Before I review First Wok, I'm going to let you in on the deep, dark secret of Chinese food in the BloNo: you ain't in NYC, LA, or even Chicago anymore. There is *no* top-notch Chinese around here, nor within an hour's drive of here; the places that everyone raves about as being "the best in town" are expensive without being good. I say this as a guy who prefers Asian food to almost any other kind, and who travels constantly: the best here wouldn't rate a second look anywhere else. The places with Fu dogs outside, or terracotta warrior statues inside will charge you $50 for dinner that's worth $5 at most, and have waitresses that will automatically ask you "is that *AAALLL*?" when you order and sneer at you if you refuse their suggested foofy alcoholic drinks. You've been warned.
Having said that, there is a way to get your money's worth of food - and that experience *is* similar to what you'll find in the big city. The trick is, go downscale. Don't think "Upper West Side"; think "Bed-Stuy". Think of that skanky-looking Chinese place with the broken yellow sign - the one between the Jamaican oxtail shack and the African hair-weave shop - where the cook is three times bigger than you, always has a cleaver in his hand, never smiles, and will make you a HUGE container of pretty damn good roast pork or a pile of crispy, still smokin'-hot chicken wings for a couple of bucks.
Got the picture? That's First Wok.
I got their honey boneless ribs; since I was extra hungry tonight, I ordered two of those plus chicken wings with pork fried rice. That was a mistake, because I'm only in town for the week - and I don't think I'll be able to finish it all! Maybe if I pack a lunch?... all that came to under $20 - and literally filled a shopping bag. Call it four, maybe five good meals for that price. All three containers were bulging at the seams, and the rice was stuffed in between all the chicken wings that were jam-packed in the big foam box. Yowza!
Was it good? I'll tell you what: if you add "...for the money", then it was freakin' outstanding - I don't think you can get any more value for your buck. Judged on some imaginary absolute scale of Chinese food? Well, I've had some pretty incredible Chinese, so that's not really a good question to ask me - but for the average person, I'd say that it's about like eating at Denny's: nothing incredible, but pretty decent. A good solid 6 on a 10 scale.
I don't know that I'll come back here - I'm an occasional visitor to BloNo, and there's a number of other places here that I'd like to try - but overall, First Wok left a good impression on me. (Pro tip, though: get it delivered. Looking at their, um, decor will not add anything to your enjoyment.) read more