The Wok – Chinese Express

Food was below average compared to other Chinese restaurants. There was one piece of chicken in my orange sesame chicken that had a weird tough tendon in it. The menu on the wall is out of date. The dining room was nothing special, I guess about average for décor and style in Mahomet.

Today we ordered the Crispy Tofu, a favorite. We also tried some new dishes: Cilantro Chicken, Snow Pea and Water Chestnut Delight and Hot and Sour Soup. All good

To set the record straight, the Wok has come under new management in the past couple of years. That being said, the reviews that are from 4 – 5 years ago do not pertain to THIS Wok in Mahomet.
The menu is extensive like most Chinese restaurants. The owners are very friendly and will help you decide what you would like to order. Most people like the Kung Pao Chicken, fried donuts, and general tso’s chicken. They offer many types of meat, seafood, and vegetarian entrees: chicken, beef, pork, squid, shrimp, fish, scallops, tofu, mushroom, potato, and vegetables. They also have a selection of rice and noodles. With every purchase, you get a complimentary cup of hot tea.
The portions are pretty large, so there is enough for at least two meals. Stop here if you’re craving Chinese! They do carry out too!

Fast, friendly and always good. Our favorite since moving to the area. We have had the chicken and broccoli a few times and it’s always perfect. I love that they don’t put pork bits in the rice! I’ll always go back.

This place is… as legit as it gets! Real, pure, genuine, authentic, unadulterated Chinese food. Why is The Wok buried in the middle of nowhere? Why is one of the best Chinese restaurants I’ve been to not in one of the big cities?
The Wok is about 30 minutes off of the Urbana-​Champaign campus, so those who have the luxury to possess a motor vehicle or have friends who do, this is definitely a place to try.
The menu here is extensive, and even that is an understatement. There’s so much to choose from, so I’d recommend asking your server for recommendations. The food here is fantastic. I reiterate, the food here is fantastic! To put it into another perspective, even their vegetable dishes are great-​tasting! How can you beat that? Their fried tofu is freaking amazing. The eggplant dish, the chicken rolls, and the salty chicken are also great. Everything is great! One time, a friend of mine called his mother to just name generic Chinese dishes that she thought would be good. Lo and behold, The Wok had them and they made them well.
Service at The Wok is impeccable, but the number of seats here are limited. I’d strongly suggest making a reservation on weekends unless you’re going for lunch.

Not at all like the other reviews, this place has no wall of Chinese dishes like Golden Harbor. Its a run of the mill strip mall Chinese place.
However don’t judge by the outside. The staff was friendly and the food was really above par. I would say its better than most places in Champaign that offer similar level of cusine (NO.1 Wok, China King, Hot Wok Express). My Wife had Crispy Tofu which came in nice bite sized portions. Fried perfectly.
I chose the Kung Pao Pork and was really glad that the peanuts weren’t burnt. The crab rangoon was more cream cheese than crab.
Overall not a bad stop if you need a Chinese fix while driving past Mahomet.

This is my favorite restaurant on the planet. Crispy tofu, steamed noodles, sweet. This family-​owned business is what I love about small towns.

This place used to be excellent, and always packed with customers. My husband and I went there last night and we were the only people in there at 8:30pm on a Friday night. This may be a tad bit late for some people to eat, but the phone didn’t even ring for a take out order.
I ordered Sesame Chicken, it was burnt and lacked flavor.
From fellow Unilocalers on here, it seems that the old owners have started a new restaurant back in Champaign. I will be glad to drive there, to have the same food that The Wok in Mahomet used to sell.

Golden Harbor is now open in Champaign, IL!
(used to be The Wok in Mohoment, the original Mandarin Wok 5+ years ago, and yes i’m in Taiwan)

** EDIT **
It’s not opening yet, but the location is right. The new name is «Golden Harbor»
— — -
The Wok has moved back to Champaign. Its new location is possibly where Pickles and Papa George used to be (505 S Neil St Champaign, IL 61 820). Since I don’t have a car, I have not checked whether it is now open or not. However, I heard from a friend of my friend that it’s already open.

I really liked the food. But how do I judge the execution of a cuisine that I never knew I’d never tried before? I’ve just got to go with how I liked it.
We live something like a mile from here. We’d tried it shortly after moving to town, ordering off the only menu we could read. Thought it was good, not great. I probably would have given it two stars. We seldom ate here. After reading the Unilocal reviews, we learned of our mistake.
This time, we had some of the dishes recommended in other reviews:
— salty chicken (small chunks of boneless chicken, fried crispy)
— crispy tofu (soft tofu, battered and fried crispy, served with a thick sweet sauce and scallions)
— bok choy with garlic and ginger (cut up bok choy in light thin sauce with carmelized slices of garlic and small chunks of fresh ginger)
— chicken rolls (see below)
I especially liked the last three, though the salty chicken was also tasty. Its crispy fried basil leaves were a pleasant surprise.
We were told that what they call chicken rolls (here and in China) are made of pork. (Surprise!) Crispy tofu skins were a treat. Served with a spicy sauce (like Sriracha) on the side, moist interior. Great combination of flavors and textures.
Ambiance is not the reason to eat at this strip mall storefront. («Dance 10, Looks 3»)
Tuesday evenings appear to be off-​peak, though there were several carry-​out orders handled while we were there.
I’ve always wondered about Asian restaurants that have menus I cannot read. The Wok leads me to believe that those menus are where the best stuff is hidden, because «Americans» are stereotyped as not liking whatever it is. I really wish restaurants would make their entire menu accessible to native English speakers /​readers.
We’ll be eating here a lot more, now that we’ve discovered its secret!

Thanks to all the Unilocalers, we had some of the best Chinese food that we’ve ever had here. Our only regret is that we went on a Saturday night without a reservation and couldn’t get a table. We got our food to go as a result, and this is what we got: bok choy with fresh garlic and ginger, fish with yellow beans (we asked for it spicy, and it was perfect), and crispy tofu. When our food came out, we were given a little something extra — an order of mapo tofu on the house! I guess they felt bad for turning us away, or maybe they appreciated how we hungrily we ate up the descriptions of the dishes. In either case, we were very pleasantly surprised by this generosity.
As we were warned, we didn’t order anything from the English menu. We got the dishes recommended here and also asked for recommendations there. The result: a veritable feast. Everything was really good, and I can only imagine how heavenly everything would have been had we eaten there. We will definitely go back for more recommendations from the kitchen. Thank you, TWCE! We will see you soon!

We got a tip about this place from somebody who has known the owners for years. Walking up to the restaurant, you wouldn’t think it was much, but honestly this is some of the best Chinese food I have eaten anywhere in the US. Wow! We asked the kitchen for their recommendations and were not dissapointed: crispy tofu, ginger beef, tofu skin and vegetables, fish, and a bunch of other dishes that I have no idea about the name. Definitely worth the drive.

I studied abroad in China for a summer, and now I have a little piece of paper with my favorite dishes written in Chinese characters on it. I take it with me to every Chinese restaurant, and this has by far the best dishes I’ve ever had of any place I’ve taken my piece of paper. YUM…

I attended UIUC back when the Wok owners owned Mandarin Wok on Green St in Champaign. I’m not the only one who was deeply saddened when they sold their business. The food just didn’t taste the same anymore. Fast forward a few years. I was in town for the career fair and a friend told me that the former MW owners set up shop in Mahomet. I heard that they signed a non-​compete clause when they sold MW, which barred them from selling anything on the MW menu (which is almost everything) within 7 miles or something of MW. The owner told me they missed the restaurant business and after a lukewarm Japanese bento business in Champaign, they moved to Mahomet where they sold Chinese American food. Eventually a loyal customer found them and convinced them to cook Taiwanese again. Word of mouth keeps them busy today. They also make Chinese-​American food for the locals…
I made a reservation (tough because they don’t always pick up their phone) for a weeknight. We didn’t really need a reservation but I wanted to be safe. My girlfriend went on a Sunday night and it was really busy. So, I would definitely recommend reservations for the weekend. The owner remembered me after all these years. She was nice enough to comp a dish because she knew it’d be a while before I’m in ‘town’ again.
Between the four of us, we had:
— crispy tofu. A classic MW dish.
— eggplant with fish sauce.
— chicken rolls (awesome!!)
— basil chicken balls
— greens with shrimp
— beef noodle soup
— salty chicken (Taiwanese nightmarket style)
Yes, the menu is confusing and in Chinese but the owner’s daughter can help you if you know what you’re looking for. True, I live in NYC and have access to Chinatown and Flushing, but the Wok’s cooking is more authentic than most places I’ve tried here. It’s yummy, homestyle cooking which is hard to find at most restaurants. I’m jealous of anyone who can come here often… it will be a stop for any future trip to Champaign.
Note: They are closed on Mondays.

The original Mandarin Wok moved away, now it’s back– in Mahomet, different name, same great owners! Order from the Chinese Menu, you won’t be disappointed!
I tend to eek out my ethnic food restaurants by putting my ear to the ground and listening to visiting students on campus. I’m almost never steered wrong. My Chinese friends took me to Mandarin Wok on Green St. a long time ago, and when I went back a number of years ago, I was disappointed the food had changed. Well, the answer was a long story that I’ll spare you here… but Tina and her family (esp. her father, the amazing cook) is back, but now in Mahomet (20 min. out of town). They didn’t even advertise they were coming, but they had students waiting for the door to open on their very first day. You know it’s a good place when there’s a buzz without even an attempt at making buzz. These guys even flew a Taiwanese chef from Taiwan here and flew him back home because he wouldn’t cook in the old-​school way required for these recipes.
The place is small, understated, nothing fancy. Don’t let this fool you, the hand-​written wall of Chinese dishes and the almost ever-​packed state of the restaurant on weekends is your clue you’ve hit a place for great food. [Make reservations, tables go quickly!!] One caveat– I wince anytime I hear a local order from the English menu. Sure, the food is good, but you’ve got to get food from the Chinese menu. Ask Tina which dishes she suggests based on your tastes (don’t be afraid to be adventurous!). Trust her thoughts and you won’t go wrong.
Spicy Basil Chicken never fails to hit the spot for all of my friends who I’ve dragged to the Wok. Garlic Salty Green Beans is also a favorite. [Salty and sweet play off each other nicely with those two.] There is so much to try here that I’m thankful I’ll be visiting frequently to try more dishes out!

Four girl friends from Champaign went at around 7:45 on a Friday evening. One of them spoke Mandarin. We let her order us some crispy tofu, chinese style kung pao chicken, bok choi cooked with fresh garlic and ginger, and sweet and sour shrimp. After quite a long wait (the place was packed, but we managed to score a table as a group left) the fantastic food arrived! We got so much food and it came down to just about $ 12/​person. The owner of the restaurant is so nice. she even brought us out some red bean filled fried wontons on the house. The food is fantastic. so fresh tasting and the flavors are multidimensional unlike most chinese restaurants you’d find in a strip mall. I highly recommend this place! Please order the crispy tofu! It’s craveable!

Best Chinese food in the area. Make sure you bring someone who can read Chinese or else you’ll be eating American food.

One serious recommendation: GET A RESERVATION. YOU WILL NOT GET TO SIT DOWN UNLESS YOU DO.
Some «The Wok» Lore:
So the original owners of Mandarin Wok were getting weary of the crazy amount of business and felt that it was about time to retire. They sold the place off and they were not allowed to open a comparable restaurant within 8 miles.
They were bored out of their minds.
They tried to open a soup place on Wright, but that didn’t work out too well, so they decided to go about 10 miles West to Mahomet and offer the same menu as they have before… now wouldn’t they end up where they originally were, being too busy and tired?
Hell no. Mahomet is mostly full people who are into the typical takeout stuff. Take in something previously frozen, deep fry it, and add a sauce. Nothing to it. People who wanted their delicious goodness were more than willing to drive the distance to there and the owners are no longer overwhelmed by the crazy open minded student population.
What sort of bothered us though WERE the sheer about of people who just ordered from the takeout menu! However, I’m sure the denizens of Mahomet will eventually cross the line and point at a table of goodness and declare «that looks amazing. I’ll have that.»
Everything that you liked at Mandarin Wok is here. The Chinese menu on the wall lost a lot of its «number system» but Tina has a crazy memory and will remember you and what you like. I 2^nd the Ma La Gan Mien recommendation Jonny W. gives and Countess’s Yellow Bean Fish and crispy Tofu. Some others that are good are the ma la intestine, spicy eggplant, and basil chicken. Do they still serve beef noodle soup? I don’t remember.
Another recommendation to add is the Yian Su Chicken: scrumptious morsels of deep fried dark meat in a special seasoning.
One thing about this place is that it’s SLOW. Expect to wait quite a while for your food…
So damn you, Mahomet, for taking probably the best Chinese restaurant in the area from Campus Town. We’ll probably be driving the 55 – 72 route from st. Louis (which I’m not a fan of) more often to stop by. Their move has gotten rid of their number system, which I certainly hope that they bring back. Lately, I’ve definitely noticed quite a few people eyeing food on the table taht they’re too intimidated to ask about. The owners here are insanely nice and you can ask them about anything. You won’t regret it.

The original owners of Mandarin Wok opened this place up outside of campus. I think it’s better than Mandarin Wok on campus… and they finally started taking credit cards (it used to be cash only)!! The good dishes (that are traditional) are only written in Chinese but if you talk to Tina. she can pick one for you if you can’t read it. Favorites of mine are the crispy tofu and yellow bean Tosu fish.
If you go on the weekend. expect a bit of a wait esp if you come with a big crowd.
I give it four stars because I am from Chicago and just think that you can get better and cheaper Chinese food in Chicago’s Chinatown. I know… but just in my personal opinion. Also. the décor could be better.