Wok Box - Fresh Asian Kitchen
Various locations across Western Canada & Washington State
Reviewed location - Queensborough Landing, New Westminster
Summary -quick
and tasty Asian fast food
Reviewed - 21 June 2008
(guest review from
Friends of Dorothy)
Meal - Lunch
Party - 2
Age Range - Early 40s
Profile - Vegetarians
Mains - Singapore Cashew and Black Bean (both with Tofu)
Atmosphere - slick Asian with a fast food feel
Factoid - a
low carb option means no noodles or rice,
just more veggies!
Rating - 3.0 out of 5
Summary -quick
and tasty Asian fast food
We discovered Wok Box
completely by accident as we ventured into the 'burbs to do a little shopping at
the Queensborough outlet stores.
The restaurant was obviously
new with a fresh, clean look and feel. There were a few kitschy Asian
elements (Buddha at every table) but for the most part it was quite slick.
Although from first glance the restaurant appears to be designed for take-out, it
does provide a very large seating area for those wishing to dine-in.
Dining-in is a combo of real
ceramic dishes and plastic forks although the chopsticks were wood and not of
the plastic variety. Take-out is provided in what Wok Box calls "funky
Asian take-out boxes" but are really the old-fashioned paper Chinese take-away
containers before they were replaced with styrofoam and plastic.
Self-serve and counter
ordering is no different here from most fast food joints, however when you order
food to dine-in they do bring it to your table.
The menu is displayed both on
boards across the main cooking bar and in individual menus. Cooking is
done in full view in a small but apparently efficient kitchen.
My partner and I are both
vegetarian and we are always a little reluctant to "review" something based on
our veggie preferences but since all of the Wok Box stir-fry choices are served
with chicken, beef, pork, prawns or tofu we felt we could translate our
experience to carnivores as well.
We both ordered a Lunch Box Stir-Fry which we
found to be just enough food to satisfy our lunch time hunger (you can also
order "regular" and "sumo" size).
My partner had the Black Bean Stir-Fry with rice
and I had the Singapore Cashew with hokkien noodles. Both dishes were
piping hot when they arrived at the table. The vegetables and tofu were
nicely coated in the chosen sauce as were the noodles in the Singapore Cashew
dish. Both the noodles and rice were done perfectly.
The Singapore Cashew is one of the extra spicy
dishes served (dishes come as non-spicy, spicy, extra spicy and extreme spicy)
and in a time when Asian spicy for us North Americans usually means a very mild
heat, this one lived up to its "extra spicy" name ... but in a nice way.
The Wok Box menu is varied and provides a
selection of Asian dishes from all around south-east Asia including Thailand,
India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore, to name a few.
We'll be watching for additional franchises
opening up so we won't have to make the trek to New West each time we get a
craving for fresh, tasty and quick Asian fast food!
