Everything about Orient Xpress, from its name, to the benches, to the menu printed on your paper place mat, suggests a quick meal on the cheap. It doesn’t even bother to peg itself down to a particular region of Asia… “Orient! Yep, we cover it all”.
But forget anything you know about judging a restaurant by its appearance, because Orient Xpress is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
We’ll start with the good — the food is excellent. Far better than I had expected. I started with a salad followed by yaki udon noodles with beef, and both dishes were delicious. Fresh ingredients in the salad and a perfect blend of spices & sauce in the noodles — and large quantities of both. I enjoyed every bite, and there was no room for dessert.
Juergen had Gyoza dumplings and spicy laksa soup.
But Orient Xpress was more expensive that what I had been expecting: lunch for €20, about $25, per person may be standard fare for some, but is well over our day-to-day budget. (It’s worth nothing that there’s a work-week menú del día starting at €13,50).
Another negative was the restaurant’s “too cool for school” vibe. Our aloof, whistling waitress started to walk away before we’d even finished ordering. When she asked if I wanted beef or chicken in my noodle dish, she didn’t mention that meat was an extra, and would cost €5 more. Nice. And the loud electronic music was difficult to talk over, more appropriate for a club than a pricey Asian noodle place.
The obvious influence is the popular Wagamama Japanese noodle chain — everything in white, open kitchen and an emphasis on “healthy” eating. Orient Xpress, in my experience, surpasses Wagamama in terms of the quality of food. As long as you’re prepared for it, you can enjoy a great meal there.
Orient Xpress
Calle Roteros 12
963 065 166
Their Website: orientxpress.info
Location on our Valencia Map
Tags: Asian
Valencia
20°
Pappy Powell wrote,
Another wonderful entry. This is why I run to the computor every morning, as Frances drives away in tears to the salt mines, to check que pasa con Hola hoya? Again, the food here looks very yummie (well maybe not the cheezy soup with blood and parsley), but I fear far beyond our pauper travel budget….unless we split one meal 4 ways. This allowed? Are there cafes’s which cater to poor American Pappies?
Link | February 18th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
AJS wrote,
When we first moved to Valencia Orient Express was our savior. We got tired of Tapas and fried foods and something different although a little bland was a welcome change. But it is expensive. We went last weekend and I noticed the prices had gone up again, when wiith La Crisis and our neighborhood cafe offering 6euro 3course lunch.
Good for them if they can get it. It seems most clients are visitors, but the supply of those is falling.
Link | February 18th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Stay in Valencia for 11 Euros a night | Hola Valencia Blog wrote,
[...] Orient Express [...]
Link | February 4th, 2010 at 2:44 pm