House of Orient

Tips:
1) cash only, they don’t accept credit cards.
2) the waitress/​waiter only speaks mandarin so if you don’t know mandarin just point out what you want on the menu to them.
3) don’t expect a clean restaurant, this place is what it is.
Food:
Good — 1) cumin lamb, 2) whole fish stew with pork belly, tofu, cabbage and noodles, 3) sweet & sour pork, 4) pumpkin with salted egg yolk.
Bad — their version of the mayonnaise shrimp, they completely over did with the batter and over fried the shrimp plus the sauce is not good.
Average — 1) sautéed water spinach with garlic, 2) Jellyfish cucumber appetizer.

I love spicy foods and this place is one of my favorites. Its northern chinese cuisine, family style. I’ve made myself at home here and have become a regular. Some of my favorite dishes:
— spicy popcorn chicken — ridiculously flavorful, spicy!!, i always get this.
— spicy fish in hot oil sauce — its good but comparable to other places
— green veggies — I’ve had like 4 types of veggie dishes, i don’t think you can go wrong with any of them. I always get a veggie dish.
— mongolian rack of lamb — comes off the boneee
— dumplings is great for a quick fix, good portions
— pork belly — melts in your mouth not on your chopsticks
***Hidden gem alert***:its seasonal
***salty duck egg crab thingy — this is my new favorite when they have it on the menu i will always order. So damn tasty!

Another Queens hidden gem! This place can be really hard to find if you can’t read Chinese. You will never be able to find the word «House Of Orient» on the outside. This place is located next to a Gold City supermarket. Look for a restaurant with red awning. You can park in front of the restaurant but don’t park inside the Gold City parking lot. Your car will get towed if you parked inside the Gold City parking lot.
We actually passed by this place so many times for years now but we never actually stopped by. We remember this place used to be a Korean restaurant few years ago. After doing a search on Unilocal for a Chinese restaurant that serve Northern Chinese cuisine, we decided to check this place out.
We ordered our favorite dish, the shredded pork with hot pepper. Another dish that we ordered was the beef with cumin. Both were mind blowing! Insanely delicious! We just can’t choose which we like better. Both dishes were so flavorful. We’re hungry from thinking about it again right now!
The portion is big. Not huge but big. Big enough to share one dish for two people. The service was great! Our waitress were very polite. The food also came out pretty quickly.
If you want to try some super delicious Chinese food, this is a must place to stop by. If you’re on a diet, this place is definitely not for you. As for us, we will definitely go back!
*** CASH ONLY ***

This is the bomb Chinese food. That chicken is good. This is not regular Chinese food. This is that northern Chinese food that is spicy so get your weight up!

This place gives you big portion of food, and price is reasonable likely on the cheap side. I came here to try the Mongolia lamb chop, only $ 20 for big plate, but looked like it was fried which I did not like much…

This place is located sort of next to Gold City Supermarket on Kissena with a red awning. The name of it is in chinese only so… it could be hard to identify if you’re not chinese like me. I don’t know how long the place has been around, but it’s quite empty for a weekday lunch. They have set menus for 2/​4/​and more people but it’s all in chinese with no english translation.
My friends and I decided to eat family style and got cumin beef, fungi with pork, and the seafood «hop pot.» Yeah, there’s a lot of typos on the menu… and the waitress doesn’t really know english. We originally wanted a fried pork for our pork dish but it was unavailable. The food was quite good though! Cumin beef was lacking in spiciness, but the cumin was definitely there. It was probably the least favorite among the 4 of us though. The beef was a bit dry. The fungi with pork was pretty good. The pork slices were really tender. The seafood hot pot is more of a combo pot braised/​stir fried with meats in it. Nonetheless, it was good. There was a good assortment of proteins such as baby scallops, shrimp, squid, fish, tofu, pork, chicken, maybe beef? It was a filling meal.
Not sure why the waitress hovered at our table when she gave our check though. The pressure to pay on the spot as we tried to divide among ourselves! Ah! And… she never refilled our tea *sigh* I’d go back for another meal one day though.

As with most Northeastern Chinese food, there is a certain level of spiciness in most of their dishes. Most notable dishes would be the cumin lamb and also the sauteed pork liver and intestine in brown sauce, I think. We try the sliced fish with chili oil too but its just ok. The portion is rather large so 3 dishes with soup would be sufficient for a party of 4. Stick to the main dishes in the menu and don’t order the beef pancake as it is full of oil. We have to literally dump the dish.

food is just ok, very normal restaurant.

I’ve been here several times for birthday dinners and the food has always been awesome! My favorites are the spicy fish and pork dish, the scallion pancakes are great, and the pork belly is succulent and tasty! If you like spicy food then you must try this restaurant out if you are around flushing.

Typical Northeastern Chinese food and its taste is good. Actually the restaurant is exactly the same as the mid-​low restaurant in Northeastern China, whatever the food, or the environment, are similar in Beijing. If you like try the real Chinese food, this will be your first choice.
A couple things you need to know before you go:
1. because it is a typical Northeastern Chinese restaurant, so their entrees’ volume is large but is cheap, one dish is totally enough for 2 male adults or even more, so if you want try more, you are better to call more friends to come.
2. Not good for a date, except your friend is a homesick Chinese
3.I give 3 stars because in US, traditional Chinese restaurant is not a lot, If rating with out its characteristic, it only may get 2 stars or even less.

Ok, we were all hungry and tried many dishes. Mongolian lamb was fall off the bone, cooked perfect and seasoned just right for me (others thought there was too much seasoning). Dumplings — good, sliced fish in spicy sauce — good, chicken kung po — good. Both the fresh leek and pork pastry and three delicacies pan cakes were tasty and delicious. Udon noodles were not that good. Although pork belly was super tasty, way too fatty. Overall a very good meal.

at the suggestion of other Unilocalers, got the sliced fish with hot chili sauce, pork belly and cumin lamb
not a fan of the cumin lamb mostly cause i thought it had too much cumin but the lamb was cooked perfectly — i found the cumin to be a bit overwhelming and would have probably liked the dish more had there been less cumin
the sliced fish was good with the fish being soft and flaky — it came in a soup bowl basically bathing in hot oil and szechuan peppers, so good! it wasn’t overly spicy, just enough so you don’t feel sick from the peppers
pork belly was good just not memorable
also had the winter melon soup — a little bland for my taste but good enough that if i came back i would still order it just because i love winter melon
there was a veggie dish as well stir fried with garlic — typical dish to me, nothing special, cooked properly
overall on first impression, the food was good but nothing outstanding — will probably come here again due to the food being properly cooked and not having to go into the heart of flushing, which is a plus

Really just amazing. I have been here several times and each time the food has been above and beyond. Cumin lamb is great, Sam Sun dumplings rock, the service (while communicating might be difficult) is warm and welcoming. They offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Great place for two, and a great place for a big group.
Tips for people who do not speak Mandarin:
Pork belly is not on the menu. I showed the waitress a picture of the dish from Unilocal in order to try. Also the beef pancakes aren’t listed in English.

I used to pass by this place all the time but had no intention on going in until one day my friend Gary was telling me about it. He was coming here to hit on the waitress and needed a wingman so I decided to go check it out with him. I’m glad I did because this became one of my new fav. restaurants :)~
Top 3 Dishes
*Sliced fish with hot chili sauce
*Cumin lamb
*Pork belly
Warning: DO NOT park in the parking lot next door or your car will get towed.

Talk about HOLE IN THE WALL. The restaurant itself does not have an English name nor a sign (it’s written in Chinese). I would not have found this as a past Unilocaler called it «hidden gem» if it weren’t for my friends recommendation. I wonder who decided to Unilocal name it «House of Orient», mind boggling! The food is AMAZING! Spices are on point and if you’re a huge fan of street meat (the skewer carts), DEF try their cumin lamb. The spices they use are similar flavor wise if not better. This was my personal favorite. Usually I’m not a fan of steamed dumplings (I prefer them fried), but their pork and chives STEAMED dumplings were also another favorite. Lucky for me, that was the dish the waitress placed right in front of me. HUGE portions and I’m certain I ate the majority of the dumplings amongst 4 people. I gotta hand it to the cooks, most of the stuff I’m not too fond of eating (bean curd, steamed anything, pork belly, fish), I actually enjoyed at this restaurant. Whatever spices they use, they’re seriously like crack. DYING to try their lamb dumplings! This place is so awesome, they decided not to have an English menu, as their entire menu is entirely in Chinese. Lucky for you, they are filled with pictures, so if you don’t speak the language (they speak Mandarin), simply point at the pictures! Keep on pointing cause you will NOT be disappointed. Take the leftovers to go and you’ve got yourself meal #2!

Easily my fav restaurant… Talk about your hidden gems. There’s so many great restaurants in flushing that you don’t know about unless you hear from someone else or just stumble across… this one we stumbled across on. This is the third time I’ve been here and I haven’t been disappointed. This is a great place to go with a bunch of friends because the portions are generous and you want to try a bunch of the items on the menu…
as far as apps, I always start off with the dumplings, every table seems to always have dumplings and i understand why, pretty damn good… they have 3 different flavors, all are good but i love the white cabbage and pork… now for the main show… Sliced Fish in Chilli Sauce is a MUST (all I can say is wow, the sauce is amazing, that I pour it all over my rice)…Pork Belly wrapped in Lotus Leaf or the Sliced Red Cooked Pork Belly (don’t remember the name on the menu but that’s the translation) are two fan favorites if you’re into flavorful and fatty awesomeness, I usually go for either one and try the other next time… Dry Bean Curd Skin with Pork and Hot Green Peppers… Diced Chicken with Hot Chilli Peppers is great but not too much meat but the flavors are awesome and tongue numbing… sliced lamb is also good, its got the same flavors as the one’s from the street kart… for veggies, I always order the white cabbage with cumin spices (again sorry I don’t know the name)…

I came here with the promise of great Northern Chinese food without the hassles of driving into downtown Flushing or having to wait long for a table as with the other more popular restaurant of the same cuisine. I walked in as a party of two and perhaps the meal was doomed from the start since the food here seems best shared with a hungry group.
After some minor miscommunications with our waitress, we settled on three dishes which proved quite difficult due to numerous pages of offerings. With page upon page of appetizers, both cold and hot, pork, seafood, dumplings, and even hot pot offerings, how can one choose just a few? The complimentary pickled lotus salads were a nice touch as the food wasn’t as quick to come to table as our hungry stomachs had hoped.
The miscommunication with our waitress had us eating the spicy conch dish rather than the ginger-​scallion rendition we thought we had ordered which was fine since I was struggling to decide between the two. Unfortunately the conch was overcooked into a rubbery pile while the dish overall was just plain oily and spicy without delivering much flavor. The cumin lamb was plentiful however my tongue quickly grew tired of the tastes which was heavy on the cumin but lacked other flavors to round out the dish. The ham & wintermelon soup, which was the only dish we finished, was delicious but our thirsty mouths confirmed that MSG was one of the main ingredients.
Perhaps what we ordered was not a fair sampling of what the restaurant really has to offer. I’ll be excited to try their lamb dumplings (20 pc. per order!) and Muslim lamb chops but will come with a party who can help me finish the large amounts of food. Being surrounded by tables with many other dishes and cauldrons of what looks to be their «hot pot», we agreed a second visit was necessary before writing this place completely off.

I’ve past by this restaurant many times without ever giving it a second glance. Perhaps it’s because BCD Tofu House was replaced by this place, and the bitterness just lingered on… but let me tell you, this place was uhhh-​mazing! House of Orient serves Northern Chinese style cuisine, strongly influenced by Muslim cuisine. Evidently, lamb is their specialty, where cumin and hot peppers are used liberally in every dish. If you like spicy food packed with bold flavors, this place is it!
We ordered:
1. Fresh leek and pork pancake — my favorite!
2. Steamed lamb dumplings
3. Country style shredded pork with vegetables
4. Cumin lamb
5. Sauteed hot peppers with fried pig intestines
6. Stewed sour cabbage with pork belly and vermicelli in hotpot
7. Potato, eggplant and hot peppers
8. Fried pork with sweet and sour sauce
9. Mongolia style lamb chops — sooooo good!
I highly recommend this restaurant for big groups since everything is family style. This is also a great place to bring your picky Asian parents for special occasions. They will love this place because it’s quick, delicious, and reasonably cheap. We had 13 people, and the bill came out to $ 104. That’s less than $ 10 a person! I will definitely come back here more frequently to try all the other dishes on the menu.
For review and pictures here —

I hate to give the restaurant away but I gotta say this is Northern style cuisine at its best. It’s affordable, everything came out at the right temperature, great texture and the flavors were amazing. I highly recommend the Mongolian Lamb Chops and the Pork & Leeks Crispy pancakes. You might have trouble if you don’t speak mandarin. I barely got by with my Cantonese and I’m fluent. I can’t wait to come back!
Check out
for more info on the restaurant!

Northern Chinese Style.
What does that mean to me? Lamb. Lots and lots of lamb. And fatty food. All the things that warm you up from the inside out. Get the rack of lamb covered with mystery herbs and spices and expect to be wowed.
Dumplings here are cheap ($ 6.99−8.99) and come in plates of 20. Of course they have lamb dumplings.
They also have typical breakfast items like buns, soymilk, and deep fried dough sticks.
They speak Mando here.