Oriental Wok — Restaurant in Essex

I had ordered from Oriental Wok a few times previously and the food was good. I would have been a loyal customer had it not been for this one horrible experience. So my brother and I ordered from them last summer. I was at my brother's place and he picked up the order on his way home. I was really craving pork chow mein. I opened the container to find it full of sprouts (which I am allergic to) but NO noodles whatsoever. I stopped by Oriental Wok on my way home to alert them of the mistake and hoped they would replace it with the food I actually ordered and paid for because I was starving. The woman at the counter told me that I ordered the wrong item. I reminded her that I ordered chow mein but was given sprouts and told her that I am ALLERGIC to sprouts. I informed her that I am also Chinese and I know what chow mein looks like. Her response was "That is what white people expect when they order chow mein." Seriously, lady? Chow mein is an Americanized Chinese restaurant staple. She also told me that if I wanted what I thought would be chow mein then I should have ordered the Singapore noodles (which as I recall are rice noodles which are also NOT chow mein). She would not give me money back nor replace the container of sprouts with the chow mein that I ordered. Now that is some of the poorest customer service I have ever encountered which is really disappointing. I would have been a repeat customer if she had made an effort to rectify their mistake rather than blame me and tell me I should have...

My son and I are in the process of visiting every Chinese restaurant in Chittenden County, VT. We always order the same thing.

I order a chicken and broccoli combo with pork fried rice and an egg roll. My son orders a sesame chicken combo with pork fried rice and beef teriyaki sticks.

As a pretext, I must mention that my son and I have frequented Oriental Wok for several years now, with this being his favorite Chinese restaurant.

Price: $21.26 or $.26/oz is very reasonably priced with what we would find in Chittenden County.

Portion: 5.1 lbs between the two meals is quite generous and above average in this region.

Pros: - High traffic convenient location near Hannaford in the Essex Outlets in Essex, VT. Convenient high traffic location The egg roll was super tasty, perhaps the best in this region Delicious sesame chicken Provided 1 duck sauce container & 2 fortune cookies The newer microwavable containers are being used Generous portions at a reasonable price

Cons: They didn't provide soy sauce packets, napkins or utensils In general, the food lacked flavor For me, the rice makes or breaks the meal. The pork fried rice lacked flavor and tasted very average.

Impression: Convenient Essex location near Hannaford in Essex offering generous sized portions of generally good tasting food at a reasonable price. My son rates Oriental Wok 5.0 stars and I'm rating it 3 stars earning Oriental Wok a 4.0...

While Vermont does not have a place to satisfy my cravings for authentic Chinese food, this is the best take out place in the area. I have been a customer since 2012 and I order from them on a weekly basis. I can say that the food quality has only improved and I never had a problem with their food. Due to COVID, they have cut staff back to just the husband and the wife and their daughter will help out whenever she can. Because of this, the wait for take out order during peak meal times can be pretty long (1-2 hours sometimes). This only proves one thing, their food is good and there is a lot people want to order from there. I understand waiting around outside, way pass the informed wait time, while you are hangry, is not ideal. But just keep in mind that there are only 2 people in the kitchen, everything is made to order, and the phone never stops ringing. So order ahead, give yourself plenty time, or support another local restaurant and come back to order another day if the wait time doesn't work out for you. This are crazy times now, be safe, be understanding, be supportive...