| Hong Kong style Dim Sum served until 3pm daily |
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1040
Reviewed: 6/14/2004
Rating: 7.5
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Hooray for Golden Wok, they serve Dim Sum everyday until 3pm. Located in downtain Mountain View, Golden Wok is a large restaurant doubling as a banquet hall.
We arrived at 2:00pm and pleased to see a number of waitresses circling around the tables pushing bamboo containers filled with bite size delights. I cant spell any of they items so I'll try my best to describe
hagow - shrimps wrapped in a white rice wrapper mixed with garlic, bamboo shoots, and hint of ginger. Shrimps were big and among my favorites for Dim Sum.
shumei - beef dumpling painted with egg yolk. They needed to sit a little longer for the yolk to cook. Tasted too much like a raw egg..luckily my stomach was able to handle it.
stuff crab claw - yummy to tummy...crab claw surrounded by imitation crab mix, deep fried and breaded.
sweet rice roll - rice wrapped in banana leaves mixed with chinese sausage, beef, and duck egg. I kind of like it, the rice didnt have an overwhelming leaf flavor which is a plus in my book
gooey white rice thingy with shrimp on the inside. Texture is a bit too slimey for me but it did taste good.
Shrimp dumpling with green onions. Very good...I could eat 1/2 a dozen.
As you can tell from the Dim Sum list, shrimp is a popular dish on our list. My only complaint was the 3 gnats flying around our table..where the hell did these things come from? Scarey for germ freaks like me but willing to block it out of my mind for the time being.
For 6 plates, we walked out paying $24 including tip for 2 people and stuffed stomachs. I still have yet to try their main courses but with Dim Sum being this enjoyable, I'm sure I'll return for a vist. Happy to give Golden Wok a 7.5.
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Reviewer: Eddie
Total Reviews: 47
Reviewed: 10/22/2004
Rating: 7.5
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Dim sum is one of my favorite food categories so when Jason suggested we go for dim sum, Sold! was my answer. We were here for a late lunch so there weren't too many people. We quickly ordered our dishes, almost all contains shrimps as you can see from the pictures. Usually when I go eat dim sum, I order 3 items to determine if the food is of authenticity - hagow, shumai, and the sticky rice wrapped with banana leaf. So what's the score? I would say overall the food quality was good, but it's not as authentic as the ones in the city. However, it's 5 mins away from work, the price is reasonable and services was good. A solid 7.5.
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Reviewer: Brandon
Total Reviews: 16
Reviewed: 9/9/2004
Rating: 8.5
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My favorite dim sum stuff is the sweet stuff - the custard pies and the sticky sesame balls with red bean paste. I sometimes get some veggie spring rolls or some kind of tofu to round things out, but the pies and sticky balls are all I'm really there for. Golden Wok does these very well. The pies have good, flaky crust, the custard isn't too eggy, and the crustcustard ratio is ideal. The red bean paste is good and moist, and the crust has a good, light, spongy crunch but could be a little bit stickier.
I had dinner here once a long time ago. I probably just ordered the wrong thing, 'cuz it was no good. But while I won't count that against them here, I will only go here for dim sum (which means custard pies and sticky sesame balls). I also have an extreme personal aversion to places that have their live seafood out in tanks, but I will try to block that out for my review score as well. At least you can't see the tanks when you're eating.
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Reviewer: Julie
Total Reviews: 46
Reviewed: 3/1/2005
Rating: 8
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I love Golden Wok! I've only ever been there for dim sum, so I can't say much about their menu items, but they serve up a wide variety of fresh, piping hot dumplings that are bound to please anyone. There is limited vegetarian items, but I think that would be true of any dim sum.
My favorite dumplings (which i don't know how to spell) are the taro root, steamed pork, and there's one that's vegetarian that's so good. I also really like the chinese broccoli with oyster sauce. Come to think of it, most dim sum places offer the same options. The differentiators are the service and frequency/variety of the offerings. I have always left Golden Wok haven gotten a bit of everything that I wanted. Though, you do have to hound the waiters to get water refills.
The best way to enjoy any dim sum is with a big group of friends so you can get a wide variety of treats for a reasonable price. Golden Wok is a great place to do just that. |
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Reviewer: ne00
Total Reviews: 187
Reviewed: 9/15/2005
Rating: 7
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My friend and I came here for lunch today (9/15). I saw a sign on the side of their building that they serve dim sum from 10am to 3pm. Thats the earliest time Ive seen for weekday lunch dim sum. Usually dim sum carts roll in full force around 12pm for most other restaurants.
When we got there around 11:30am there were only a few tables taken. We were asked if we wanted dim sum or to order off the lunch menu and we opted for the dim sum. Golden Wok is very nicely decorated and the place is very clean. They brought over HOT tea and a small sauce plate with mustard and hot sauce. My friend complained that there was no hot sauce jar like how they have at some Chinese restaurants. To my surprise they dont cart the dim sum items here, instead they carry over the dim sum items like on one of those desert trays and they give you a small selection of whats on the tray. This is a Jedi mind trick as you dont know how long you have to wait before selections are brought to your table, thus you are more tempted to order the first items that you are shown. The plus side was the food was served warmer than most dim sum served from the cart. Some of the fillings inside the dumplings were too hot (temperature wise) to eat.
The first items we were shown were the crab balls with the crab claw sticking out, the fried lobster dumplings, and some other crab and lobster items. We ended up ordering crab balls, fried lobster dumplings, Chinese broccoli, Shanghai steamed dumplings, minced meat wrapped in rice stick, shark fin dumplings, fried turnip cakes, steamed shrimp dumplings, and egg custard for desert.
The dim sum here is like the super sized version of the dim sum I usually see. Everything here is big, the crab balls were huge, and the steamed shrimp dumplings, the turnip cakes, and the rice stick wraps were much bigger than Ive ever seen elsewhere. But bigger does not always mean better taste. Now for the breakdown in authenticity:
Crab Balls: Within par of most other dim sum restaurants. The plus here is that it is bigger than most other dim sum restaurants. This item was charged as a large dish. (8/10)
Fried Lobster Dumplings: The lobster filling was within par to other dim sum restaurants, but the crispy skin on the outside tasted stale, almost over fried taste, it wasnt crisp, sort of ruined the whole lobster dumplings experience. (6.5/10)
Chinese broccoli: We needed our vegetables even though normally I wouldnt order this as its considered a special plate, which usually costs a lot more. The Chinese broccoli was very tender, but later I found a big patch of oil on plate below the broccoli. (9/10)
Shanghai steamed dumplings: This was no where near being authentic Shanghai style dumplings. When I first set eyes on them I thought they looked overly big. The four dumplings sat on top of thin rice stick paper and looked cramped together. My friend went in for the kill and instantly the four dumplings stuck together along with the rice paper. I helped him free his dumpling and saw that the skin was too thick to be authentic. The skin should be thin and there should be a layer of juice under the meat filling waiting to be released into your mouth for the ultimate mouth scorching experience. Unfortunately the skin was too thick, there was too much filling and the juices were mixed into the meat rather sitting in its own pocket below. It was good but can not worthy of the name Shanghai steamed dumplings. (6.5/10)
Rice stick with minced meat: This was big a little too big and really brought down the taste. Usually its wrapped in a thinner wrap and there is more minced meat. The rice stick here is much thicker and there is only a little bit of the minced meat. We probably should have gone with the shrimp version (as Jason would call it “gooey white rice thingy with shrimp on the inside”). The shrimps looked huge inside the rice stick and probably would have tasted better, but since they dont use the cart system, they only brought out one version at the time on the tray. (6/10)
Shark fin dumplings: Where are the shark fins? It tasted more like meat dumplings with cilantro. My friend seemed to have enjoyed it. Was charged as a large plate since it has the words “shark fin” in the name of the dish; this seems to always increase the cost. (6.5/10)
Fried turnip cake: Overly large and only sub par in taste. It was just too big for it to taste like the real thin. The turnips came in little chunks rather than using shredded turnips like how it should be. This version taste more like it was store bought then house made. (6.5/10)
Steamed shrimp dumplings: These were surprisingly larger than the average ones, but they also were charged as a medium plate instead of a small plate. There were two shrimps stuffed into these thin rice wrappers and had a lot of flavor. (8.5/10)
Egg Custard: This came out warm, which is usually not the case. The egg custard was good, but there was too much crust. (7.5/10)
The meal came out to be 38.00 with tip for two people. A bit pricey but we were both stuffed and looking forward to some gelato across the street on Castro at Gelato Classico next to Molly Magees (thats for a later review). The items here are bigger than most other dim sum restaurants, but its all factored into the cost.
The service is very good here as water is topped off before it runs low and you are able to request any dim sum dish with ease as it will be brought out from the kitchen direct. The wait staff is all very friendly people. We went when it was not busy so not sure if they are always on top of the game if it does get busy. (9/10 for the lunch service)
Pluses: Clean, plenty of parking before 11:45am, efficient and friendly staff, large dim sum items, accepts Visa and Master card, open for dim sum 10am to 3pm.
Minuses: hard to find parking after 12pm, pricey, lack authenticity in most dishes and they try to make up for it by making the items very large, which actually makes it taste worse.
Dim Sum rating:
Food: 7.0
Price: 6.0
Service: 9.0
Total: 7/10
***9/16/2005***
So I wanted to hold off on posting this review till I had a chance to try their dinner. Golden Wok is having a special where you can choose a crab or a lobster for $10.00 each. This is a very good deal right now as the cheapest crab is probably around 13.00 in other Chinese restaurants.
So my friend said he would meet me there and by the time I arrived at 6:30pm most of the parking spaces were taken, so I had to park in the empty lot across from Tied House on Villa street. We walk in and see the live tank full of lobster and crab. We were allowed to choose our own seats and the menus were brought over to us. There were actually several menus but my friend fixated on the Chinese menu as thats where the deals are usually thats not listed in the English menus.
We decided on the scallion and ginger lobster, the salt and pepper crab, the seafood clay pot, and I told my friend to order a soup and he ends up ordering a bowl of soup that costs 9.00. He ordered the crab egg drop soup with mushrooms. Now for the break down on taste:
Crab egg drop soup: For 9.00 we were served a semi-thick soup base with live crab meat, not the imitation kind, mushrooms, and egg white. The soup was very good but the mushroom flavor was strong and over powered the soup a bit. They could have used imitation crab for all I cared as there were only several scattered pieces. (7.5/10)
Scallion and ginger lobster: The lobster is very small; must have been the smallest lobster possible. Most of the meat we had was in the claws. There was hardly any body meat, but I can not expect much for 10.00. I would have paid a few bucks more for a larger lobster. The taste is on par with how the scallion and ginger lobster should taste. (7/10)
Salt and Pepper Crab: This crab was definitely worth 10.00. It wasnt huge but its the medium size that is typically served in other restaurants for 13.00 or more dollars. They battered the crab shell and deep fried it with salt, pepper, and all sorts of fresh hot peppers. Although the crab was alive before they cooked it, the meat in some parts of the crab tasted like if the crab was dead and frozen before it was cooked. Usually I can tell the difference between a live crab and a dead crab by how the meat tastes, but this time I was a bit confused. My friend said they it taste like they fried the crab for too long and that some areas of the crab the meat was dry due to the over frying.
The other big let down was the special treat under the crab shell. Usually that in itself is worth half the cost of the crab as the treat is very good although also high in cholesterol. I dont know who cooked the crab but someone scooped out the good stuff under the shell and just battered it up with flour. All there was left was deep fried flour. This ruined my crab experience as I would have given this crab an eight for value and taste but now must subtract 0.5 points. (7.5/10)
Seafood Clay pot: This dish was $15.00. The Seafood clay pot was very large as the clay pot is much larger than what Ive seen served at most places. But like the dim sum, bigger does not always mean better. The Seafood clay pot is cooked differently here as the soup base is not as thick and is clear rather than soy sauce based. Everything about it is fine as there were several choices of seafood in the pot (shrimp, fish filets, squid, scallops, mushrooms, bean curd). Everything was tender and tasted as how it should. I wonder if the clay pot was actually cooked separately or if its actual soup that was prepared and just poured in since the clay pot did not arrive bubbling hot. (8/10)
Service: It was not very busy for a Friday night even though they had that special. Service was once again attentive but a bit late in several areas. Since there were several tables with Caucasian customers, the waiters and waitress were being extra friendly but almost a bit fake. While we were sipping our soup, one waiter approached a table and said “hello, long time so see, how have you been?” and the man responded “good, thank you, how have you been?” but by that time the waiter had turned his back to approach a different table to greet them.
I think Golden Wok caters mostly to non Asians as they serve both water and tea together where as more Asian restaurants serve only tea and then serve the water when requested as Asians are more likely to drink tea than water. This was fine by me as I love water when eating Chinese food. I can usually drink 4 or 5 glasses during one sitting. So I had a total of one water refill, but then again my water didnt run empty until near the end when they refilled it. My plate was full ob shells from the lobster and crab and they didnt replace our plates until near the end when they came to take away the dishes.
We were served cold sweet tofu as desert, but they seemed a bit in a rush to get us out of there even though we were chatting and working on finishing the crab. We were there for about 2 hours, but they didnt have a need to open up more tables as there were plenty of tables empty. (7.5/10)
Extra: Rice is charged 1.00 a bowl. This is actually a rip off as a lot of other places just charge 1.00 per person and serve it in the rice container with free refills. The rice was not the soft, fluffy, sticky kind but rather the standard firm kind which taste like rice, nothing special. (5/10 for the lack of value)
Total bill came to $55.00 after tip for two people.
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