Fashion Wok — Restaurant in Sunnyvale

Unique table setting, wide food choice (in Hunan and Sichuan), and good value.

Fashion Wok has been circulating flyers in my neighborhood since its opening in Sunnyvale’s iconic town center. I am not sure whether kitchen staff are related to the prior Hunan restaurant that had been at the same location for decades, but its menu covers a lot of depth in Hunan and Sichuan repertoires. Instead of the tired daily special, it offers a new concept: monthly discount list. Not every discount is deep, but the list covers a range of price points and categories. One month, even Thai milk tea was on the list (and 75% discount at it).

Its name notwithstanding, Fashion Wok has a concentration in hot pots. So, when you walk into the restaurant (or peer into its very long row of windows), you often see hot pots or, should I say heated pots, on tables. Unlike the heated soup in which you cook raw ingredients that are served to table, these 锅 (guo, or pot) come with food already cooked; the heater is to keep the soup boiling. This type of soup dishes used to be in the form of 煲 (bao, or heat-retaining container). But there is a new school that likes to serve soup with a heater. Also unlike traditional bao, more such pots tend to be assembled after cooking. Some main ingredients may not be cooked in soup at all. To be sure, heated pots - or even traditional hot pots, are not dominant in Sichuan cuisine. Fashion Wok (Fashion Pot?) just makes them dominant in their offerings.

If you rely on English to read the menu, consider grab a server and ask about actual ingredients. The second time we went there, we ordered fresh chili pepper BBQ fish fillet. Its Chinese name, 藤椒鲜辣烤鱼, tells you that it is not chili pepper, but Chinese ash, the famous “Sichuan numbing pepper" that you need to consider your tolerance about. They use a real lot of it - as they should, too. Then, the picture shows you that it doesn’t resemble a barbecue dish, either. It is a heated pot, assembled with fried, heavily battered fish on top. (Its Chinese name also implies baking of the fish, but I cannot find any evidence of that.) I can recommend this dish with my full heart, but be very careful if you are unfamiliar with the flavor of that region.

For the price, Fashion Wok’s portions are very generous. (With only one side dish and two steamed rices, the two of us had to take home a large quantity of that fish on soup.) In my two visits, I only sampled a small number from their offerings. Some of them are just so-so. Scallion pancake, a common street food in China (but not particularly notable in Sichuan), was quite off the mark in taste and constituency. Nothing taste bad, however.

Despite fixed seats resembling a train diner, seating is comfortable and well spaced for private conversation. With heavy wood finish on tables, wood-framed space divider, stylish sauce holder, stacks of supplemental containers, there is no cheap diner feeling. (The sauces are not your usual soy sauce and vinegar, but are there for you to mix your own dips for hot pots.) I like their stylish light fixtures, too. But with a full row of huge windows, they cannot control lighting well enough to accentuate their choice.

Fashion Wok completely removes printed menus. So, it is next to impossible to order food unless you have a smart phone. I find this jarring, even though their QR-code based ordering system is functional. After ordering, most food is served reasonably fast.

Overall, this is a new concept that deserves consideration when you need something quick and solid. (Or liquid considering many of their offerings come...

My brother, his wife and I had dinner Saturday, September 20, 2024 at Fashion Wok. We entered and were seated at a booth where they had placed an additional small square table with two chairs. We weren't give menus so I scooted out of the booth to ask for menus but I forgot that it was a single chair and not part of the booth. I fell loudly on my gluteus maximus but the staff were quickly there to help but I declined as I was able to get up by myself. My butt hurt but luckily I am obese and that area has a lot of padding. After that, I asked and received 3 menus. It wasn't until I was seated again that my sister in law and I noticed that the table had QR codes so guests can order online directly. My sister-in-law said no wonder she saw new guests sitting down and taking out their phones to scan. This is the 2nd restaurant I've been to where you can use QR code to order. The other place was On Rice Thai Cuisine & Spirit in Bellingham, WA. They don't have menus so you have to order online or verbally order from waiters. We had #101 beef broccoli, #98 orange chicken, #27 Tidu sliced beef pot(mild with no heat at all by my request), and combination fried rice. There was a pitcher( glass bottle) filled with ice water placed on the table. I asked what teas they had and was told they only had black tea and it was free so I asked for the black tea. Our waiter was Leo( chinese name Ling K____-I'm not sure if this correct). I asked him what his name means but he didn't understand. We received the orange chicken, beef broccoli and combination fried rice first. I assumed it took longer for the Tidu sliced beef because it is normally a spicy dish and it took longer to make it non-spicy. We immediately started eating when the food was served. Good! Tidu sliced beef pot was hot and came in its own portable burner. My brother really enjoyed the orange chicken as it's been a while since he's had it. My sister thought the sauce for beef broccoli was salty but my brother and I thought it was fine. Food was delicious but I had to flag down a server as we hadn't been given the black tea we asked for. We ate up all the food and enjoyed the atmosphere. We were given orange slices at the end. They weren't sweet. The staff was friendly but some are still learning english. As we left the restaurant, my brother said he wanted a noodle dish next time we came since he saw a guest eating a noodle dish deliciously. It was a wonderful dinner to commemorate the day I had...

07.30.25 Wed New Chef there we were told. Food wasn't as delicious and was too oily, Kung Pao Chicken tasted totally off, and didn't have peanuts in it. Pork & Shrimp dumplings weren't good, couldn't taste or see any shrimp in it at all. Would pass on those. New Chef needs to do better. Miss the Old Chef, where did they go?

06.20.25 Fri Beef Chow Fun is also delicious, soft noodles, not much beef but it's ok, flavor is very good, nice, crunchy fresh vegetables, we asked for less oil and it was made perfectly! Forgot to take a photo of this beautiful dish :*(

Added pic of the Eggplant with String Beans = SO delicious!!!

06.14.25 Saturday Fashion Wok = Home Eat Excellent service from all staff, very good, hot, fresh food & beautiful location in downtown Sunnyvale! Parking in the back open complex gets full but across the street in the parking structure there's plenty of parking there.

Home Eat is best known for tasty chicken dishes, I would never recommend beef dishes. Their Mongolian Beef isn't good at all.

Today's fare (large portions!); -Mapo Tofu: delicious and NO sugar added, as it should be -General Tso's Chicken w.broccoli florets: delicious, sweet, with a tiny bit of heat -A. Choy stir fried bok choy: ok, but their eggplant and string beans is much tastier -Sesame Chicken: very good, sweet, no heat -Kungpao Chicken: absolutely delicious, perfect flavor -Cumin Lamb: only for those who love cumin -Grandma Curry Wok: just ok -Egg Yolk Fried Chicken Wings, like 12+ pieces: no. Smelled like egg yolk, was fresh but didn't taste good, wouldn't reorder or recommend -Spicy Pepper Fried Chicken Wings, also 12+ pieces, also fresh but not tasty at all and also not one bit spicy. *For fried flavorful chicken wings, just go to the Korean restaurants that serve them to light up...