Oriental East

Reviews 4

A

A Private User

There was a line absolutely 150 feet from the entrance when I arrived 10 mins before it opened at 11am, so if youre up to waiting for first crack, get there before 10:30am. There is a Caribou Coffee that has iced tea drinks and other things to help your wait, and there are trees over some of the benches outside. Using my GPS, the restaurant is hidden, in the Giant Food Shopping Ctr on the opp. side of the street behind the Silver Spring Metro and was worth the wait. I was #9 to wait for a table, but shared a large table with 2 other parties, and we all wound up sharing dim sum (and other tea house experiences) with each other. When over 200 mainly Chinese people (there was also a healthy mix of all nationalities too) will wait for a tea house to open, that should tell you something. If you get there after it opens, you may as well wait until early afternoon to get a table since people arent in a hurry to finish. The photos I checked on their website are very representative of what you get. Carts were filled when they enter the floor but the dishes are snatched early and theres little room in the seating area for more carts - I didnt get a chance to try the 8 treasure rice in lotus leaves, prob the most ordered item - I saw those being taken near the kitchen entrance! (you can special order though, so keep a paper menu handy if you dont see what you want, or youll fill up on other things while waiting.) Some impatient guests wound up taking out. One item just "average" IMO today, was the sesame ball, the bean paste wasnt as flavorful in this batch, as another guest said, letting me try one. Ive been known to peruse Chinatown dim sum joints as far as New York, Toronto/Markham, Philadelphia, San Francisco/Oakland, Seattle and Vancouver, and Oriental East matches OR more often, beats all of them. Please WAIT before biting a FRESH-baked pineapple bun, the steam (1st) and hot paste (2nd) will burn you, then you cant taste anymore. So if a plate of those treasures comes your way at the start, grab it and let it cool a bit. Only disappointment was that I didnt have room in my gut for more! PS: Some people deduct because they suggest the servers were "rude." They arent there to exchange pleasantries, their jobs are serving food; with the number of guests, they actually demonstrate more patience for our demands than I would deal with.

JA

James La

worst restaurant in the area! We made mistake to order carry out on Mothers Day yesterday. The manager and owner lied about everything. I was told would take 30 minutes to pick carry out. I got there 45 minutes after order, and was told my order was not ready. when I asked how much longer and the answer was "dont know". after 30 minutes passed by and also pushed around by the big crowds who were complainining that thwait time was much longer than they were told. then, I saw someone got their carryout in 10 minutes, so I asked why they got food before me, the very rude owner told me what I ordered and they ordered were different! Thats the dumbest excuse I have ever heard. I told her if I did not get the carryout in 5 minutes, I no longer wait since its been over one hour. She then told me go ahead and leave if I wanted to! In the mean time, the manager kept telling customers only 20 minutes wait, but indeed it was over an hour wait. These people not only dishonest businessman and businesswomen, but also greedy. Instead of try to get my order ready they spent time to answer the phone to get more carryout. I then saw one of the diner was complaining about the foods, but no one care, so they got up and left; then, the manager just came over and cleared the table to put another party down. At that point, I no longer wanted to wait to get a "bad foods" because the kitchen was overwhelm and threw everything together and sent it out! I strongly suggest everyone not to go there. I fully understand Mothers Day is the busiest day, but having worked in the restaurant in the past, there was no excuse for the chaotic and rudeness. What they should have done is to honestly telling the crowd that the wait would be much longer to wait so the customers can be fully informed so they could decide whether they should wait or not. These are not honest people and also very greedy. just want to make more money but provide bad service. their business wont last and I hope the health department inspect them regularly of their food quality and freshness. By the way, dont expect any kind of service there even you complain to the manager or owner. no one cares!

IT

its ok

Have you ever been served a beef soup using RAMEN noodles fresh from the shelves and added grease? Even eating in 3d world never have I even been served a soup with RAMEN NOODLES priced at $26 plus some greasy fried whatever. i am not sure why theres no option for NEGATIVE STAR here.. Oriental East of Silver Spring this restaurant sorry. Im sure they need help with the way they run their business or how the food taste or season. PLEASE REMOVE AJINOMOTO sodium glutamate in your ingredients, too salty too greasy - Id rather starve than recommend this restaurant. I mean I regret we didnt go to the chicken place next door - at least you get the real deal IF IT LOOKS LIKE CHICKEN IT IS A CHICKEN NO MISTAKEN - lesson learned. Our 1st time in this restaurant, when you come in carts rolling in filled with different sweets - why not appetizer in one cart and desert in one cart?? We didnt realized what to expect or whats going on... they are just trying to get rid of those items before they call it a day! Most of the staff are worried about making sure theres no left overs rather than what meets your appetite. We should have returned the soup so the next person will have a hearty heallthy meal - but we suck it up paid and never said a word to those poor hard workers who do above & beyond. Whoever owns or manages this restaurant - STOP those carts with food that left on the ailse!!! FOOD SAFETY is at risk. Lots of customers passing by the aisle and you leave your cart NO COVER and give it to your next customer/s to eat?? Never again. Skip this restaurant and go to the next one to waste your $$.

PA

Paulette Paglia

Terrific authentic Hong Kong dim sum. Friendly staff. It does get extremely busy on weekends for dim sum. If you dont want to wait youll need to go early but its totally worth it. Especially if youre homesick for true HK cuisine. My family and I do not care for their regular menu very much except for a few Hong Kong specialities like HK style wonton soup, salted shrimp or chicken with Chinese eggplant. However, we DO love their authentic Hong Kong dim sum menu. Ignore the negative reviews which are mostly written by those who do not know what very good authentic Hong Kong cuisine is and do not understand that the world does not revolve around them and do not comprehend why they have to wait to be seated and do not realize that the hustle and bustle of dim sum brunch is completely normal. For those who are Hong Kongese, or have travelled/lived in Hong Kong and parts of China, or lived in certain areas of the U.S. West Coast the sounds, aromas and heightened activity of dim sum culture is common knowledge and very much expected and even enjoyed. If you do not comprehend this style of dining then do not go. More for the rest of us who appreciate what the folks at Oriental East do and do well. Or go when it is not busy and order a la carte from their excellent dim sum menu. We live 3 miles from OE and have successfully ordered take out dim sum too many times to count. We have never had any food issues or order errors but always double check when picking up.