If you do not arrive before noon, good luck my little pork dumpling…there are a handful of other restaurants in the center that cater to the busy lunch crowds - therefore, parking is very limited. I spent about 10 minutes looking for a parking spot (and yes, “patience is a virtue”!). The dining establishment is pretty small with about 18-20 tables so you may feel a little crowded.
I started with a “Thai Ice Tea” which is a mixture of Thai tea, sugar, cream and condensed milk (try not to think about the calories!). My tea was flavorful and not too strong or sweet.
The “Imperial Rolls” are rolls wrapped in rice paper and filled with vermicelli, shrimp, basil, cilantro, mint leaves, bean sprouts and julienned lettuce along with a peanut dipping sauce. Although the accompanying sauce was very good, my roll was over-stuffed with vermicelli noodles and not as much shrimp as I would have liked.
Some folks think you should not go to a Chinese style restaurant without trying Egg Drop Soup. Oki Doki makes a wonderful egg drop soup with a nice flavor, velvety texture and plenty of pieces of corn…I thoroughly enjoyed it!
My dining partner and I decided to share the “Seafood Chow Fun”, a combination of calamari, shrimp, scallops and imitation crabmeat (pounded white fish), bok choy, tomatoes, carrots and broccoli served atop chow mein noodles. Although we asked our waitress to have the chef “spice up” the dish for added intensity, the entre came to us sans the requested spice. Bummer! The combined flavors were delicate but tasty none-the-less.
We also had the “Chicken with Vegetables” and I have to admit the dish was quite dull, lacking in rich flavors. The chicken was skinless, boneless white meat but very plain in seasoning. Guys, don’t get me wrong, I understand some folks like simple food with delicate flavors! I did not take photos of the dishes since there was practically no variation in appearance compared to my Seafood Chow Fun dish. I will say that all the veggies in the dishes were very well prepared in that they were slightly crunchy and not soggy or over cooked.
The service was lacking, possibly because the restaurant was full and it was the lunch time crowd. We asked our waitress more than once for extra water and had to inquire about one dish that came to the table late.
My desire is to return for their dinner menu since it looks much more interesting with items such as “Sautéed Shrimp & Scrambled Egg”, “Burdock Salad”, “Little Neck Soup” (most likely clams), and “Seafood Pancake” to name a few.
My take on Oki Doki is that their lunch menu offers dishes that cater to folks who enjoy simple food…simple food for subtle palates! All in all, I will return and give Oki Doki another chance, albeit, not during the lunch hour so that I can avoid the traffic jam in the parking lot and try the interesting dishes that are only available on their dinner menu.
Cheers!
Open daily. No lunch on Sunday.
The biggest part of service is paying attention. It could easily ruin an experience in a restaurant, when simple requests like a refill are hard for your server to handle.
ReplyDeleteSeafood Chow Fun sounds like it would be good with spice like you had asked for as well :-)
Leah, I appreciate your comment. You are so right on...bad or slow service can make for a negative dining experience even if the food is decent! Although, I tend to give all people the benefit of the doubt, one should not have to ask more than once for a glass of water from their server. After all,these folks are in the "service" business. Cheers!
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