Eating on Dingle Peninsula can run from simply expensive to ridiculous. Dingle is a prime tourist area and they know it, and dinners are much more expensive than you might guess for a small town. If you want to spend a lot of money for fresh and excellent seafood, you can do it in Dingle. So, my wife and I were also looking for something a little more reasonable. We are a fan of good Asian food to begin with, and by walking the town, we discovered that there were at least two Chinese restaurants (the other is Tir-Na-Ri restaurant about two blocks away and on a side street). One has been there a while (Tir-Na-Ri, and a slightly more expensive) and one seemed new. New Wok Chinese Restaurant is located on MAIN Street about three "blocks" up from what they call "The Mall". (The center of "old Dingle"). It occupies the second floor of a building. Its signs are rather small and hard to see up on the second floor, and the main thing that caught our attention was a small easel sign out on the side walk, which advertised an "early bird special". This is the REAL VALUE at New Wok. For $16.50 euros, you get a main course (selection from about 5 or 6 s"standards"), rice, an appetizer, and a free glass of house wine. Essentially, you get a free glass of wine beyond the individual prices. However, for 33 euros, you and your partner can eat dinner very well. The "early bird special" runs from 4ish to 8 or 9 every day. The place is operated by a Chinese chef / owner (we think) who walks the restaurant and then disappears while the food is being cooked and then returns, plus one Asian waiter, and maybe a general person doing dish washing etc. The New Wok is a new incarnation of an older restaurant located down near the mall called the Happy Garden Palace, which is reviewed once here elsewhere.
We have no complaints!! The restaurant is new, immaculately clean, and well managed, in our opinion. You can't eat better for less money in a sit down restaurant in Dingle. We had Szechuan Shrimp (nice sized shrimp) as our mains the first night along with chicken satay skewers (3) and egg rolls (3). The chicken satay was served with a peanut sauce (a little weak and watery) and the egg rolls were served with a dipping sauce. We were so impressed with the amount and quality of what was in the early bird special that we came back to New Wok again our second night in Dingle too eat here again. The fellow who appeared to own the place seemed very serious about doing a good job and providing a nice restaurant. We would be regulars if we were Dingle locals. They also do a big job of carry-out. The owner needs to seriously consider making his signs larger and easier to see from the street. This restaurant is a good value and would have more traffic if more people saw the sign and gave it a try. Keep it up guys!! read more
