
Alec Villanew
If you find me anywhere, please return me to myself. Hectic and chaotic does not do justice to my last couple of weeks. Thank goodness I had promised to not misbehave. I have not stopped. Aurora (my car) can testify that she has not rested. Indecisive me. Fickle me. Restless me. Today I went into four eateries. I was very hangry. The one who loves ribs wanted Chinese food today. He hinted and sighed and eventually just asked as I drove him to crew camp. Orient Express it was… Had Agatha Christie ever visited here, she might have not written her novel at all. Had she used me as one of the characters… I would have wanted to be murdered first. My nose is rather high maintenance. The food looked interesting (my mother uses this adjective when she does not want to criticize my accessory choices, the ones she really disagrees on.) Let me make clear that I don’t mind cafeteria style places. But I felt odor-slapped as soon as I walked in. I also feel very pressured when asked for my order immediately. Perhaps others feel catered to… or welcomed when that happens. Not me. So I was a tad nauseous over the smell (mind you, it was not a foul smell at all. It was the overwhelming combination of food choices mingling and marrying, overpowering and divorcing all at once.) Had I fallen in love with the bareness of the decorations… wait! What decorations? No, that did not help to distract me either. Have I mentioned how visually sensitive I can be? I love beautiful things. The Libra in me seeks beauty. Anywhere. Everywhere. I will refrain from reviewing the place in detail even when, until today (yes, no more), I called for deliveries and found the food okay. They serve abundantly. Huge plates to share… if you wanted to share okay food with family or guests. I have delivery-tried (which was like blind tasting until today): fried rice, white rice, egg rolls (quite oily tasting), bourbon chicken, orange chicken, egg drop soup, steamed dumplings, pepper steak and Lo Mein. Call and order with enough time so that your hangriness does not get the best of you. I went today. I felt catfished like in the MTV show. Our relationship platonic and beautiful. Maybe not the best, but okay. Nice… and nice is often good. Why did I try to ever meet?
KE
keith jackson
I placed delivery order for a soup, 3 egg rolls, 2 sushi rolls, and crab Rangoon. They chargedme $2 delivery charge plus minimumof 15% gratuity tip. I tipped the driver $5 which is a decent tip. He got mad because I didnt give him 15% plus $2. Thats way to much of a tip for a $30 delivery order. I have been a server and delivery driver in my life and anything above a $3 tip in a mile radiusis plenty good. I gave him a fair tip but not 15% on top of a $2 delivery charge. He had me talk to manager and he said give food back. I said no, I paid for it and $6 tip is more than enough. So me and my 2 friendsdecided to eat on front porch. 1 minute after delivery driver left, he doubleback and threw a glass bottle at me hitting my work Truck shattering Glass everywhere. My dogs play there. I called cops and they said I dont even have to tip. We decided if he came back and cleaned Glass he could avoid any charge. Now he is looking at felony charges for launching a missle. Police man said his car was used to commit crime and will be impounded along with 2 felony charges. Lastly I had to argue to get refunded which after threatening to sue oriental express to get my $ back. The police men deserve big credit by way they handled situation. So I will be by 1st thing to talk with owner about the massive amount of glass on my property. I have 2 dogs that play there, plus my street has a lot of kids that play there. Food was just okay but they have no ethics nor morals. The same driver is still to work tomorrow. Im all for people working but when a glass bottle gets chucked at my head that guy needs to be fired. Do not take chance with these guys. They have to many anger issues and you couldbenext. Do you want to tip $10 on a $35 order. Stay away. Samari blue is best place
81
813 Magazine
Ok, so this wasnt my choice for dining in downtown Tampa, but I was meeting someone there so I gave it shot. We ordered 3 sushi rolls, the volcano, the Mexican and the atomic. There were two people in the entire restaurant eating from their buffet menu which looked alright. It took them 35 minutes to make three rolls while we waited. The volcano roll actually tasted as if lava had solidified around some rotten fish. I definitely needed something cleanse my palate after eating this. Next up the "Mexican roll tasted a little sweet, so unless they were referring to a churro, I am not so sure how Mexican it actually was. Last but definitely not the least of their offerings, the Atomic roll came out and looked like it was topped off with some Bumblebee solid white tuna and some avocados that sat out a little too long. I flicked off most of the topping simply to avoid food poisoning and just ate the roll. These were ok at best but definitely better than the other two offerings. There are several sushi places to choose from downtown that are far and away better than Oriental Express. One can only surmise that the name for this establishment has a direct correlation to the amount of time that is takes for their food to pass through your body and not their service.
BR
Bradley Doolittle
Only been there once for takeout sushi but heres my impression. I got the atomic roll and Ill second what someone else said, they make it with cooked (well done) tuna over the top which is not clearly spelled out on the menu. Its and interesting decision to say the least. I found it basically unappealing and left it on the plate. Its obvious sushi is not their forte. The roll was misshaped and small and not very tightly rolled. Tended to kind of come apart. The spicy tuna inside was sashimi but was that tuna mush that some places do. Not very appealing. I was in there at an odd time, about 8pm on a Thursday, but there was literally nobody in there. The place is pretty dirty and grimy. I realize you probably dont want to pull the curtain back on most Asian kitchens but this one is open to the store so youd think they would keep it a little cleaner, not so much. Also smelled like hot used frying oil in there. To recap: Theyre other menu items may be great but I wouldnt really recommend the sushi and Id like to see them do some deep cleaning.
NI
Nia Holloway
im pretty sure the person that answered was drunk. she kept hiccuping and this was the convo: HER: what you want... ME: ((i list some items and then say...) can i also have combination lo mein?... HER: you want shrimp or chicken or what?... ME: can i get both? i would like combo lo mein... HER: ((yells inaudible things about chicken and shrimp to someone)) ok what else... ME: thats it... HER: what apartment... ME: we are in a hotel (i give her the name and address of hotel)... HER: ok credit cash or what... ME: credit... HER: ok debit cash or what... ME: credit... HER: whats the number... ME: (i give her the number but she doesnt ask for name, expiration, etc.)... HER: ok whats the apartment number... ME: a hotel... HER: ok spell it... ME: (i spell it)... HER: ok ...(gibberish)... --------- ..after that i couldnt understand what she was saying and told her i would call back...needless to say, i didnt call back. then she blew up my phone and i answered and told her i dont want anything.
