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I haven’t been to this location since it was branded under “China Wok”. I will fondly remember it for being the place that introduced me to General Tso’s chicken. Back when the chicken pieces were almost comedically large and almost too much. Since then, I figured I’d try out the rebranded location.
The service was quick, the atmosphere was nice. The food was meh. Let’s divulge.
I am a Springfield boy, so of course I had to try to cashew chicken. You can get a great gauge on a Springfield Chinese restaurant based on their cashew. And usually, if the cashew sauce is good, everything else tends to follow suit. But this was not particularly the case unfortunately.
I feared the worst when I saw the chicken and the sauce had that pale complexion. The flavor was off. No hint of oyster, very thin and a taste of chicken stock. Usually when I see this color of cashew sauce it is a dead giveaway. Versus Canton Inn or Leongs thicker, darker and more complex flavor profile.
The chicken was crispy, but also a bit chewy and dry. I also got orange chicken (which was decent!) as well as the sweet and sour, which, let’s be honest it’s VERY hard to mess sweet and sour up. I’m not particularly a fan of it, but it tastes the same everywhere.
The crab rangoon was great. Salty, versus the sweet kind that many places get, which is kind of ironic being that they give you sweet sauce to dip it in. STOP USING SWEET CREAM CHEESE IN CRAB RANGOON. So thank you, Wok, for not being in that club.
The fried rice was good. Better than many of the flavorless and bland varieties found around town. Though it wasn’t perfect, it was still miles above most of the competition.
Overall, the experience was okay. Not bad, not amazing. But could be so much more.