Fortune cookies and chopsticks.

Oriental House Chinese Restaurant provided me the first, but scrapped the later. Maybe they knew I wouldn't know how to use them anyway. How others can shovel tons of rice in with two pieces of wood, without flicking it to the people at the neighboring table, I don't know.

But I'd be willing to try. And try again.

On Tuesday evening, they spared me the embarrassment by just bringing me and Noelle plain, boring silverware.

They do provide chopsticks on request, however ... for the daring.

Oriental House is hidden behind the corner of Harvard Street and College Avenue, diagonally across from the 7-11.

We started by ordering sodas.

The server brought out Noelle's, but forgot mine. Her shift must have been over because soon someone else took her place.

"I like that the menu is in English," Noelle said.

I ordered the Teriyaki Chicken ($7.25). Noelle ordered the Kung Pao Chicken ($6.50). The menu also lists stars for the dishes that are hot and spicy. Noelle's dish was starred. We agreed to split a pork chow mein ($5.50).

All of the dishes were brought out at once.

Though chow mein is typically considered a thick stew, I felt like it was served more as a tossed assortment, which I preferred.

I enjoyed the appetizer's zesty vegetable taste. It was served with a heaping bowl of steamed rice. As I spooned the rice onto my plate, the steam rose a foot above the rice.

The Teriyaki Chicken was prepared with fresh green beans, carrots and broccoli. The chicken chunks were marinated in spicy soy sauce. I always love teriyaki chicken, especially prepared with the extra vegetable touches besides broccoli.

I also appreciated that the pool of Teriyaki sauce wasn't drowning the food.

Noelle's Kung Pao chicken was served with celery, water chestnuts and peanuts. The peanuts were heaped onto the dish. They were the most visible part of the dish.

"If you like nuts, it would be delicious," she said.

The sauce it was served in was spicy, but the chicken itself was not, she said.

The menu at Oriental House offers entrees priced between $4.75 and $9.95 and appetizers ranging from $1 to $7.95. It's affordable Chinese, with menus for chop suey, vegetarian seafood, chicken, pork, egg foo young and mandarin dishes, among many others. There also is a Chef's Special Suggestion list with detailed description.

I'm a fried rice junkie. But most of the entrée choices and family dinners don't offer a choice of fried rice. It can be ordered as a side dish, however.

I'd go back for what I ordered again, or I would try something from the Mandarin Dinner list, served with soup and appetizer ($9.95). And I might try chopsticks next time. Just don't sit at the table next to me.

Anna Maria Basquez covers arts and entertainment for the Coloradoan. Reach her at AnnaBasquez@coloradoan.com