A Great Small Place with a Lot of Class!
Written: Apr 22 '06 (Updated Apr 22 '06)
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Pros: Wonderful fresh food, good service at diner prices
Cons: more space to accommodate more diners during prime times
The Bottom Line: This is a perfect example of good design, execution and presentation in dining at moderate cost!
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| tennis_player's Full Review: Wok's Up |
Wok's Up is located in a small strip mall near a major shopping center. It is just 2 months old but it looks to be very successful, already. It was opened by a young Chinese couple, Ted and Annie Lee. They were, originally from this area but moved to Kentucky to start their first restaurant. After 10 years of success, apparently, they got homesick and decided to come back to their home area. They brought their entire kitchen crew with them to start the new restaurant. Now, that is unique! It is also unique in their chosen format.
I first learned of their existence via a "new restaurants" listing from the United Airlines Mileage Plus Dining Program that I subscribe to. In reading the blurb on them and looking at the accompanying sample menu, it appeared to be a low-cost, fast food place. I thought it would be setup like a counter where you order your meal, pay for it and they would call your number or name or they might deliver it to your table - a very inexpensive, casual kind of place. Upon our first visit, I was surprised to find a genuine "sit down" format with real table service.
Wok's Up is a very small place. I'm surprised they can do so well with such a small seating capacity. There are only 7 tables with seating for four, a couple of tables for two and a small counter with space for 10 guests. For economic success, they must turn their tables quickly. But, to their credit, while the orders are usually delivered from the kitchen quickly, we never felt rushed.
The decor is contemporary/modern. The tables are dark, substantial and stable, real wood coated with a clear polyurethane finish. The black padded-seat chairs with beautiful wood frames and back are equally heavy and nicely finished. The silverware is heavy and plated - not the inexpensive pressed or stamped type found in diners or other economy dining format places. Even the paper napkin is a heavy, quality napkin in black to compliment the rest of the decor.
There are no chintzy or fake oriental decorations. The walls are a muted yellow and the floor is an earthy, large-square ceramic tile. There are nicely-framed, tasteful pictures of Asian scenes on the walls. The dinnerware is all gleaming white. The teapot is a very contemporary round spherical glass globe with a built-in, cylindrical metal screen for the tea leaves, securely mounted in a brown molded plastic housing - very attractive! Every detail seems to beautifully designed to work together. The whole place exudes class.
The menu is compilation of Asian dishes. There are items from Japanese, Chinese, Thai and Singaporean cuisines. There are 11 items on the Lunch Menu in the $6 to $7 range. This makes it as cheap, if not cheaper than typical fast food places and a lot healthier and more freshly prepared. Thai Basil Chicken or Beef, Honey Walnut Prawns, Kung Po Shrimp, Classic Lo Mein are example dishes.
There are 9 appetizers ranging from $3 (Crispy Spring Rolls) to $8 (Tuna Tartar). There are 3 soups shown (Hot & Sour, Wonton, Kyoto Miso) all at $3, each. Three salads (Wok's Up Jungle Salad, Mandarin Orange, Sesame Chicken) are only $3.50 to $6. There are 4 vegetarian entree items (Buddha's Feast, Ma Po Tofu, stir Fried Eggplant, Sauteed Garlic Snap Peas) at $8.25, each; 5 beef entrees (Thai Basil Beef, Panang Curry Beef, Mongolian Beef in Hot Platter, California Sunshine Beef - their version of orange peel beef, Garlic Jade Beef) at $10.25, each; 6 chicken entrees - see the same list of beef items but with chicken - and Sichuan Bon Bon Chicken - chicken wok-tossed in sesame paste dressing/served on bed of fresh steamed spinach, all at $9.95, each; and 4 prawn and sea bass entrees at $12 - $14. All entree items come with steamed white rice and are suitable for sharing as in Family Style dining.
There is also a Rice & Noodles section designed to be single-dish meals ranging from $6.50 (Garlic Pepper Noodles) to $8.50 (Pad Thai, Tropical Fried Rice). There are 3 desserts (Banana Spring Rolls, Mochi Ice Cream, Chef's Special), $3 - $4.
On our initial visit, we sampled Smooth Sea Bass (steamed Sea Bass with ginger & scallions served on tofu and white steamed rice on the side), Dan Dan Noodles (egg noodles topped with Taiwanese street-style chicken chili), Sesame Chicken Salad (diced chicken breast, sesame seeds, almonds, mixed spring greens tossed with citrus soy dressing), hot tea and a Diet Pepsi. The Dan Dan Noodles were excellent - spicy with good mix of textures between the noodles and the ground chicken chili. The Smooth Sea Bass was outstanding - flavor was very close to what my mother used to make at home and the fish was just the right texture - smooth, tender and moist. The tofu complimented the fish very well and the portion was not skimpy. The salad had good flavor but it was just a tad dry. The presentation was gorgeous for such a budget-priced place. The Sea Bass came on a beautiful, contemporary-styled, rectangular plate with the fish nestled in the center and arranged to fit the geometry of the plate. The salad came in a small metal wok-shaped vessel. The Dan Dan Noodles were presented in a similar metal wok-shaped vessel.
The serving staff are all very young men and women. They're spirited, friendly, competent and very efficient. They all work as team. One person took the order but our food was delivered by others. We were impressed at their obvious desire to please. All in all, it was very nice experience. This is clearly an example of a casual dining event that exceeded our expectations.
The dinner bill came to $36.05, tax included but before tip. We had leftovers of the chicken salad and the noodles to make a light lunch for another day. We consider this an excellent value - good, fresh food, good service at moderate prices!
Thank you to Bruguru for adding this to the restaurant review listings!
Jim
Recommended:
Yes
Kid Friendliness: Yes
Vegetarian Friendly: Yes
Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations This is not your typical Asian place. Think of it as a new, unique place geared for modern times. I think you will be pleasantly surprised!
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