Unless you happen to be a resident of South Pasadena, this Chinese restaurant can be easily missed as it is not in the Old Town Pasadena area where most of the other restaurants are located. This food establishment is closer to Huntington Drive or Monterey Park near the local post office and two schools.
It’s open 7 days a week, from 11 am to 10 pm and has been in business since 1992. I’ve frequented this restaurant several times now and during my last visit I was able to closely scrutinize most of the details so AC readers can get an idea what this place is like.
Parking is small to medium in size. At times it can be filled up, but you can also park in the side or near the housing areas, if necessary.
One bad thing I noticed immediately is the grade of the restaurant, which was given a “B”. Judging from the outside or the inside appearance, it’s hard to determine what prevented it from getting an “A”, but this is important to note. Scanning all around from where I was sitting, I would estimate the place can hold about sixty guests. There are about 15 tables and most have 4 chairs. There are some large round tables with a lazy susan for eating food family style and these tables can hold about 10-11 people. The tables and chairs look to be in very good condition and are cleaned well. They include a flower vase in each table.
For a Sunday evening, I noted the service was fairly quick (10-13 minutes) and it was not filled with customers just yet. The waiter and waitresses were very courteous and patient.
Prices on the menu are reasonable; most ranging from 7.50 to as high as 35.50. Since they serve many seafood dishes, they also have seasonal dishes which will vary in price.
The lunch specials are 5.75 – 6.25 per item and included steamed rice. This is served from 11 am to 3:00 pm.
While dishes are primarily seafood like crab, oyster, scallops, shrimp, clams, lobster and squid, you can also find the popular Chinese non-seafood dishes like lemon chicken, sweet and sour chicken or pork, broccoli beef, roasted duck, curry beef or chicken, and cashew nut chicken. There are also many varieties of fried rice dishes, chow mein dishes and soup dishes. Vegetarians will enjoy this place as well since they serve a good selection of non-meat dishes. My favorites are the braised string bean and Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce.
The waiter started my meal with tea which is served in a small tea kettle, and was very hot. A few minutes later, I received “war wonton soup”, which is soup mixed with a variety of vegetables, shrimp and beef. The large size soup is good for about 4-6 helpings, which means you can easily share this with one other person. The soup was a bit bland at first, but adding pepper helped with the flavoring.
My main course is a dish called “Sizzling Scallops” which is a scallop dish served in a skillet with onions and greens. Steamed rice was served separately in a bowl. The dish tasted very good and there was more than enough to fill me up, plus give me extras for eating later. In the past, I’ve also tried the cashew chicken, the sweet and sour pork, sweet and sour chicken and my personal favorite, the spicy salt pork chops. They serve you several pork chops and the meat is very hot and tender and was excellent with any other dish you have with your family and friends. Keeping enough for yourself is the hardest part as this is usually one of the first dishes to be finished first.
After your meal, they finish by giving you the bill along with fortune cookies dipped in white chocolate, which is a nice touch.
A few bad observations I made are minor at best, but worthy of note. They have a small area they use to hold napkins, plates and utensils which is located in the middle of the restaurant for all to see. In my opinion this takes away from the overall ambience of the setting and should be left in the back of the kitchen area, or somewhere it can not be easily seen by customers. I also found out they do not serve brown rice, but as I said, this is a minor issue.
All in all, despite the issues I mentioned in this review, this is an excellent restaurant and anyone I invited to try their food has always enjoyed their meals. Family and friends have come back to Oak Tree Inn whenever they are in the area. Compared with other Chinese restaurants I tried in Burbank, Pasadena, Glendale and other parts of California, I still consider Oak Tree as my favorite Chinese restaurant.
Address:
1315 Fair Oaks Ave
South Pasadena, CA 91030
(323) 682-2882
(626) 799-2983
