One of Josh’s favorite Chinese food dishes is pork in garlic sauce. He even knows how to say it in Mandarin, so that if he doesn’t see it on the menu, he can still try to order it. Whenever we go out to a Chinese restaurant with my family, my parents always make sure that it’s one of the dishes that we get. With that in mind, my brother suggested going to Super Wok for dinner, a Chinese restaurant near his home that serves really good pork in garlic sauce.
The restaurant is also located in a strip mall and kind of looks like a hole in the wall takeout joint. It was pretty packed though, which was a good sign. We ordered a bunch of different dishes to share, including the touted pork in garlic sauce. It really was a very tasty version, with tender shreds of pork and a nice thick, spicy garlic sauce.
Pork in garlic sauce
The stir fried spicy tofu homestyle, however, was a complete disappointment. It looked pretty good, with triangles of fried tofu mixed with broccoli, carrots, baby corn, snow peas, mushrooms, and other vegetables. Unfortunately, the flavor was totally off. It was sour and very weird tasting, nothing like other versions of homestyle tofu that I’ve had, and it wasn’t just different, it tasted gross. None of us enjoyed this dish.
Very weird tasting homestyle tofu
Another disappointment was the fried fish cut like a squirrel tail in sweet and sour sauce. It looked neat, with two fish filets cut so that it cubed and curled, kind of like squirrel tails. However, it was either over fried or just had too much coating and not enough fish, as it was very hard on the outside and not very meaty on the inside. The sweet and sour sauce was standard, but I couldn’t get past the bad texture of the fish and the hard crust.
Fried fish cut like a squirrel tail
A much more successful dish was the intestine hotpot, which had chewy but tender pieces of intestine stewed with assorted vegetables in a ceramic hotpot. The dish was a little spicy and a nice mix of textures. There were a lot of bamboo shoots in the hotpot, which normally I don’t like, but it worked well with the rest of the components. Even Josh enjoyed this dish, and he typically doesn’t eat intestines or tripe or anything that’s super chewy.
Intestine hotpot
The stir fried squid with scallion was also not too chewy, which was a good thing. It had kind of a pleasantly bouncy texture, and the squid was slightly peppery in flavor.
Stir fried squid
Last but not least, we had peking style pork chops. It’s similar to General Tso’s or sesame chicken, with crispy pieces of pork covered in a sweet and sour sauce, but it’s not overly sweet and cloying. This is a dish that I grew up with so it’s one of my comfort foods. The sauce is great for spooning over rice, and it has kind of a barbecue/orange flavor to it.
Peking style pork chops
Overall I thought the food at Super Wok was hit or miss, with very high highs and very low lows. The pork in garlic sauce and the peking style pork chops were some of the better versions that I’ve had but the homestyle tofu was pretty bad, as was the fried fish. However, we really didn’t try that many things from the menu so I don’t know whether the restaurant excels in American style dishes or in more authentic Chinese dishes. From what my brother tells me though, good Chinese restaurant choices are limited in his area. So if anyone has a recommendation for a good Chinese place near Raleigh, let me know!
Super Wok
Chatham Square
1401-L SE Manyard Rd.
Cary, NC
Tags: Chinese, North Carolina, Pork, Seafood
I’m truly sorry you are getting this kind of advice on where to eat locally. Oh my gosh, I’m just really sad someone is telling to go to these places. I’ve lived here forever and there are lots of fabulous places you could be going.
Tell me the truth, are your family members throwing darts randomly to select where you eat?
Super Wok is really not good. Even over-hyped Cary’s Neo-China would have been better than that. My favorite two in Raleigh – Imperial Garden and Red Dragon. YUM on both.
Danny’s is not NC BBQ. Oh my gosh no no no. That’s blasphemy that you there as representative of NC BBQ. Smokey’s is ok but there are other better places – Ole Time Barbecue in Raleigh and Allen & Sons in Chapel Hill are far better. Even Dixie Belle in Apex would have been a better choice.
Nikos Taverna is fine but everyone knows Xios right off 55 in Apex is 100x better.
Go to newsobserver.com and look for Greg Cox’s restaurant section. He does a great job and none of those places you’ve been are places he’d even recommend.
Please have them take you to Cary’s Maximillians, Bistro 64, Suchi or Udipi, Rio Churrascharia, Bavarian Brathaus. Saffron in Morrisville is great too!! Go to Raleigh for Margaux’s, Angus Barn or 518West. Or go over to Chapel Hill for two famous places – Mama Dips for real southern food and Crooks Corner. Also Lantern there is great and Allen & Son for BBQ. Go to Durham for Magnolia Grill or Nana’s.
Please don’t judge this area’s cuisine based on what you’ve had so far! Do enjoy the rest of your time down here.
@m – thanks for the suggestions! My brother and sis-in-law are obviously not native to NC and have only lived there for a year so I think they’re also still discovering which places to go. We’ll definitely have to try out some of the places on your list the next time we’re visiting.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but check this out on Super Wok… pass it on to your family here to STOP going:
http://www.wral.com/5onyourside/video/6651480/