Far East

Their Pad thai was decidedly disappointing. Weirdly pink and garnished with just a pile of ground nuts and a lime wedge, It was… underwhelming and tasteless. The other dishes we had were also disappointing. We had a mixed seafood that had a couple of shrimp and some fish fragments. We also had a pea-​pod dish that had an insufficent amount of pea-​pods to be eponymously named as such. I liked that they had hot sauce on the table, we needed it. The service was good. But i just can’t recommend.

WHAT AN EXTREME DISAPPOINTMENT! We will never go back!
On 11/​15/​2015 we ate at the Far East Restaurant in Olympia for the first time. It appeared to be neat and clean, and the woman who served us was very polite. But it’s a restaurant and we expect the food to be tasty… but it wasn’t at all!
IF YOU WANT REALLY GOOD ORANGE CHICKEN GO TO *PANDA EXPRESS!!*
We ordered:
1) ORANGE CHICKEN ~
APPEARANCE ~ When it arrived it was a monochromatic plate of food… white rice and deep fried very thin beige strips, and absolutely nothing more — no diced onions, no colorful strips of peppers, just a bland looking plate of food.
TASTE ~ I took a bite of the deep fried chicken and initially put no soy sauce on it. It had ABSOLUTELY *NO* TASTE AT ALL and had precious little sauce! In fact, if I were told it was thin won ton strips which had been deep fried in a batter I would have believed it. There was NO chicken taste, NO chicken texture, and just shy of NO orange taste in the sauce in the slightest! I put some soy sauce on it hoping to give it some flavor or taste, but it didn’t add much so I put more on it. But why would I want to put soy sauce flavoring on ‘deep fried won ton’ strips?
2) PEPPER STEAK ~
APPEARANCE ~ It was colorful and appealing.
TASTE ~ The problem was that after a very few bites there was NO MEAT left. For most of the meal it was nothing but a vegetarian dish of diced onions and peppers. Some of my chicken was then mixed in with the vegetables, but the chicken had NO taste and NO texture, so it was like nothing had been added.
IN THE END IT WAS TOTAL MONEY WASTED! I ate 5 or 6 bites and no more. My friend tasted my chicken and agreed that there was absolutely NO chicken taste and NO orange taste at all. I took about half of my meal home in a carry out box and ultimately threw it all in the trash. WE BOTH LEFT FIRMLY CONVINCED THAT WE WILL NEVER EAT THERE AGAIN!
HEALTH RISK ~ Of note is the fact that the unwrapped Chinese fortune cookies were brought to the table in the money/​credit card tray along with the bill and potentially with change. Don’t they realize how FILTHY money is? That’s a terrible health risk!
Going out for Asian food has long been my favorite, but the FAR EAST RESTAURANT WAS AN EXTREME DISAPPOINTMENT!

I came in about 10 minutes before closing to order take out. I wanted orange chicken but she said they were out. Asked for general tso’s chicken but they were out of that too. I ended up getting chicken in black bean sauce and kung pao chicken. Not impressed with either entrée. The entire dish seemed boiled and the «sauce» was like water. Prices were very low. Sodas are only $ 1.25.

Good food, great prize and nice service ! I have had the kkumpo ckn with some fresh vegetables and some delicious spring rolles ! Will try again for sure

I ordered the orange chicken special, which was $ 5.75+tx. We also ordered the cream cheese wontons. The orange chicken was cool because the chicken pieces were thin and fried in a delicious batter, making it crunchy. It comes with a good serving of sticky white rice. The wontons were awesome and I really enjoyed the sauce that came with it. Not sure what it was, maybe an authentic sweet and sour. It looked like honey, but it had a ginger taste to it. It was a good time in my mouth.
I’ve been searching for a good Chinese restaurant since moving to Olympia, and I think this place is going to be a great replacement for our favorite place in Nebraska. The staff/​owners were super friendly and sweet.

Nice little hole in the wall. Family owned and run. The orange chicken had a fresh slightly sweet yet light sauce. I would have liked more sauce. Nummy. The pad Thai was mildly sauced just as we ordered it. We would have liked more peanuts but it was very tasty. The portions are appropriate in size and not huge. So, don’t plan on one meal and then sharing it between two hungry adults.

Me and my girlfriend call in a order to this place a couple times a month. We always get the pad Thai or pineapple love along with a spring roll with tofu. The pad Thai is always delicious. The pineapple lover which is my favorite always have fresh pineapples and peppers along with juicy chicken. To top it off the family that runs the place is polite and always wearing a smile.

The food here is fresh, satisfying, and you do walk away feeling somewhat virtuous because your meal wasn’t cooked in a vast quantity of oil or covered with (delicious) carcinogenic charring. I love that you have the option of white or brown rice.
With that being said, while the food here falls somewhere within the Asian cuisine category, it is not Chinese. These dishes lack oomph and any sort of contrast in texture or flavor that would make them memorable, with meats and vegetables braised or sauteed in various sauces that tread a very narrow range of mellow savoriness. Everything is cooked well, if in the wrong technique for Chinese, but there is no tang, no acid, no spice.
The various lunch specials are very affordable and well portioned and the owners seem quite sweet. I would return but only when I am not craving Chinese, because these kinds of amorphous stir fries are quick and easy to eat on a busy weekday lunch.

I love this place! The owners are some of the friendliest people you’ll ever meet. Food is delicious and inexpensive. I often come at lunch for the lunch bowls. It’s $ 6 and you can substitute some of the best brown rice. I get the thai basil bowl and I can’t ever skip the fresh spring rolls. I get them with shrimp. Their peanut sauce is delicious and they have basil in them rather than mint which is a huge plus for me.
Only dish I didn’t enjoy was their chow mien. Other than that, always delicious. It’s so nice to have this place as a local lunch option.

Even tho it wasn’t our first choice this time it will be the next time we are in Olympia! What a wonderful surprise to have found such a delicious Thai restaurant! We were here on a Monday for lunch, so many restaurants are closed. My husband had the yellow curry with chicken and the sauce was rich, delicious, with a great blending of the curry with coconut milk! I though mine was going to be the best! It, too, was yummmmm, but the other was even better! I was going to give this a 4 star but changed my mind! For a small city or even a larger city this was impressive! The
server I think, was part of the family and she was darling and so pleasant! I’d return!

This place is Great! everyone should go here. Family owned and very authentic! Sweet kind waitress, even remembers what we like there. Orange chicken is fresh, not greasy and I feel great after eating here. Usually eating out would upset my stomach. But healthy and so delicious I’m always satisfied. Love it. Recommend for everyone and anyone. Also sooo affordable, about $ 5.75 for a lunch rice, with meat and or vegetable dish!!!

This is the most unremarkable restaurant in Olympia.
The food is fresh and cheap. That’s all that can really be said in favor of it.
There are no strong flavors. The sauce was light and rather flavorless. The request for spicy came out as a few red pepper flakes sprinkled on the veggies. The rice is just fine and comes in a ball next to the rest of your meal.
The style is vaguely pan-​asian. The cost is $ 6.
Do not come here expecting any distinct regional flavors as you we leave disappointed and confused. Come expecting to spend very little and receive some lightly seasoned fresh veggies and you’ll only leave slightly disappointed.

This place not only has good food but they are the nicest people on earth. Their lunch rice bowls (brown rice is an option) are a great deal. Thai curries, very-​authentic Phud Thai and soups are tasty. I highly recommend.

Love this place!!! I always come here when I’m in town from Seattle and the waitress still knows me by name :) thank u!

Amazing price for the tastiest Asian food around! I am in, at least, once a week. I can’t help it! The food is addicting and there is so much variety! Even now I haven’t tasted everything on the menu, and everything I’ve had has been great.
The service is great too. She is the sweetest lady and is always so kind and patient! Every plate comes out fresh and piping hot. I love this restaurant AND family!

Really small portions for the price and very bland. Would not eat here again. Ordered general Tso chicken and it was weird, small, thin slices of chicken breast– the whole order was maybe a cup of chicken. Beef broccoli had hardly any sauce on it and again, no flavor. Fried rice-​same thing– small portion, no flavor. Egg rolls were ok at best.

It’s official: there is no Chinese food in Olympia.
I ate here based on the number of good reviews, but I was very disappointed. I must agree with the low-​star reviewers who noted the food here is bland. It is bland. I don’t think they own a wok. Everything I tried seemed boiled, or steamed. The vegetables were fresh and not overcooked, but again, just bland. I wondered if they ran out of fish sauce, chili paste and soy sauce.
The server was a very sweet woman. The place was clean. The food wasn’t gross.
I do not understand the rave reviews. This food was meh.

First the positive:
They are friendly.
It’s a nice cozy little place.
Prices are medium to medium-​low
The vegetables were of decent quality.
But my issues:
The food was not exciting or interesting. It seemed like it had been dumbed down to where there was very little flavor left.
The Mongolian Beef bore no resemblance to any Mongolian Beef that I had ever seen before. It was mostly vegetables. It appeared to have been simmered rather than cooked in a wok. The beef was pale and not appealing. The thick sauce (which there was a lot of!) had almost no flavor or spice.
The cashew tofu dish… at first I thought it was the wrong order because no cashews were apparent… but then I did find several hiding down near the bottom. Again, very little flavor at all.
The meal was not too salty and probably had good nutritional value, but I don’t think I will be going back.

I think that the fact that Far East bill themselves as a Chinese restaurant is proof positive and final that Olympia does not have any Chinese restaurants. The food is more vaguely Vietnamese and/​or Thai than Chinese. Which is fine, I guess. But it’s strange. And disappointing.
But this place mines depths far below disappointing. I think that it can only be described as comedically-​bad, and I’m not sure I’ve ever been to any other restaurant which so typifies what it means to be so bad that it’s funny. This is not a good kind of funny, like the «Chinese-​Polynesian» food that one must appreciate with a hipster’s misguided sense of irony at places like South Pacific. It’s not a good kind of comedy at all. It is a tragic and insane comedy. The food is badly-​hysterical.
I am thankful, I suppose, that they make it so easy to demonstrate this.
They have a «Chow Fun» on the menu. This is a great Chinese standby, a dish which can be very simple, and can vary in very complex ways. It’s also a great dish to order and to customize, changing the sauce or vegetables or meats which are cooked with it. A great dish. Which does not even begin to matter at Far East.
What matters about Chow Fun is that its basic nature is right in its name. It is a stir-​fried dish made with a specific kind of wide rice noodle. Beyond that, variations abound. But that’s what it means, and thats what’s universal about it.
Far East is in a different universe.
If it’s stir-​fried it doesn’t show; it seems almost unto soupy. So that’s one thing down, but it’s almost excusable. The noodles tend to dry out easily and if you’re not moving a lot of it, you can end up needing to cook it a bit wet to get them to come out with the right texture. The noodles should ideally show a little char, a little scorch, some sign that they’ve been kissed by the wok. Far East’s don’t.
Which isn’t nearly so much of a problem as the fact that they’re the wrong kind of noodles. The Chow Fun is an outright lie.
Instead they make it with banh phở, the «rice stick noodles» that go into Vietnamese phở.
Banh phở are sometimes used in a dish not entirely unlike Chow Fun, the Thai dish Pad Thai. But this is not Pad Thai masquerading as Chow Fun. Moreover, Chow Fun appears in both Vietnamese and Thai cooking, in the latter case as Pad Sieu (with varying transliterations: also commonly Pad See Yew or similar.)
It’s the wrong noodle cooked in the wrong way. In a dish which is defined by the kind of noodle and how it is cooked. And there’s no excuse for it; it would be simple to just not put Chow Fun on the menu. But Chinese food in Olympia is all about illusion, and that feeling of madness at being confronted with the impossible made real.
It is difficult to even begin to translate the experience of Far East’s Chow Fun to any other context, any other place, any other cuisine, etc. It is, I suppose, like ordering naan at an Indian restaurant and being given some kind of steamed rice dumpling instead. Not naan, no, tandoori roti. Tandoori roti says how it’s cooked and what it is. But even that is not categorically wrong enough.
And that’s just it, Far East is a failure of category, a restaurant which raises all kinds of unsettling existential and ontological questions. If it is not a Chinese restaurant, and the Chow Fun is not what it claims to be, then what use are categories, what use is language? It is not a simple pedantic complaint, it is a fundamental question of the nature of consensus reality. When in Far East, if you hear hoofbeats, you are apparently supposed to think neither of zebras nor horses, but some kind of fish, or perhaps an inanimate object. Maybe Jell-​O?
I’m rating it one star, but not because I think nobody should go there. I just think that if you have your dinner, or your lunch, at Far East, you should plan on taking your dessert in a padded room.

Simple and fresh dishes are offered here in a small basic setting. Far East seems to be family run, nothing fancy, but the food is always tasty and the ingredients look so fresh.
I have only been here for lunch so far. It never disappoints! A plate with rice is $ 5.35. Cheap and nutritious! Such great value!
They even tolerate the mess my 2 year old makes!