Monday 17 June 2013

Silver Wok

For this stop of our adventure, we decided to get some take out from a downtown Chinese restaurant called Silver Wok. We have been there before, and typically, we eat in - but we were pairing this adventure with our weekly Bachelorette viewing as well (don't judge!), and with our busy schedules, takeout was the best option.  I must apologize at this point - Todd picked up the food and I forgot to ask him to take photos, which meant that we have pictures of the food, but none of the actual establishment. I will do my best to describe it from memory.

Sitting on King Street, Silver Wok is in the heart of it all - just steps away from many of the popular attractions that downtown has to offer. The inside is understated and simple - tables surrounded by black metal chairs with some simple pieces of art on the walls. There are a couple of round tables that accommodate large groups, and tables for more typical group sizes of 2 to 4. When you visit Silver Wok, whether you are staying or going, you are sure to see full tables, and lots of people in and out for pick-up orders. Additionally, Silver Wok will deliver to Kingstonians - so if you ever get lazy like I do from time to time, this is a good option. One thing that you will notice very quickly when you visit - people who work there are committed to being there a lot. This is very easily recognized when you look to the back of the restaurant where there is what can be considered a "staff table" (or perhaps family table?!) that is covered in newspapers and other items sitting underneath a television. They obviously make themselves comfortable here - and when it's their livelihood, why not?

If you want a sense of what Silver Wok has to offer, check out their website found here. At the end of the day, it's a Chinese food restaurant and it will probably have exactly what you expect. If you're looking for one of those Chinese-Canadian/American restaurants that offers cheeseburgers and fries, you won't find it here. What you will find is a good variety of truly Chinese options. If you want a cost-effective option that allows you to have variety in a dish all your own, try out one of Silver Wok's combination plates. 

And with that, here's the run-down of our orders:

Carrie and Todd: We each had wonton Soup to start, Special Combination Plate #5: 1 egg roll, sweet & sour chicken balls, chicken chop suey and chicken fried rice. We each ordered this with the sauce on the side.

Tonia: Wonton soup to start, and Special Value Combination Plate "P": 1 egg roll and curry chicken on steamed rice.

Even though Todd had to trek across the city from downtown to our house in the west end, the food was still hot when he arrived - especially the wonton soup. That was pretty darn satisfying, if I do say so myself! There's very little in the food world that is more disappointing than getting home with a takeout meal and taking a bite of luke-warm or cold food; especially soup!  Overall, we were pretty happy with our orders. I can't say too much more without giving away our ratings and comments, so let me jump right in:

Carrie: 4.5 forks. Everything was absolutely fantastic. The only drawback was the chicken to batter ratio of the chicken balls. They were still tasty, but at least a couple of them were more dough than chicken. In my opinion, though - Silver Wok has the best egg rolls and wonton soup in town. Great flavour, good stuffing in the rolls and lots of goodness in the wonton soup - not just broth. 

Todd: 4.75 forks. A direct quote from our good friend Todd for the night: "The MSG tasted great!! I don't care if I have a headache tomorrow!" Awesome.

Tonia: 4 forks. Tonia thought that the soup had good flavour and the best thing about the soup was that it had a lot of wontons. Her egg roll, sadly, had much less "stuffing" than in the past - in fact, it was almost hollow (I felt badly for her, but still wasn't willing to offer up any of mine... and even as I type that, I'm happy with my decision. Does that make me a bad person?!). One bite, and most of the stuffing came out. Sad. Tonia did like the curry, though and would recommend it for sure. The steamed rice seemed a little less than fresh, and the fortune cookie was stale. 

Overall score: 4.42 forks!

I will always stand by my opinion that Silver Wok has the best Chinese food in town. I certainly know others have other favourites (including, perhaps my fellow adventurers), but ultimately, this is my blog, so ... na-na-na-na-boo-boo. Silver Wok Rocks! 

Really, though - even if I was much more mature than I seem to be, who can argue with an overall score like that? 


The next blog from our visit to the Limestone Kabob House will be coming very soon!

Silver Wok on Urbanspoon




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