OK Oriental Food

Guys. I love this place.
It’s not fancy, it’s not gourmet, but if you want cheap, delicious, Korean food, this is your best stand in Northeast Baltimore. Kind owners, buffet style, and you can even get sauces by where you pay (gochujang, etc.!).
Make sure to get there early! This is WAY cheaper than those new, fancy, hip food trucks.
I love that their selections never change. Because I hate change. Especially when it involves delectable eats and nice people.

Located in the middle of Northeast market, this place is unassuming. There are not very many items leftover (or much made in the first place) and the place itself doesn’t look extremely appealing at first glance. However, the food was great. For less than $ 8, I was able to get packed box. Because my protein option ran out, the lady packed a lot of extra items into the serving box and I was able to share my lunch with my SO and still end up full and satisfied. In the box was steamed egg, squid, grilled chicken, green beans, kimchi, bean sprouts and Li mein: a combination of a lot of different flavors. The food is a bit greasy and salty, but the flavors and tenderness of the protein options were fantastic and the price was unbeatable. Great place to stop by for lunch.

Food was good! Had the chicken bugolgi and it was great and I don’t usually like chicken but she didn’t have beef. Large portion with lots of good sides. I had kimchi, spicy cucumber, and sprouts. It was enough for 2 servings and only cost 7 bucks. The server isn’t great at customer service and doesn’t smile but who cares if the food taste good.

I think my tastebuds just went on a roller coaster. I am at a loss for words, all good words that is. The food was amazing. I got their lo mein, spicy cucumber, sprouts and bulgogi. Everything was so tasty and juicy with so many flavors all at once. Vegetables have never tasted better. If your children do not eat vegetables, then introduce them to this place. I also tried the red sauce they keep at the register, which was good. I got a ton of food for $ 7.50 so I ate half of it for lunch and half for dinner. I will be back to try some of the other items they have such as fish, tofu and even octopus/​squid if I am feeling adventurous ;) The ladies behind the counter were friendly and all smiles most of the times :)

I thought it was really good! I had octopus in red chili sauce they use all the time. Excellent!

It took me almost an hour and a half finding this little tiny place that was eventually found in the Northeast Market. From my house to this place, it was truly a mission.
I drove around, trying to find parking and when I did, it took me forever finding this place. I first went inside the market and looked everywhere, all those signs and looking at the food options in the hot bars and I just couldn’t find it… So I stepped outside and asked a few people and they didn’t know, so I started walking around the whole area and found myself in an area with at least 3 groups of people that reeked of weed. I finally went back inside the Market after 20 minutes of walking in circles and decided to get a smoothie before trying again. When I ordered a Blueberry smoothie, less sweet for 4 bucks, I decided to ask the people that were making my smoothie if they knew where OK Oriental Food was. They told me it was behind them… wut…
WHAT?! This whole time I was walking around for half an hour and it was right in front of me?!
I went there after getting my smoothie and I can see why I never found them until now, their sign is kinda hidden and hard to see unless you look at it through a certain angle.
This food better be worth it…
I went to the place and saw a hot bar. More than half of the foods were almost empty. Sad face. :(I told the angry looking Korean woman that this was my first time getting her food and what she would recommend. She told me I could get a starch, 1 meat and 2 veggies as a meal. Fried rice or white rice, Chicken or beef bulgogi and 2 other meats which were almost gone, or different types of kimchi.
I got white rice, chicken bulgogi, kimchi and baechu kimchi. It was like 8 bucks and PACKED. It had 1 of my favorite kimchi too. The kind with pickled carrots, spicy paste, and cabbage. The food was delicious. It was raining hard outside and I wore shorts and a t-​shirt. The food was hot and made me feel warm. The chicken bulgogi was tender, moist, salty, and flavorful. A great combination with the cool and savory kimchi which went even nicer with the sweet baechu kimchi and to have it washed down by the white rice and blueberry smoothie.
It’s the only place in the Market that sells Korean food. Definitely a must if you’re around the area. And lets say you don’t like it? There are like 10 other places to eat inside the same building!

A really great, cheap place for lunch near the Hopkins medical campus. It’s located in the market, along with many other stalls selling other foods. I’ve gone here way too many times for lunch, and each time I’m not disappointed. I usually get chicken bulgogi, fried rice, green beans, and kimchi for $ 6 – 7. The portions are huge, so you definitely won’t be hungry after either.

I’ve been going to this place for the past couple of years, and, while the food is generally really good (hint: get the fried chicken, the one next to the wings, and get the spicy/​red sauce), the service is a little spotty, so make sure you secure your place in line.

Great lunch option when you are visiting Hopkins medical campus. You can get a combination of meat, vegetables and rice/​noodle for less than $ 7. Meat is marinated and grilled well and vegetable side dishes are pretty authentic. The food can be a bit greasy for my taste but still think it is a great value. The line can be long but it moves fast.

Is it bad this was my first time tasting Kim Chi? Yes? Ok.
I don’t like «Chimerican» food and I tend to avoid Asian food in general because of all the bad, greasy, salty, oversweet, fried versions I ate growing up in Georgia. You know — when Kung Pao, Sweet and Sour, and Duck Sauce all taste the same and so does the meat. Eating anything Asian-​inspired is really out of my comfort zone.
That being said, OK Oriental was really tasty!
I loved the Chicken Bulgogi. It was moist, but didn’t lose any of the grill taste when a bit of the sauce was added. It was the only thing I managed to finish eating out of the huge serving. I had the bean sprouts and Kim Chi. Wow! If I had only known Kim Chi tasted that yummy I’d have eaten it before. It wasn’t salty, just nicely seasoned and spicy. I liked their Lo Mein ok. I’m just not a starch person.
They had a bunch of cool things on the menu like squid and fish. I can’t wait to try more items.

Located in Northeast Market towards the back, this place is a little unique. On one side it’s an Asian stall and on the other side it’s soul food. Most people come in for the Asian food, but I’m pretty sure she gets a constant flow of people stopping by for the soul food. The owner takes a lot of pride in her food. She’s always telling me how her lemonade is fresh squeezed every morning and how she carefully prepares all her ingredients. I typically get the house chicken with bean sprouts, cucumber kimchi, and green beans. Occasionally I’ll treat myself to some steamed egg, which is the Asian version of a quiche. The portions are pretty generous for $ 7. I’m pretty sure I can get 2 meals out of my order. Now that OK Oriental has a menu board up maybe more people will explore the other items they offer. I feel like most people have a usual and don’t explore anything beyond that. I only recently realized that she offers teriyaki chicken (I think she calls it bulgogi chicken on the menu), squid, and grilled fish. I might try the other dishes the next time I stop in.

I give O.K. Oriental a 5-​star rating based on the quality and taste of their food. My typical lunch staple entails a container of white rice, green beans, bean sprouts, and boneless fried chicken bites — delicious! The portions are generous and filling (often enough for two meals). While a lot of the menu items are fried, the bold flavors prevail without the greasiness. It’s typically busy at lunch and they deserve their loyal clientele but the length and speed of the line vary. The owner is kind and is constantly working to replenish the food items. Try to come earlier as some of their menu items run out toward mid-​afternoon. I think that the addition of a menu with prices and a credit card reader would be great improvements for O.K. oriental. They prepare there food well and that’s what keeps me coming back for more — as long as I have cash on hand.

This is a great korean restaurant stall.
Great stuff, cash only, awesome fast korean food.
OK oriental is situated near the seating area of the market.
Doesn’t have a menu. I wish it did .i’m sure that turns new people off.
But don’t be afraid. People obviously haven’t been too afraid because around 12 there’s a constant line.
Specialty is simplicity. Nice Marinaded korean teriyaki chicken is continually kissing the grill. For $ 6.50 ($ 7.00 w tax) you get your choice of meat (teriyaki chicken or krn fried chicken (also amazing)) over a big portion of rice/​couple of korean noodles like chap chae or chinese lo mein, and I believe they have fried rice (not sure about this) + two sides (assorted veggies such as kimchi, broccoli florets +carrots, green beans (tossed in sesame oil and sesame seeds), boiled bean sprouts (tossed in sesame oil/​seeds), and other specialties on different days.
you can get a sweet and spicy hot pepper past over your chicken too… works really well (it’s not too spicy, it’s a perfect combo) it’s about .25 or .50 cents I believe.
it’s actually a fairly healthy meal (except for the amount) I usually try to split this meal into two meals… that’s how much she (the owner) gives you. Because i’m huge eater, and the chicken is so tender, adn the whole meal is just balanced well, I end up eating the whole thing … then I go into a food coma.
All of this stuff is very korean, reminds of simple teriyaki restaurants that my family friend’s parents own… still haven’t found one like this in baltimore.
*In terms of service, the korean lady is grinding. She’s very nice especially if you talk korean (obviously because she speaks that better than english), and the other workers are nice as well… but around the busy times (whether they have a long customer line or have to prepare for the lunch rush), they’re grindin’ so it’s understandable if they seem chaotic and sporadic at times.
Still overall very quick.
If you look at my post about the restaurant ajumma, you’ll notice the difference. This is what I want from a so called korean «fast food» joint.
OK Oriental is more flavorful, distinct clean flavors, each element (rice, veggies, meat) work well together, and is much cheaper than most other korean «fast food» joints around baltimore.
The lady reminds me of my mom, just grindin .she has to be in her 50s pushing 60 1^st generation korean … We should tell her to open a store foreal. She’s working way too hard .in that small cramped space.

(03/​25/​2011) This place is a stall in the Northeast Market, and way better than OK, it’s definitely my favorite place in the market. They usually have a variety of 6 stir fries/​stews/​noodle dishes that rotate during the week (e.g. sweet and sour chicken, lo mein, chap chae, squid), but my go to is definitely the chicken bulgogi (savory, marinated — flavors of soy, sugar, celery seed — and grilled) on white rice. You get a main and 2 veg sides: dry fried green beans, bean sprouts, cabbage kim chee, sometimes pickled carrots or cucumbers, blanched broccoli and carrots with sesame. It’s a nice box of food for ~$ 6.50. Def spring the 25 cents for the sweet hot red pepper paste (gojuchang) sauce.