Asian Star(Chinese Restaurant) — Restaurant in Oakland

For Reference: Picture of Hot and Sour Soup sitting on my newspaper; picture of Moo Goo Gai Pan [ Chicekn with Mushrooms and Vegatables ]

First off, this is a small hole in the wall across the street from Wal-Mart. Entering the place, you realize that this is a baswic strip mall establishment .... utilitarian interior design yet neutral and comforting on the eyes and nerves.

Today, I kept my order simple with hot and sour soup and Moo= Goo Gai Pan. The young lady working the from desk was easy to talk with and carried out her mission promptly - she gets a well done. The soup color at first made me wonder .... its pale!!! At home I use black Vinegar and prefer a darker color and sharp vinegar flavor. After tasting it, it gets my blessing, and yes, I would order it again. There was some vinegar taste, maybe the cook used some white vinegar - not sure and a slight amount of heat. It came hot, so there were no clumps of thickener flaoting under the surface. So, don't let the color bother you. Hot and Sour Soup is very objective.... The quality can vary with a full pot of soup at lunch time or the end of the pot later in the day .... The Moo Goo Gai Pan [ Chicken with Mushrooms and Vegtables ] was excellent. This also was tasty. For some unusual reason, this is my fvorite Cantonese Chinese recipe .... the sauce was good and there was an adequate amount. Yes I would order this again.

Justification for the 5 Star Review. The young lady at the counter provided good service The interior design, done in strip mall charm was neutral and pleasant. The food was good and the price was reasonable.

Note: I previously tried to do a review and post the pictures. The pictures made it to the picture section and the review got lost in space, so this is about a month...

While going to the store and ordering is good, calling in an order is a risky proposition. My wife tried to call in an order and the person who answered the phone was rude. He added things that my wife did not order. After my wife told him to cancel the order and hung up, the guy had the nerve to call her back and say that my wife was completely wrong and tried to say she ordered food that she did not order.

In store, the clerk was not much better. He was borderline rude when we placed a take out order.

The food itself is okay. You do get plenty of it, but I would not call it true Asian food. Fried rice costs more to get if you don't want plain white rice. If there was a better option in Oakland, I would go there for the times my wife...

My wife called in a large order. When I picked it up, the owner was cursing someone on the phone and pointed at the bags. I was charged $55.14 and left with two bags. When I got home, we noticed that we had the wrong order. Called the restaurant and was accused of stealing the order. They charged me DOUBLE ($122) the signed amout AFTER THE FACT for the loss. Had to call the police and credit card company...