Super Wok has closed.
mmm-yoso is again not on vacation. Its just Cathy blogging while Kirk is busy doing other stuff, like digesting.
Hi. Thought you might like a good, inexpensive and local place to eat....
Oh, did I mention its, like, totally a hole in the wall? Sort of three tables inside, but nobody eats there. Its all packaged for you to take outside and eat...
Super Wok is located in Pacific Beach, on Ingraham, between Grand and Garnet, on the West side of the street. Next to the Coin Laundry, behind the Chevron Station. That's it- the whole building, right there in that photograph.
Its run by a husband and wife and their young daughter is there too. They are from Shanghai. The food is decidedly Westernized Chinese...the kind I grew up with in Detroit. Its good and fresh. There are 4 woks in the back, 2 rice cookers in front, and refrigerators and freezers with the food for cooking and a refrigerator with bottled and canned beverages. OK, the menu.
Yep, this is it. Its laminated and in front of you, next to the cash register, and there are things written on the wall behind the cash register...its all the same stuff, except I saw one tofu dish on the wall that isn't on the menu. That's it. You order, pay, sit down and wait. You get your food and its packaged and you have to find a place to eat. I think a lot of people use the Laundromat. We decided to drive south a few miles to the Ski Ramp/Boat ramp at Mission Bay and chose a picnic bench with a view.
We ordered some basics ...the chicken egg foo young ($4.75) and the Curry Chicken ($5.95) as well as the paper wrapped chicken (6 pieces, $3.75).
The paper wrapped chicken was superb! Juicy, chopped chicken mixed with some crunchy water chestnuts, fresh herbs and some sauce that had sesame oil and I don't think any soy (it was not salty).
You can see in this photo the serving was juicy and steamed perfectly. It did not need anything added to give it flavor.
The Mister wanted to try the curry, because it had a * (Star) next to the description on the menu, indicating "hot and spicy". It also cost a bit more but that was because it came with fried rice and an egg roll.
The 'fried' rice was nothing exciting/nothing added...just the white rice that was put back into the wok..nothing added to it. The egg roll was *quite* nice, crispy skin and the filling had fresh, crispy vegetables. It was made there, not from a package. (An appetizer serving of two egg rolls is $1.80). The curry had onion, carrot, mushrooms, canned bamboo shoots and green pepper. The green pepper was kind of soggy, like it had been stir fried a second time. The sauce was a nice level of heat...enough so that it was hot but you could also taste the ingredients. The chicken was all white meat and quite flavorful as well as juicy and there was a lot of meat in this dish.
The egg foo young. Oh my- absolutely the best I have had. This was made with at least three eggs, mixed in were the bean sprouts, some carrot and onion..making the omelet just a wonderful base, and it is a meal in itself. I saw just "egg foo young" on the menu for 20¢ less and wasn't sure why. It must be just the egg mix..ah, but for that extra 20¢, I got a *lot* of chicken breast, again, juicy and plentiful, along with sauteed mushrooms and that gravy that was not over-laden with corn starch. I have only seen egg foo young made as a one shot deal- with the meat ingredient also cooked in with the egg. I like this way better...can have just egg or just meat or mix it if I want to.
By the way, the menu has "chop sewy" on it...I will try that next time...There are 17 lunch specials served from 11:00 to 3:00 daily. The most challenging thing, after deciding on which of the 71 items on the menu to choose from, will be finding a place to eat your food. You will like it. Try one of the egg foo young dishes.
Super Wok 4468 Ingraham Street San Diego 92109 (858)270-4859
Mon-Thur 11:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. Fri-Sat 11-10:30 Closed Sundays NO CHECKS, NO CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED
Cathy!
happy happy! my already thick blood thanks you for the chili fries watch!
so hard to find anywhere that makes egg foo young let alone a good one... its a dying food item, might even become extinct soon i'm thinking...
i'm hungry... sounds good...
hey kirk i think this is the longest you've gone without doing a pho review in a long time... aahahahaha... saw the frings pic!! good job man!! the onion ring gods are smiling upon you!!
Posted by: dietchilicheesefries | Wednesday, 03 January 2007 at 09:02 PM
Oh boy it would be great just to find a hole in the wall that cook decent chinese food and cheap too boot would be Grrreat too.
Posted by: nhbilly | Wednesday, 03 January 2007 at 10:48 PM
Hi DCCF! Always trying to add variety to this little blog. I always thought egg foo young was kind of just leftovers anyhow. Its ,ade so well here!
This little hole in the wall has been here quite a while, Billy...and its just perfect-food, prices, close to the beach...
Posted by: cathy | Thursday, 04 January 2007 at 07:38 AM
Hi Cathy,
How bout that egg foo yung eh? I normally won't even eat that stuff, but I love it at Super Wok! Glad you finally got around to trying them out. I usually eat at one of those three little tables.
Cheers
Posted by: Captain Jack | Saturday, 06 January 2007 at 01:53 PM
Thanks for letting me blog about a place in your neighborhood, Jack. We hadn't tried the egg fu young (their spelling; just like chop sewy) before and now its all I am ordering. It's a great deal on fresh made food. The daily specials from 11 to 3 are an even better deal....oh but those eggs...
Maybe I'll see you in there one day and we can have lunch!
Posted by: cathy | Saturday, 06 January 2007 at 02:15 PM
Please get the Seseme Chicken, I am from the best chinese food capitol in the world! This dish is the best ever, YUM!
Posted by: D | Saturday, 03 February 2007 at 07:50 PM
#15 Lunch Special, got it. Thanks for letting me know, and for stopping by to comment, D!
Posted by: Cathy | Saturday, 03 February 2007 at 08:15 PM
My daughter is friends with the daughter's owner, so I decided to give the place a try. The food is excellent I can't stop going into the place. Their orange peel chicken is to die for not to mention their fried shrimp.
YUMMY
Posted by: Ruby | Thursday, 18 October 2007 at 09:11 AM
Hi, Ruby- and Welcome! I love it here...a very hidden gem. I think we will be down that way this weekend...sounds like lunch for me!
Posted by: cathy | Thursday, 18 October 2007 at 11:37 AM
hey i know this place. my friend lives right by here, and the last time i came down, both of us wanted to check it out as we walked by, but we ended up going to ba ren instead. nice write up! hurray for american chinese food!
Posted by: sawyer | Wednesday, 09 September 2009 at 10:37 PM
Do stop in next time, Sawyer. It is good.
Posted by: Cathy | Thursday, 10 September 2009 at 05:57 PM