The Oriental

I have visited this place a few times with large groups for birthdays and have found the staff cater excellently for these situations. They do a great lunchtime menu for approx.£7, which was excellent value. There is also quite a wide choice of Japanese, Chinese, Thai food, so you aren’t limited to what you can have for such a great price. Everyone in the party on each occasion has really loved everything they ordered. They do some nice non-​alcoholic cocktails too:)
Situated on the canal side at the mailbox it’s a really lovely relaxed place to go.

When I was told that the venue for my friends birthday meal was the Oriental, I was excited. I know that Alan C. and Erica G. both rate this place (and I trust their judgement implicitly), so I knew we would be in for a bit of a treat on a rainy bank holiday Monday in Brum.
Joanne D. had booked the table for 17 people for 3pm. I can’t comment on the booking process, but the restaurant had seemed to have been accommodating as they had no issues with changing the amount of people multiple times before the day.
The Oriental is in the Mailbox complex, which is not somewhere I tend to go regularly (it’s quite chain-​y and most of the venues don’t appeal to me), however I think I will be down more often in the coming months! Situated next to the canal, the exterior is unassuming (neat and tidy but nothing to shout about) proved by several of our number missing the entrance!
The interior is lovely! With a light up bar, colorful Chinese and Japanese inspired art on the walls and a minimalist feel to the cocktail lounge area; I knew we would be in safe hands. As I wasn’t feeling drinking on Monday, I opted to start with a non-​alcoholic cocktail. The red apple fizz (£3.50) was a sparkling delight! There are deals on the regular cocktails (buy one get one half price) pretty much all day, so it would be a nice spot to meet a friend and grab a drink.
After a bit of confusion (there were only two members of staff on bar and serving duty, so there was a bit of a wait for drinks and service), we were seated at around 3:30pm. The restaurant area is just as lovely as the bar, but some of the chairs have peoples faces on… Which is a little strange to say the least!
The lunch menu (served until 5pm) is a bargainous treat! With a fairly extensive menu, you can opt to have a starter and a regular main for £7.95 or a starter and a «Chef’s special» (including tiger prawns, salmon and duck) for £9.95. I went for a coffee with my meal which was a very reasonable £1.60. The food was spot on! The Soup was flavorsome, peppery and delicious and my tiger prawns (served with jasmine rice) was very tasty too.
After our meal, we opted for a dessert as well. Desserts were £4.50, but were generous, delicious and looked fantastic! Presentation was fab for all of the food served during our meal.
I was impressed with this venue. Not expensive, lovely décor and great food. Again, I don’t have much call to go to the Mailbox — but I will be back to sample more of the Oriental soon!

This is one of the nicer Oriental restaurants in the city centre. I’ve been here a few times now, and never been disappointed.
While it may seem a little on the

Decent new Asian discovery for me in The Mailbox (well done sis). My folks aren’t the most adventurous eaters when it comes to eastern cuisine but this place was a crowd pleaser for the whole fam :)
Inside looks much like they’ve nicked all the furniture from a five-​star hotel lobby — lots of plush cushioning, dark carpets and stylish wallpaper. In fact there’s little sign this is a pan-​Asian restaurant at all, except for the one rather large giveaway that every single chair has a black-​and-​white photo of a different random Asian person’s face set into the back of it. This was particularly disconcerting for me as I kept thinking I could see my Chinese mate Hin’s face smiling back at me from a chair at the next table.
Food spans Thai, Chinese and Malaysian dishes and is wonderfully varied — we ordered a whole mix from more familiar thai green curry and pad thai classics to more interesting spicy malaysian options. The yuk sung from the starters stood out for me but everything was tasty.
Dad was happy because the chairs were comfy — this is notable as he’s 6ft4in with back issues and seating is his most frequent complaint with eating out. Mum was happy because Dad was happy, and the food got finished. And we three sisters were probably happy because Dad was paying, oh and the sangria came by the pitcher (still trying to work out what makes sangria oriental though hmm…).
Makes a nice reasonably-​priced addition to the Mailbox options, and that canalside area is usually buzzing (good for a scenic post-​dinner stroll in warm weather). Bonus marks to anyone who manages to make the waiting staff smile though!