It was Lunar New Year last Saturday, which also means another chance to start with a clean slate if January 1st didn't work out LOL. In Korean culture, there are certain things that you must eat on this joyous occasion, like noodles and a soup called Ddukmanduguk which translates to Rice Cake Dumpling Soup. In Chinese culture, you must also eat noodles, dumplings and spring rolls among other things. Noodles are for longevity (long life), dumplings to "exchange" the old year with the new and Spring rolls are eaten on the first day of Spring. The dishes vary among the different Asian countries, but the meanings are very similar. In an effort to start off the New Year right (again) and to prolong all our lives, I went searching for a Chinese restaurant to eat all the Chinese goods, since I was going to cook all the Korean noodles and dumplings for dinner. I stumbled upon Wang's II (WII) and after reading some of my fellow Yelpers reviews, I knew I had to give this place a try (S/O to John H. and Chui M.!)
- Parking -
Center Lot.
- Vibe -
Now this is the quintessential Chinese Mom and Pop restaurant that I have been looking for in Savannah! Chinese decor, lions at the gate (entrance), water fountain, but more importantly, there are 2 menus! One menu is entirely in English which is probably the one you are going to get initially and if you speak Chinese or look like you're well versed in Chinese cuisine, they'll offer you the bilingual one with entirely different items on the menu (oooooobviously, you want this one)!
- Service -
There were 2 people working the floor, a young girl and guy, and not sure if she was training or they like to work as a tag team, but either way, both took care of us and were super nice, polite and very helpful.
- Eats/Refreshments -
They provide a great value for both Lunch and Dinner menu options. Lunch (as well as dinner) comes with a choice of rice or Fried Rice AND a choice of Egg Roll, Spring Roll or Soup (Wonton, Egg Drop or Hot & Sour). Portions were generous and most of the Lunch items were under $10!
Won Ton Chips and Plum Sauce? - Upon arrival, just like you would get Chips and Salsa at a Mexican restaurant, they bring you a small bowl of Fried Won Ton chips and plum sauce? (or something like it) and hot mustard. I don't like the Hot Mustard so I pushed that to the side. The chips and sauce were pretty good! My youngest loved them.
Won Ton Soup - It was pretty basic (refer to pic). The broth didn't have much flavor nor color. It seemed watered down and lacked the chicken flavor and I think it could use a little bit of freshness and some color. Chopped green onions would have done the trick, but the won tons were good!
Don't worry, read on. It gets good after the Spring Rolls....
Spring Rolls - This was my least favorite. Both my youngest and I were turned off by something in them. I just can't put my finger on it, but for some reason, my oldest loved them so there you go, to each their own.
Prawns in Lobster Sauce - I find it so interesting how certain Chinese dishes are just different all around North America. For example, what is called General Tso around here, back home in Montreal the General's name is Tao. This goes the same for Lobster Sauce. Around here, the sauce is basically an egg drop soup as a sauce. In Montreal, it's an egg drop sauce but with black beans added to it. Anyway, I ordered this with my youngest in mind. She loves eggs and shrimps. It had good flavor. Shrimps were cooked perfectly. There are peas and carrots in it as well.
House Lo Mein (Pork, Chicken, Shrimp) - You have to ask for "House" if you want all three meats. I only saw the Lo Mein with each individual meats listed, so when I asked, they told me it was called House Lo Mein. I didn't pay attention to the final price on the bill, but it must not have been anything too significant, since my bill didn't seem out of the ordinary. I ordered this one with my oldest in mind.
Dan Dan Noodles - *Peanut Alert* Now a dish for me! This Szechuan dish is spicy with thicker noodles in a slightly thicker sauce with a slight peanut taste so I had to ask and they confirmed the peanut content. It had quite a kick and surprisingly, my youngest loved it too, but she's got a pretty sophisticated palette for a little human. This was definitely the highlight of the meal In my opinion, but my kids would beg to differ.
We made quite a dent in our order, even though the portions were generous and it came with the rice and all the extras. We still had a lot leftover that we took a whole box home. It was also pretty good the next day!
Along with what we had at WII and what I made for dinner that night, we ate our weight in noodles and dumplings, so we are definitely on the right track to a fresh new start and we should live until we are 150 LOL! Happy Year of the Rat, Everyone! read more