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Friday, January 26, 2001
By Woodene Merriman, Post-Gazette Dining Critic
Keguang Guan, or just plain Guan, as he is known at the Post-Gazette, and his wife, Lin, spent most of their lives in his native Shanghai. So when he told me the Orient Kitchen was their favorite restaurant, I was eager to try it.
"This is the only Chinese restaurant we found in Pittsburgh that offers authentic Chinese food catering to Chinese customers," said Guan, a PG copy editor.
He and Lin agreed to go with His Honor and me to Orient Kitchen on our first visit and guide us through the menu. How lucky we were! Without them, I would never have known about "stir-fried bean leaf," as it is listed on the menu.
It's actually snow pea leaves. And as I looked around the dining room at Orient Kitchen that night, every table with Chinese people that night had an order of bright green snow pea leaves.
In China, Guan said, you don't go to a restaurant for snow pea leaves, because the dish is easy to prepare at home, and very expensive. We paid $12 for the simple dish of plain, stir-fried leaves.
The snow peas are grown in greenhouses, the leaves are picked only when they are still tender and they don't keep well for long. "I think most Chinese order this dish at Orient Kitchen because it reminds them of home and spring," Guan said.
On a trip to the restroom another night at Orient Kitchen, I saw another reason the snow pea leaves are so expensive: A man was sitting at a back table, painstakingly removing by hand all the tender little leaves. He had a huge carton of cleaned stalks on the floor.
The bright green, slightly bitter snow pea leaves were a nice contrast to all the other dishes we ordered -- sesame jellyfish, seaweed salad, pork chop Peking style, seafood hot pot, and Peking duck.
Seaweed salad had a slightly sweet dressing. Sesame jellyfish called for some adept moves with the chopsticks, because the long strings of cold jellyfish easily slip away. But I would happily order them both again. So would H.H. The jellyfish goes well with wine. And besides, he gets to show how adept he is with chopsticks.
The half Peking duck was cut up and served the traditional way, cut into small pieces to be tucked into thin pancakes, along with carrot and turnip strips, green onions and hoisin sauce, folded up and eaten out of hand. The duck was golden brown, the skin crisp and delicious. Not a scrap was left on the plate.
Following Guan and Lin's suggestion, we had also ordered the seafood combination, a mixture of hot shrimp, squid, fish balls, dried mushrooms and vegetables, nice on a cold evening. The pork chop Peking style is another of their favorites, and now ours, too. The meat was lean and tender and cooked in a special sweet sauce.
Emboldened by our instructions from Guan, H.H. and I went back another night and ordered another Orient Kitchen specialty: live seafood. The fish are swimming in tanks inside the front door, right behind the hanging Peking duck. We pointed to the gray-striped sea bass we wanted, the waiter fished it out with a net, and in 20 minutes it was on the platter in front of us, cooked, boned, cut up and succulent.
But first we had tried the appetizer sushi selection from the sushi bar. The halibut, tuna, salmon and shrimp morsels with rice were perfectly acceptable, but we decided Orient Kitchen shines best with Chinese food and seafood.
Remembering Guan's suggestion, we also ordered stir-fried Chinese water spinach, but none was available. Bright green baby bok choy was a good substitute.
The Orient Kitchen was on Semple Street from 1990 to 2000, when its lease expired. Now it's on Baum Boulevard, in a location where both a Chinese and a Japanese restaurant opened and soon closed in the last few years. From the number of patrons we've seen at the new Orient Kitchen, I think this one will succeed.
The owners are a husband-and-wife team, Simon and May Yip. Simon cooks, and May serves. Upstairs they have a karaoke hall that seats 60, open from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. No meal is served there. The cover charge of $12 includes some drinks and others are available. The hall is popular with students, families and workers from other Chinese restaurants.
In addition to three meals a day, many Chinese like to have a midnight meal once in a while with friends or family, Guan says. So Orient Kitchen is open late, until 1 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays, and Fridays and Saturdays until 2 a.m. Many students go there after spending a night at their books, and chefs from Chinese restaurants often come after their night shift.
Guan had always read the menu in Chinese until he went with us. When he read it in English, he found some inaccurate and sometimes funny translations that may bewilder non-Chinese customers:
The dry scallop w. chavit soup is really dry scallops with chives or Chinese leeks.
The chicken w. fish mow soup is nothing to fear. Mow is probably a misspelling for maw, which is actually the tender part of the fish, but there is none in the soup.
Under Abalone & Sea Cucumber, where it says "cucumber" it actually means sea cucumber, a marine animal also known as a sea slug.
Under Hot Pot the dish called Eight Preasure is really eight treasure, meaning eight ingredients cooked with tofu.
Dry shrimp & verhicelli is not vermicelli, but should be bean noodles, a translucent kind of noodles made from green beans.
Now you know why I appreciate having Guan and Lin eat with us at Chinese restaurants!
The Orient Kitchen is clean, light and bright. The wine list is small, but beer and other drinks are available, too. Best of all, it's authentic.
Orient Kitchen
Manager Michael Shen displays Peking duck and barbecued ribs in the entrance of the Orient Kitchen. (John Heller, Post-Gazette) 
4808 Baum Blvd., Bloomfield
412-682-3311 or 412-683-3300Phone
Hours: 11 a.m.-1 a.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Friday and Saturday The basics: Authentic Chinese dishes, with seafood Cantonese-style a specialty; 42 lunch specials for $5.95; sushi bar, duck, live seafood, hot pot, tofu, noodles, rice and fish, meat, chicken and vegetable dishes; typical prices: half Peking duck, $12.95; pork Peking style, $8.95; fried bean curd with Chinese mushrooms, $7.95; small parking area alongside restaurant; major credit cards; steps at front entry, but there is a ramp for wheelchairs in the back; seats 80; reservations only for 4 or more.The last word: 