The oriental is a diamond of a restaurant. The staff are always friendly welcoming and well turned out. Food is always of a very high standard and full of flavour. I enjoy going out with my partner as we always end up here and never fail to leave with a smile on my face.

Truly

What a menu! Excellent service. The food surpassed expectation. Every ingredient is indulgent on the taste buds. I highly recommend!

adey

Next door to Penny Blacks in the Mailbox is where you will find this gem of a restaurant. The knowlegable and attentive Staff were more than happy to go through the extensive menu which covers Malaysian, Thai and Chinese. We opted for the Thai platter for 2 starter and main corse of Red Snapper Thai style and Kari Vegetable with Nasi Goreng. I can say very easily it is one of the finest meals i have had and along with the relaxed atmosphere will definetly be returning. Recommened.

sandeep

This restaurant is a real gem. Lovely location, with a terrific ambience and decor. The service is attentive without being intrusive, and the cuisine is to a very high standard. In fact, the weekday lunch set menu, with 2 courses for £ 6 or 3 for £ 9 is a steal. The a la carte menu is extensive, reflecting malaysian, Thai and chinese influences. Overall, a high quality restaurant that is definitely worth a visit.

miamimink

Work in the Mailbox? Or the city centre? Like eating out at lunchtime? Try the Oriental - it? 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? 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? 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? 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? a restful place to eat and drink during time out of the office.

kitkat

In the pan-oriental, new-wave Birmingham scene the buzz-word is choice. All the Asian cuisines on offer here dovetail into each other. Service is speedy this early in the evening. The attractive staff are on the ball and create a gentle and oriental atmosphere. My Rendang Kambing is served before I can say ‘can of coca-cola’. In this dryish dish the spices combine to create distinctive and elusive flavours. It’s a popular Malaysian recipe, and it’s my first taste of it, and it’s clear why it’s a favourite. Eaten with plain rice, which allows the subtleties of the marinade to come through, it’s an experience worth taking time over. I recommend trying this place out for a canalside culinary experience at Birmingham’s flagship city centre development, the Mailbox, where you can shop at over fifty prestigious outlets before or after you’ve checked out the new Bull Ring and the rest of the retailers in an ever-changing city.

james

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.

allvin

In the door, off the waterfront — Mailbox — Level 7 — between Penny Black’s and the new Don Salvo’s at Fino. An eclectic décor. Rumour has it there’s a refurb on the way. It’s easy to settle in here. Lunch time — Dim Sum is the way to go at this time of day. I kicked off with Tom Yam Kung — a hot, spicy, sour Thai soup — followed by Udang prawns with captivatingly aromatic curry leaves. Roti Canni — my last dish — is a Malaysian curry you eat with crisped roti. Quantity can’t substitute for quality. Staff were spot on. Had a light touch. And Allad, the manager, saw to it that we had our mint imperials at the end.

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