Oriental Triangle

Restaurant Review

Backstory

The restaurant doesn't look promising from the outside. Or for that matter, from the cramped hallway through which you walk, past the dark bar, to the dining room. The inner sanctum is much more pleasant, with colorful furnishings, although it does remind me a lot of the Chinese restaurants of the 1960s. So, to some extent, does the food. Most of the recipes are in a style much lighter than what we commonly see these days, with more cornstarch in the sauces and broths giving an uncommon thickness. On the other had, the menu offers most of the dishes we've become accustomed to eating in the better Chinese places, with Szechuan, Mandarin, and Hunan dishes separating the old-time Cantonese things. But what makes the Oriental Triangle quite different from most other Chinese cafes is advertised in its name. There's a smattering of Korean food here. And it seems to me that the last time I came there was also some Japanese food, making the third side of the triangle. I couldn't find any of that on the current menu, however. The Korean side is best represented by kimchee. That's Napa cabbage, marinated with no small amount of red pepper, served cold. I think kimchee is one of the greatest palate-perkers known to man. I eat it all the way through the meal, using its chill to ameliorate the hotness of the entrees, and its pepper to jack up the other flavors. They bring you enough for four people for three dollars here. Also on the menu is bulgoki, marinated and spicy sliced, grilled beef. It's more or less the national dish of Korea. They also make shrimp tempura, but that's as boring here as it is anywhere else. On the Chinese side, the Oriental Triangle has made a specialty of sizzling dishes. For example, the steak kew is spooned onto a superheated metal platter (shades of Charlie's Steak House!), resulting in an upwelling cloud of steam catching the attention of everybody in the room. (Who will now change their orders so they can have a sizzling dish, too.) I don't think these are as great a treat for the palate as they are for the eye, but the steak kew was tender and good, with lots of garlic. Great with the kimchee. The most expensive thing by far on the menu, at $14, is a soft shell crab with a choice of three sauces. This is pretty good, particularly with the spicy ginger sauce. The restaurant is very busy at lunch, less so at dinner.