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Click here to read Insight Magazine review of The Oriental.

February’s Style Birmingham magazine said, “We had an incredible evening at The Oriental Bar Restaurant; our food was above and beyond expectation and the service was flawless. Its fantastic atmosphere and menu make the restaurant a great choice for couples looking for somewhere different to eat on Valentines Day, or to celebrate Chinese New Year with some authentic cuisine.”

www.stylebirmingham.com

To help celebrate Chinese New Year, any customers that order from The Oriental’s Chinese New Year menu will automatically be entered into a prize draw to win a case of Tiger Beer!

Just click here to view The Oriental’s Chinese New Year menu.

Download Chinese New Year Menu

The Oriental Bar and Restaurant in the Mailbox will be celebrating the Chinese New Year in February to herald the arrival of the Tiger.

According to the Chinese Zodiac, the Year of 2010 is the Year of the Tiger, which commences on February 14, 2010 and ends on February 2, 2011. The Tiger is the third sign in the Chinese Zodiac cycle, and it is a sign of bravery.

With Valentines Day on the same day, it will be a very busy time for the Oriental. So there wil be a special Chinese New Year menu from the week of the 14th onwards.

If you ever wanted to try decent sake, you would probably have to venture to celebrity hangouts such as Hakkasan, Zuma or Nobu. Now you can try the best in Japanese sake at the Oriental Bar and Restaurant at The Mailbox.  Owner Harish Nathwani has painstakingly researched the best quality sake for his us to enjoy.

“Five years ago, the quality of sake in Britain was not so high, so people have been put off, but we brought the best to Birmingham. Good sake can be as complex and subtle as vintage wine.”

Sake is made from large-grained rice (shinpaku-mai) and sweet spring water. Before brewing – sake is technically a beer than a rice wine.

As sushi bars and noodle canteens multiply, we will see more of Japan’s distinctive drink. It makes a refreshing change and I predict many more of us will be cheering “kampai!”

The Oriental in The Mailbox invited guests to help them celebrate the start of the Chinese New Year on 26 January.

The Ox is symbolic of prosperity that is achieved through hard work and it is a perfect reminder that Birmingham businesses need to pull together and work hard to escape economic hardship. VIPs, press and celebrities enjoyed drinks, dim sum and Chinese Dragon dancers.

Article from Birmingham Life magazine (Click to download PDF)

A visit to The Oriental reminded me of my friend Harry’s favourite saying. Whenever we go out for a meal, he’ll glance at the myriad of dishes on the menu and say “where there is choice there is misery”.

Knowing Harry it’s probably a quote from Vic Reeves or Harry Hill…

Well at The Oriental the choice is mindboggling, but not misery-making. Quite the opposite.

With its menu now boasting a fresh influx of great dishes – with a swathe of new Malaysian options – you are spoilt for choice, but in a nice way.

See the full review here

Work in the Mailbox? Or the city centre? Like eating out
at lunchtime? Try the Oriental – it’s recently been rated 
by the Times as one of the top ten pan-Asian restaurants
in the UK. The new-look lunchtime menu offers a range
of oriental tapas, noodle dishes, noodle soups
and main courses. 

I tagged on to a group of twenty suited and chattery
lunchtime diners, and opted for Yuk Sung as a starter.
This is a rewarding, light meal of finely chopped carrot
mixed with minced chicken, which is then stir-fried,
set on a bed of vermicelli-like strands of rice paste,
sprinkled with sesame seeds and served up
on trimmed iceberg lettuce leaves.

Splash on the soy sauce (if you like it), roll the leaves up
and eat.

For a main course I plumped for Koay Teow,
which is a noodle-and-beansprout recipe that’s served
with either beef or prawns. The contrast between the slippery,
slightly gelatinous texture of the flat rice noodles,
and the crunchy beansprouts is delightful. The chilli 
isn’t overdone, and a glass of water
or a bottle of Budweiser goes down 
well with it.

The bar here is well-stocked
as you can expect, with champagnes, wines,
spirits, and a selection of classy bottled beers,
including Chang, and Magners if you like your cider,
and there are the cocktails, Wild Orchid
and Tokyo Rose, for example, and the more
familiar Screaming Orgasm and Sex on the Beach.

You don’t quite get a beach with the restaurant
but you get the expanse of water at the junction
with the Worcester Canal, and a view along the canal
up to Gas St Basin and Broad Street, and with the sun
out, the reflections on the water and the pacifying
oriental music, it’s a restful place to eat and drink
during time out of the office.

Fantastic decor, very contemporary and opulant, loved the photos on the back of the chairs. good position by the water, lower level of mailbox.just the right amount of choice of food, often at oriental restaurants there is too much to choose from. portion sizes just right.food presented very well and was really very good. service was friendly and really enjoyed spending time there.

James