Chinese food

I am not a fan of Chinese food in Miami, it’s full of MSG, way too salty and every dish arrives swimming in brown goopy sauce.  And tonight proved to be the same old repertoire at Wok Town in South Beach!  Too bad, because they actually do a nice job with their concept which is pick your protein and choose your sauce. I prefer the downtown location with very zen white and orange decor and wonderful large scale photos.  The South Beach location has dark wood and black chairs which are not very cheerful and it’s dark in there!

They’ve expanded the menu and added a few more salads. I saw Chicken Satay Appetizer $5.95 with crispy noodles. Sounds good but not sure about the portion or flavor. All the satays I’ve had outside of Asia usually uses chicken breast! It’s dry, rubbery and tasteless because they don’t marinade it properly and leave in one slab stabbed on a skewer.

With the Groupon deal, we had to purchase two entrees, so we opted for Mongolian Pork $10.95 and Bulgogi Steak Salad $12.95. My hubby loves Crispy Brussel Sprouts, so we ordered that as well. Major disappointment, small plate for $5.95 again swimming in way too much sickly sweet sauce. There was nothing Mongolian about the Mongolian Pork, no hint of spiciness or Szechuan flavors, just more brown goopy sauce. I guess it was accentuated because we didn’t have rice to sop it up. The pork tasted like it was Chinese Char Siu (roast/BBQ pork), we just had a nibble because we decided to take this home.
The Bulgogi Steak Salad ended up being the best dish! It was a good portion enough to share.  The skirt steak was nicely grilled and very tasty, not chewy.  Good presentation in a large orange rectagular bowl, salad was simple field greens with chopped scallion, shredded carrots and sliced cucumbers with side of kimchi and bulgogi dressing.  Definitely would recommend this dish.
Other dishes I’ve had downtown was Singapore noodles and pan fried pork Gyozas, both were pleasantly yummy. This was quite a few years’ ago though, so don’t hold your breath. The minute they change chefs, you just never know what to expect.  I think the South Beach chefs need to back off on their salt, sauce and sweet, the three ‘s’!
My hubby always says, when you go to a Chinese restaurant, you have to have the Fortune Cookie.  I liked that fortune: “You are an exciting and inspiring person”!