Delivery
Yes
Payment
Credit Cards Accepted
Parking
Parking Lot
Good for Kids
Yes
Attire
Casual
Alcohol
No
Reservations
No
Cuisines:
Chinese
Price Point
$
$ - Cheap Eats (Under $10)
$$ - Moderate ($11-$25)
$$$ - Expensive ($25-$50)
$$$$ - Very Pricey (Over $50)
WiFi
No
Outdoor Seats
No
Typical Strip Mall Chinese restaurant with nice atmosphere. Quick Take-out. Limited Parking.
09/04/2013 - GregS18348
I have to admit, this review is not based just on the first time I ate at, or a single visit to the Imperial Wok, which is unusual for me. I had the opportunity to eat here once before, during their start-up week, I tend not to review a restaurant for the first week or two they are open, as they are either working out the kinks , and the missteps don’t reflect what they are going to be, or they are plied with fresh food, new, happy employees, and that “opening week” joy, which often decays. Many times it’s only after they have been around a while that their true colors show.
I will speak of my first visit, as it is relevant in retrospect. I had a buy one, get one free coupon the first time here, so I certainly took advantage of it. The offer allowed was good on the $5.75 lunch special, offered from 10:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m., every day, Monday through Sunday. For that price you get an entrée, fried rice (steamed on request), and either an eggroll, won ton soup, egg drop soup, or hot and sour soup. I chose the Curry Shrimp, steamed rice, and an eggroll; and as my BOGO entrée, the Green Bean with Chicken (I asked for that in Garlic Sauce, extra garlic), fried rice, and my personal Chinese favorite, Hot & Sour Soup.
The Curry Shrimp was excellent. The Shrimp were nicely cooked, and not rubbery. They are on the smallish end, size-wise, compared to some local Chinese restaurants , but, they had an excellent curry flavor and nice crisp vegetables. The egg roll was good, light and crispy, although a bit bland. The steamed rice was, well, steamed rice. For my second pick, the green bean chicken (in extra garlicky garlic sauce), was - wow! I guess one should find out what the normal garlic sauce is like before asking for extra. They took my request to heart. Very, very garlicky. The chicken was excellent – white breast meat thinly sliced and tender – the green beans lightly sautéed and still crisp. And the telltale Hot & Sour Soup? Very good. There are two kinds of soup that I get when I order this – the sweet, and the savory. This is the latter. Nice and moderately thick, dark and aromatic, full of bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, tofu, mini-corn and other delectables, it scored pretty high on the “Greg’s Hot & Sour Soup Scale.” Moderately spicy and very nice.
My recent trip got me the Hot & Spicy Shrimp, and more of that great H&S Soup. The shrimp are still, in my opinion, undersized, but they were surely Hot & Spicy. The sauce was interesting, slightly vinegary, more a southern-style hot sauce flavor than the Siracha style heat Chinese cooking is known for. I put this as an 8 out of 10, on the heat scale. Moderate after burn, unusual for most spicy Chinese food, as they tend to tone it down for the American palette. I have only had one other dish that consistently rates high in heat, and that’s the Kung Pao Chicken at a store in California. Those insidious little maroon hot peppers can kill if you’re not careful! The veggies were finely diced onions and carrots, with a few peas sprinkled in for color.
Both of these visits were take-out, and I must say they were beautifully packed plastic containers with tight fitting snap-on lids. Sauces are self-serve next to the free hot tea on a little stand in the dining room. You have to ask for chopsticks. The dining room is smallish, with about eight tables or so. It is minimally decorated in an obvious Chinese motif, and the place strikes you as very clean. There is a large cooler full of pop and a few other drinks that you can select from as you are ordering. Both times I have been there, the staff has been very pleasant. On my last visit, when I phoned in the order, I was told “5 to 10 minutes”. When I walked in six minutes later, it was packed and waiting for me. Now that’s fast.
I like the place. And although not the closest Chinese restaurant to me (there are three closer), I would certainly go out of my way to drive the extra couple of minutes to come here. I would heartily recommend it, as it makes my “Inner Myagi” happy.
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