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| - Now, I do not want to get overly critical about a fast food stir fry place. Obviously I have learned to lower my standards a notch or two when it comes to such options, and I know that I can't expect an Open Sesame, or Cafe Koi stir fry experience.
However, this place just kind of creeps me out. Nestled in the bleak, soulless power center area of 130th Avenue, Wok Box is one of the only places with vegan options close to my work (which is uncharacteristically nestled in an equally bleak and soulless industrial area between McKenzie and Douglasdale). Having never tried Wok Box but hearing good things about it from my roommate (who actually, is not very picky. I should have known better), I decided to give it a go.
Stepping inside, I felt like I had just walked into a casino in the day time or something. Not because people were throwing handfuls of quarters into slot machines or smoking inside, but because I couldn't tell what time of day it was as soon as I stepped inside and it made me uncomfortable. It was all loungey and tacky inside. I was initially going to stay in and read my book, but was just way creeped out by the empty, dimly lit establishment. I did not like it. It confused me. Either, you try and be classy and serve quality food to match, or you live with the fact that you are a fast food establishment and get over yourselves, please.
My regular mongolian tofu stir fry (which was plenty for me, but I could imagine others still being hungry) came to a whopping $11 with no drink or side items added. Considering I can make my own stirfry at Open Sesame for the same amount, I was a little unimpressed, especially with the quality of not-properly-cooked udon noodles (the kind you can buy at T&T market for like $0.68) and obviously canned baby corns which tasted like they hadn't been rinsed. What exactly am I paying $11 for? The aforementioned tacky loungey atmosphere? Or to cover the wages of the staff, who were actually text messaging in front of me instead of tending to my stirfry (you can see everything cooking). When I received it in its box, it was a hot mess with all of the crappy vegetables on the bottom and the noodles nestled on top.
I just left way too long of a review about a chain establishment, but I am overall not impressed, and next time will make my stirfry at home like always.
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