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Oriento Grill and Barbeque

Address

2500 Meridian St.
Bellingham , WA 98225
(360)733-3322

Hours

Every day 11:00 AM - 9:30 PM

Review

There is a ubiquity to the decor of most Chinese restaurants: the utilitarian tables and booths, the ho-hum carpet, the fluorescent lights, the tasseled crimson sconces, the aquarium with the bulbous-headed goldfish. There exists an immediate familiarity when you enter one, a comforting sense of having been there before - to quote Yogi Berra, "It was deja vu all over again." This thought struck me upon entering the Oriento Grill and BBQ in the fountain district of Bellingham.

While Oriento's menu includes all the old favorites - pork fried rice, BBQ duck, Kung Pao chicken - one particularly unusual item stands out: enoki mushrooms, a Japanese mushroom that only grows at freezing temperature. This is offered with a variety of sauces, including Szechwan and Black Bean. As interesting as that sounded, we tried one of the family dinner combinations. This started out with Singing Rice Soup. That is such a beautiful name, it almost wouldn't matter how it tastes. Fortunately for us, it tasted as enticing as it sounded. Our server brought a soup tureen to the table, into which he spooned crispy fried rice. Sure enough, it crackled and sizzled - sang! The soup itself was full of fresh crunchy vegetables. We also tried the Mandarin chicken and the Mongolian Combo, both of which are considered hot and spicy. We were able to specify the degree of heat to our particular taste. Both dishes were very good. Accompanied by Chinese beer, it was a generous and satisfying weekend dinner.

Oriento is a family Chinese restaurant that offers traditional Asian fare at reasonable prices. The restaurant is easy to spot on Meridian - it has a neon sign that includes both English words and the Chinese symbols for dragon, family, and castle.
Written By: Tanya Perkins
On: 7/3/2000

Directions

From downtown Bellingham, head northwest on Holly St. to Broadway. Turn right on Broadway, then left on Meridian Street. The restaurant is on the right. From the Bellis Fair Mall area, head south on Meridian Street. The restaurant is on the left a couple blocks past Haggen.

Features

Kid Friendly | Wheelchair Accessible | Beer and Wine | Dinner | Lunch | Take-Out

Map

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