Folks in Mexico and Audrain County don’t have to travel far to get the great tastes of Asia brought to them.

Ori Hibachi Express - A Taste of Asia has opened a new restaurant at 621 E. Liberty Street in Mexico and is serving lunch and dinner from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day except for Sundays when they are closed.

Owner Titi Dora describes her establishment as Asian Fusion, combining traditional dishes with sushi and Japanese hibachi cooking. The menu features appetizers including the Sexy Jalapeno stuffed with spicy crab and cream cheese and then deep fried. Hibachi entrees come with a choice of vegetables, chicken, crab meat, shrimp, steak, and salmon. Dora told the Ledger their ingredients stack up with all the high-end restaurants.

“We use the same steak and white meat chicken breast,” Dora said.

The menu also features Yakisoba (stir-fried noodles) entrees and traditional entrees Americans are used to like orange chicken and fried rice. Dora’s partner in the restaurant, Emily Saelin, is from Thailand and foods from her homeland are also available on the menu like Thai green curry.

“We like to cook things we enjoy,” Saelin said. “We enjoy seeing customers enjoy them too.”

“That’s our happiness,” Dora added.

The restaurant is located in the building that used to be Tacos and Tequila and features decor that will give you a glimpse into the Far East including oil paintings from Dora’s homeland of West Sumatra Island in Indonesia and Thailand.

If Titi and Emily look familiar it’s because they used to operate their food business out of a blue food truck that can still be seen parked outside of the new place.

Dora has also brought her family on board. Her brother Anggan and sister Thessa work at the restaurant.

“I want to say thank you to Mexico and all of our customers,” Dora said.

The long journey to Mexico

A nearly 10,000-mile journey has led Ori Hibachi Express - A Taste of Asia owner Titi Dora to Mexico with many stops in between.

Living in Mexico and owning her own restaurant was never in the big plans for Dora but she did dream of coming to America and making a life. Dora grew up in West Sumatra in the country of Indonesia and went to school to get a degree in the hospitality industry.

Her education eventually brought her to America and she ended up in Middleton Wisconsin working at a Japanese hibachi restaurant as a server. Dora watched as the chefs in the restaurant cook for the customers and was intrigued.

“I saw people doing the hibachi thing and thought it was cool,” Dora said. “I like something challenging and thought ‘Hey I can do that.’”

Dora found a hibachi school that lasts two weeks and decided to sign up. While there she caught the eye of the instructor who also happened to own a hibachi restaurant. 

“I got lucky,” Dora said. “He said, ‘This is your chance. If you want to do it, go ahead and do it. I know you can do it.’”

While working at the restaurant in Wisconsin Dora started thinking about opening her restaurant but the time wasn’t right. Then Covid-19 hit the country and Dora found herself without a job or income.

“I applied at Instacart,” Dora said. “It was the only job I could find.”

After a few months Dora was able to go back to work but by that time having her place was more at the forefront than ever before.

Dora found an opportunity in Mexico and brought her partner, Emily Saelin with her to help. At first, the two women were working for one of Saelin’s relatives but soon after arriving the opportunity to run it themselves approached.

Dora said working out of the truck was hard and getting help was even harder. The ladies would hire someone but the person wouldn’t last that long. Dora began training Saelin on every aspect of the truck because up to that point, Saelin was handling just the cashier duties while Dora cooked.

“Sometimes it was too hot, sometimes it was too cold and they couldn’t handle it,” Dora said about getting extra workers on the truck.

Dora said she and Saelin began to develop a special relationship with the regular customers who would come to the truck. Dora said they helped with more than just patronizing the truck.

“They would bring us portable heaters in the winter,” Dora said. “They would bring us fresh fruit in the summertime.”

After operating the truck for nearly three years the two ladies got delivered some bad news. The property where the truck was parked had been sold and they would have to move.

“Oh my gosh we don’t know what to do,” Dora said. “It has never moved and it has never started.”

At the time it didn’t appear the ladies had a lot of options and began looking at places in Columbia where they could park the truck, however, they didn’t want to leave.

“Oh no we're going to have to start over,” Dora said. “Here we already know people and our regular customers are nice and give us everything.”

Dora began asking around and discovered the old Tacos and Tequila location on East Liberty Street was available and she started asking around. She talked with Saelin about it and soon afterward they were signing a lease and preparing for the opening.

In reflecting on the journey to the restaurant, Dora paused, bowed her head, and wiped tears away from her eyes. She said the things she and Saelin went through will always stick with her.

“It was really an experience,” Dora said about working in the truck. “I’ll never forget where we started. If I remember back it’s so much easier here. Here we are.”

Dora said this journey could not have been completed without Saelin. Although they are not biologically related they have an unbreakable bond.

“I can’t do this without her,” Dora said. “We were laughing and we were in tears together. We are best friends and she is like a sister to me. We cry together, we laugh together and we fight together.”

“She is like my bestie but I respect her like my sister,” Saelin said. “I have a good friend and family.”

Both ladies also believe they have a family in Mexico with their customers.

“We really love them and want to thank them for the opportunity to stay with them,” Dora said.