Midland Wok

I’ve been looking for a phở place close to me, and this is my new favorite! If you’re in St. Ann, Bridgeton, or Overland, this is the pace to go.
Phở starts at $ 7.99, and it’s PLENTY of food for one sitting. Perfect for that cold winter day, hangovers, or just about any other time.
They also have lots of other food on the menu, but I’ve only tried the crab Rangoon, which is excellent. The phở is what keeps me coming back!

Ordered the hot braised chicken, steamed rice and pot stickers. When I walked in, there was no one in the restaurant at all. So I was worried.
But I got me food and took it home. I was pleasantly surprised by the freshness of the food. The chicken wasn’t undercooked and the dipping sauce for the pot stickers was hot and fresh. Will visit again.

We came here for the two Filipino dishes they have on the menu — pancit and lumpia — as we had been referred by friends who are Filipino. The couple who owns this place are a Vietnamese male and a Filipino female (Cleo). Their opening time (noon) is a bit erratic, but it was well worth the wait. It is a little hole in the wall in an interesting little strip mall on Midland at Lindbergh that also contains a Latin American grocery store and a burrito place, aptly named Burrito King (good burrito btw). They are more of an Asian fusion hole in the wall with substantial numbers of both Vietnamese and Chinese dishes, but they are one of the very few restaurants in the St. Louis metropolitan region that also has some (two) Filipino dishes. Those two dishes (pancit and lumpia) are staples of Filipino cuisine, however, and they are so very good.
For the uninitiated, there are other kinds of lumpia, but they have the best kind — Lumpia Shanghai. The shape and size remind me of a tacito, those little rolled up and deep fried pieces of heaven in Mexican cuisine. But these are little rolls of ground pork, diced onion, minced garlic, a little bit of shredded carrot for color, rolled up in a spring roll wrapper the size of one of your big fingers, and deep fried, to a golden brown, along with a tangy sweet and sour dipping sauce. While I’m not a fan of their particular dipping sauce (a sweet chili sauce would have been perfect), these are homemade and oh so very delicious. We always have two orders of these, as one just doesn’t seem to be enough. Hell, I’m not certain that two is really enough.
Pancit also has many forms in the Filipino pantheon of noodle dishes. There is pancit palabok, pancit luglug, pancit miki, pancit molo, pancit canton, and others, but the kind that is the classic one is pancit bihon guisado, think rice vermicelli that has been fried with a meat of some kind (we like chicken or pork) and garlic, onion, carrot, celery, cabbage, maybe snow peas, a little soy sauce, a little black pepper, and when served, a squeeze of lime (lemon will do) all over the dish, especially the little calamansi limes that you see in southeast Asia (you’ll have to ask for them here). An amazing dish.
That’s it. Two dishes only. But two dishes that are authentic Filipino dishes and very well done.
The room is a true hole in the wall with 6 tables or so and a television, but with most people getting their food to go. You, however, do not want to take lumpia home. You want to eat it, savor it, fresh from being fried. Right there. Mas sarap (delicious).

I wasn’t happy with my visit here. The Chinese food was okay at best, but the lady who was supposed to be serving us sat and talked with her friends. She ask how I was doing and wasn’t even concerned about refilling my drink until after I was standing at the counter ready to pay.

We were trying to find Chinese food on a Sunday. Which is apparently not easy to do in this area. We settled on Midland Wok. We were pleasantly surprised. The man there was very nice. Food was as good as most carry out Chinese places. And the prices were not bad. We were able to feed a family of 4 twice for less than $ 40.
We will go back to try their St, Paul sandwich. And it is a good place to go for a quick and easy meal.

The Phở Lover review from Tom J. made me want to try this place. I wish I hadn’t.
The service itself was friendly and attentive. The décor is nothing that different from your normal walk-​in dinning place that does Chinese carry out. The phở, itself, is what I have a big problem with.
Perhaps I am a phở snob, but REAL phở has certain things with it that give it distinct flavor and texture. When you are typically served a bowl of phở, a side dish comes with the following items:
1) Sprouts
2) Limes
3) Thai Basil
4) Sliced green jalepenos
5) A small dish with hoisin and siracha
Sometimes you get another green leaf spice (which I don’t know) that will punch up the flavor as well.
When I got my bowl, two thing stood out to me. The first is that the beef that was cut for the dish was thick, stringy, and already a well done temperature. The broth is supposed to cook the meat and the beef should be razor thin. The second issue was that there was no Thai basil anywhere. I asked for some and the person on duty said, «We don’t seve that with our phở. It is expensive.» Really?
Very underwhelming dish and I won’t be going back there soon.

I tend to be in the Maryland Heights/​Westport area a lot during lunch and if I have time, I will almost always make a b-​line for this place. It’s really easy to find, just east of Lindbergh and right past the 7 – 11 on Dorsett/​Midland Blvd.
What I love most about them are their Bahn Mi’s sandwiches, they truly are second to none. I love these things and his are huge! They might be my most favorite in STL, and I hunt those things out like nobody’s business. I always have them toss a fried egg on there to make it even more delicious. Lunch specials are another solid value with a good mix of Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese dishes on the menu. There is always something on there for everyone be it St Paul sandwiches, Fried Rice, Phở, Pad Thai, etc. The interior is nothing fancy but there is plenty of parking and the owner/​chef is an extremely cool guy.
Edit: They no longer do Bahn Mi’s because people weren’t ordering them. For shame. He will make some if you give him a day to get the bread or if you need some for a party, etc. I’ve moved onto his Shrimp St. Paul sandwich which is my favorite in the STL. Amazing mess of fantasticness.

I’ve mentioned before that the area bounded by St. Charles Rock Rd, Page, Lindburgh, and… beyond… tug a particular nostalgic heart-​string. At the Lindburgh side, where Dorsett turns to Midland, a seemingly random strip mall welcomes you to a Mexican donut place and Midland Wok.
We had the spring rolls and phở here and both were pretty good. Unfortunately, it took fooooooreeeeever for us to get our food. On top of that, there was a pretty thick layer of oil on the top.
Given our proximity to Phở Long, I’d pick that place over here. Otherwise, I think people out West of Lindburgh should give this place a shot.

Attention phở lovers! You really need to check this place out if it’s reasonably convenient. I’ve been back three times since my first visit and it’s been either very good or excellent each time. Today I had the phở with beef brisket. This is the first time I’ve had this and the brisket was tender and absulutely delicious. I’ve had the same thing at Phở Long a couple of times and this meat was much much better. I can’t believe what great food is coming out of this kitchen and nobody knows about it.
The two other dishes I had since my last visit were chicken noodle soup and the egg foo yung lunch special. Both were very good, but I do have a minor issue that you get white rice and crab rangoon with the lunch special — no alternatives were available as far as I could tell.