Magic Wok Eatery — Restaurant in St. John's

Magic Wok has been a staple throughout my whole 30 years of life. I have fond memories from my youth about being excited for our families Saturday night meal from Magic Work. I have eaten with the Extended Wok family through, three decades, two business fires and one change of management, all have almost slipped by unnoticed. I do have a strong recollection of one trip to Florida at the age of 10 ,as my family went up the escalator at the airport, Mae ( the previous owner) franticly waved to my father as she went on her own travel. The staff have always been extremely friendly, the food always great, and they have constantly set the benchmark for quality business in St. John’s

Recently during the covid craziness the Magic Wok was unable to fulfill one of my orders due to factors far outside their control. The steps that the Wok has gone too apologise and compensate for what I would call a minor mistake have been exemplary. I know for a fact this treatment was not due to us being long time customers, but simply because it was right. I Know for a fact that the restaurant business is a slave to reviews, and is only ever given one chance to impress. Well, Magic wok has impressed me for thirty years, I would estimate thousands of springrolls, all while standing as a model for Newfoundland enterprise.

When you eat there, you cannot go wrong with any of the choices. My personal favorites have always been the crispy duck, or the seafood in a birds nest. I am almost nervous writing about the lunch service as it stands as a secret to many who know. However, I doubt you will find another restaurant in Canada that you can have a full service lunch on a table cloth, consisting of; soup, a spring roll, an exquisite dish of rice and fresh cooked seafood, and a drink for just over 20.00….. Think of that next time you eat a 17.50 hamburger in a parking lot, off the dash board of you truck.

One comment too Magic Wok would be, I remember a previous staff, from many years ago, who during a flambe dish would theatrically exclaim “Mooo haa haa haaaaaaa” to the entire restaurant as the flames seemed to consume the table. You must promise me that if this gentleman is ever interested in returning too his old job, even just for a single night you will let me know. Let this stand as a written offer that I will pay his nightly wage, and surely fill a table.

Magic Wok, don’t change anything, just keep a great thing going for...

Not authentic. And not great taste.

Examples... Hot and sour soup: No tofu, bamboo shoot, no egg... Too sour, and they used char siu as the meat... not authentic. I'm ok with non authentic as long as it tastes good though. But it didnt taste too great. Not inedible but not great.

GongPao chicken: Decent. Sauce ok. Small serving size.

Seafood sizzling plate: Not bad. Actually quite good tbf. Nothing to complain there.

Green bean chef 😋 special: Bruh so bad. Not authentic and had a weird aftertaste then realized they put BACON!? in the green beans whut!?!?! This was not the right dish.

Overall, service was quite good. Can't have too high food taste expectations because it isn't China or Toronto ON/Vancouver BC... however it's a decent effort and for that I'd give this a shot if you were craving Chinese food.

But WAIT! But... my friend had stomach ache and upset stomach within 30 min after the meal. I won't go into detail but yeah..... Might've just been not used to the types of food Chinese people eat, as I was ok. I'd say the food was safe to eat so it's not due to unsanitary food. All cooked well. But this was not a great look, def something about the food.

I'd give this establishment a 5/10. Just enough to be decent food. At least all the meats were moist and not dry or tough to bite. And tastes were not crazy or way off. Decently mediocre...

We used to eat at this restaurant all the time and get excellent service. Since Covid the service kept going downhill every time we placed an order. Today we placed an order, and when we showed up, my husband was given one order instead of two. The staff argued with him and myself, saying that we only placed one order and their staff was right not me. I asked him what would I gain by showing up to pick up two orders when there was only one ready? We ordered there that much they would have known our orders previously and known that we have never placed one order. We always place the exact same order all the time.. so instead of saying that the person on the phone was mistaken, they just argued with me and said no, it was me that was wrong. Then she wondered why I wouldn’t take that food that was ready and wait for more to be made so I could have one order of food half cold. I asked to have two orders made, and they refused. Needless to say, it will be my last order placed ever there. The staff is rude, not friendly at all. Even the food itself has gone downhill since Covid started. There was absolutely no one in the store, picking up an order or eating in at this time, so I think this should tell them to treat people better. It’s not worth my time ordering from a place that calls me a liar about my own order. I think I remember...