Asian Delights

Posted by Star84 from Australia on 8/16/07

I am a local in Alice Springs and have dined at the Oriental Gourmet for several years. The food has always been fantastic, as has the service and atmosphere. There are over 100 dishes on the menu - sweet, sour, spicy.. the list goes on - and they are amazing. Despite the other rater's comments, there are vegetarian dishes on the menu. Whilst there may only be 15 or so of these dishes, they are still wonderful. I have never had a problem with requesting vegetarian food. As a person who works in hospitality, I find that many diners do not understand how particular issues may put the kitchens under pressure with requests that may not be part of the menu - especially on busy nights. However, I have found with the Oriental Gourmet, should you have dietary requirements, it is possible call ahead to discuss how the kitchen may best prepare. The owner actually provides a personal contact number for customers who have requets, queries or last minute bookings. A top restaurant for all your needs.

Not for vegetarians-oriental gourmet alice springs

Posted by Bill_Kane from Tennant Creek NT Australia on 11/26/06

As a long time vegetarian (I drove with my wife for 5 hours to get to Alice Springs) I am used to encountering difficulties in restaurants and have learned to politely live with it. As 10% of the population you would think that professional food providers could cope with leaving a couple of ingredients out of a noodle or rice or vegetable dish. At the very least one should be able to expect courtesy and ability to provide a meal without meat or seafood. This is especially so in a Chinese restaurant where rice, bean curd, noodles eggs and vegetables could be easily provided whilst leaving out a couple of ingredients.If the restaurant is unwilling to do this simple thing for 10% of the population, they are free to politely decline. The older lady there came to us after the waitress took the order was very hostile to our presence. A number of rather personal comments were made regarding our food preferences. Comments were made as to how inconvenient it was for her(I believe she was cooking). The hostility was palpable and frankly hurtful as nearby tables witnessed this to our embarrassment. The contempt was upsetting and gratuitous. I had eaten there years before, so was quite surprised.Eventually we got a meal (so it was possible after- all)though it was hard to enjoy this. The sheer rudeness was extremely unnecessary. Usually Chinese places easily cope with leaving out meat and fish sauce. Lets face it- they can charge the same price as they leave out rather expensive ingreients. So what is the problem? It apeared to offend the lady's sensibilities to provide a meal without meat. At the prices charged it isn't as if it was a food court with pre-prepared food. There was abrupt rudeness as we lined up to pay for the food and not even a polite "thankyou". Importantly the meal was not at all tasty and was too salty. So it was a miserable expensive and humiliating experience after a 5 hour drive. This was mid 2004 so it may have changed handsby now.