Oriental Express - Altiplano

Many times during visits to Tijuana, I 'd passed by Oriental Express and I 'd always wondered... What would it be like to enjoy Chinese cuisine in Tijuana? Two years ago, I found out about Chinese food in Tijuana 's famous Zona Norte, and specifically, Oriental Express. You walk into the restaurant, and much of the decor is no different than any small, mom and pop Mexican diner. You 'll feel at home as you sit yourself at one of the booths, upholstered in gaudy, red, vinyl, and you 'll notice the furniture is made of laminated wood, with fake wood trim.. The floor is tile, there 's a stand-up drink cooler in one corner, the walls are mostly bare, and when you look up at the ceiling, you 'll see bare fluorescent light fixtures, the television with rabbit ears playing a Mexican soap opera; all of these features are found in practically any mom and pop diner in Tijuana. Some aspects aren 't typical, such as a smattering of cheap, gaudy Chinese decorations on the walls, Mexican picante sauce gracing the tables, and the menu, which features Chinese entrées, in Spanish. Examples on the menu include Chow Mein Camaron, Chop Suey de Pollo, and Kun Pao Camaron. To add to the bizarre atmosphere, these folks speak a mixture of Spanish and Chinese, with about 90% of the dialog in Spanish, which makes life interesting. I sat myself down at a booth, and was greeted by the waitress, who introduced herself as María, and was presented a menu. She asked me what I wanted to drink, as I asked for a Tsingtao beer, alas, Oriental Express does not serve anything alcoholic, so I had to settle for a Piña de Crush, which is a mighty fine drink. Despite the fact that it was nearly four in the afternoon, I asked María is I could order from the lunch menu... she said that was fine, so I ordered a #1, which the menu advertised as featuring a main dish of Oriental Express chicken, a spring roll, fried rice, a fried chili pepper, and a salad. My salad consisted of a plate of fried deep fried noodles, placed on my table as an appetizer. I had to stifle a laugh, as this wasn 't exactly what most folks would consider to be a salad, but I had to remind myself that I was in Tijuana, and things work a little different here. A few squirts of ketchup on the plate for dipping made the noodles taste great, as I dipped them into the ketchup, and enjoyed until my lunch arrived. I went with Especiales de Almuerzo #1, which featured Oriental Express chicken, a spring roll, fried rice, a fried chili pepper, and a salad. As previously stated, the so-called salad was a plate of dry noodles, which would put it into the appetizer category rather than a salad. All things are well, good and different in Tijuana. Look at it this way, how many Chinese restaurants north of the border give you a jalapeno pepper with your lunch? Oriental Express didn 't skimp on this lunch in late afternoon, as I received three large pieces of chicken, deep friend, Tijuana style. I 'm talking about three pieces of floured, deep fried chicken, the way fried chicken is cooked at nearly every restaurant in town. The upside down bowl of rice was truly Chinese-style rice, and I could even find a few green peas and cilantro leaves in it, but I wasn 't quite sure if it was steamed or fried... but it was savory, with lots of soy sauce, and delicious, with an authentic Chinese taste. The spring roll, or chun cun was brown and greasy, and contained some sort of mystery meat and vegetable filling... but aside from it 's heritage, it too was delicious, and I enjoyed every bit of it. If you 're a lover of Chinese food, and you 've never visited Tijuana, you 're in for a surprise, as this isn 't the variety of Chinese food you 'll find north of the border. It 's pure Chinese, with a lot of Mexican influence. It 's good, it 's amazing and it 's very different. I 'm a fan of Tijuana-style Chinese food, and I 'm a believer in Oriental Express, located in Tijuana, Baja California. In reality, the food is 3-stars, but the ambience is priceless, the service is friendly, and if you speak Spanish, you 're in business. So I 'm taking the high road and I 'm giving this interesting Chinese diner a solid 4-star review.