Orient House
In a word: You'll be quite pleased, [with] your Orient.
The specs: #0637
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; reviews at Isthmus, 77 Square, Yelp; listing at Eat Drink Madison; official web site, 
Latest Orient House news and reviews
JM ate the moo shu pork.
Nichole ate the house special egg foo young and pepper steak.
We split some crab rangoon.
The bill was $20, or $10/person, with CampusFood deal, plus tip.
JM gave Orient House a B+; Nichole gave Orient House an A- (see our grading rubric).
We got delivery off the American menu. The driver arrived quickly and was so nice we wished we'd put more on the CampusFood tip line.
The moo shu pork was JM's choice but Nichole probably liked it even more than he did. It was complex and spicy with a lot of anise flavor. The meat and ample veg were very tasty and filling, and we really didn't care that the wrappers were just flour tortillas. The hoisin sauce was quite standard but was sweet in a way that complemented the main dish.
The pepper steak had fresh, crunchy green peppers and thin-sliced onions and beef. The sauce tied things together without being too drippy. Nichole stretched out the leftovers with some frozen corn from last summer's market season.
The three patties of house special egg foo young were packed with pork, chicken, and very fresh shrimp, as well as bean sprouts and onion. Spongy, heavy, damp, and custardy in the most satisfying way, they too lasted several meals.
The rangoon were light and crunchy. Easy on the smooth, sweet filling and uniformly fried, they were best as dessert.
Orient House is a fantastic value: we froze about a pint of the salty, beefy gravy that came with the egg foo young (to what end, we don't know yet). There was also more than enough rice left over for another house favorite eating-out byproduct, fried rice with vegetables from a grocery-store salad bar, though this time we didn't get around to doing that because we were headed to Panda Garden in a day or so.
We'd reorder the alphabet to reorder from Orient House.
This place is pretty good. I've eaten lunch there several times since it opened and all the meals were well cooked and good value. The chicken and shrimp were good quality and cooked just right and the vegtables are fresh and well prepared. If you're feeling adventurous, grab the Chinese menu and give it a try. On the Chinese menu, there is a different group of lunch specials for each day of the week. Each special features two dishes. No free Crab Rangoon that comes with the American lunches. (Do Chinese actually eat crab rangoon?) I took a Chinese menu home with me and went in when there was something that I wanted to try. I forgot exactly what I had. It was okey, but I liked most of the American lunches I had better. That's not to say I wouldn't order off the Chinese menu again.
Posted by: theginn | February 23, 2011 at 02:27 PM
@theginn - nope, Chinese people don't eat crab rangoon. Or at least not Chinese people in China. Crab rangoon was invented in San Franciso, as were fortune cookies.
Posted by: catwoman5 | February 23, 2011 at 03:01 PM
Correction - they don't really know where crab rangoons were invented, but definitely not in China. They've been on a menu at a restaurant in San Francisco since 1957, but it's unclear where they actually originated.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_rangoon
Posted by: catwoman5 | February 23, 2011 at 03:05 PM
I didn't think so, given the cheese thing. I grew up eating Chinese in food in NY in the 60's and 70's and I don't remember Crab Rangoon even being on the menus. I think SF was the first place I ever saw them.
Posted by: theginn | February 23, 2011 at 03:55 PM
Seriously, those spicy smelt.
One could have quite a lovely seafood meal on Park, what with smoked fish at Gotham, spicy smelt at Orient House, any of the pescadoriffic options at Inka Heritage, and the upcoming cevicheria next door.
Could turn out to be my summer dining corridor.
Posted by: Kyle | February 24, 2011 at 10:39 AM