Hot Wok Bistro Too

Love this place. I was driving down the street wishing there were more places that served healthy fast food at a decent price. Then I saw Hot Wok Bistro and thought I died and went to heaven. Walked in 5 minutes before closing and they were very welcoming. The owner, Joyce, even remembered my name though I haven’t seen her for at least 5 years! I frequented Hot Wok Bistro in San Mateo and the food quality here is every bit as good as the original. This is easily the best Chinese food in San Carlos!

The service was lacking. Took me a good minute to get the hostess’s attention for a seat.
They never came to my table to check on me so I never got to order a soda and add an appetizer to my meal.
I ordered tan tan noodles and they were not good. The flavor is lacking. I’ve had tan tan noodles before and the secret is in the sauce. It was too bland.
The waitress asked me if I like the noodles since I had so much left over at check out. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings so I said it was too spicy… which is a big lie, I love hot spices haha
I won’t be coming back again. Service sucks, vibe sucks, food sucks.

3.5 stars. I think this is the place to go if you’re too tired to cook, or if it’s been a crazy week at work/​school, and want a reasonably priced meal.
Tried their tan tan noodles, garlic sauteed eggplant, and kung pao crispy shrimp. Also ordered 1 rice. Don’t get the rice. It was dry enough for making fried rice.
My favorite was the eggplant, fresh and the sauce was just perfect. The shrimp was not that memorable to me, probably because I don’t usually eat fried shrimp. The tan tan noodles was a huge portion dish. It wasn’t spicy enough and lacked seasoning. The noodles can be a bit more al dente though. It was cool that they served oranges at this end. For $ 12 per person, I was full and it was a fairly ok meal.

Super friendly service and really good food. Everything we had was fresh and tasty. Shrimp w snow peas, spring rolls, shrimp fried rice, pot stickers… All good.

Reliably tasty Chinese food with huge portions in the mid-​Peninsula. The menu is a little limited compared to most Chinese restaurants, but they do offer some off-​the-​menu items. (There is no hidden menu– you have to ask to see if they can make you what you want.)
— Tan Tan Noodles ($ 8)
Garlic sauce, water chestnut, normally served with minced pork. Huge portion and noodles are perfectly chewy. Flavor is just missing something, like some salt and chili pepper paste.
— Chow Fun ($ 8)
Standard and good.
— Kung Pao Crispy Shrimp ($ 11)
Shrimp in a spicy chili soy sauce with garlic, green onions, and peanuts. The shrimp is not that crispy, but it is pretty tasty. This dish is really terrible for take-​out, since the shrimp batter gets completely soggy from the steam.
— Garlic Eggplant ($ 8)
Delicious. Perfectly good eggplant in garlic sauce with the right consistency.
Service is friendly. Oranges and fortune cookies at the end of the meal.

Nice to know there are still mom and pop operations in the really pricey Peninsula.
Food was great. Price points were very reasonable with what you got. We’re aiming to try everything and plan on coming back a lot. We had Kung pao stirfry, Singapore noodles and hot and sour soup –all were full flavored and did not have that cheap Chinese takeout taste for the price.
The menu with the different sauces to go with your choice of protein caters to the practical American. Friendly service too. You can tell they really care about their customers. Hope it won’t change once it becomes popular.

Great chinese food, great service. Recommend the shrimp fried rice and honey walnut prawns

Really strong offering of Chinese food classics here. Totally love their sweet and sour pork and the Kung Pao shrimp gives just the right kick. Recently discovered their «secret menu» salt and pepper chicken wings which were very tasty. Vibe is very chill and the staff is very personable and friendly. The owner, «Joyce» personally greeted our party and made us feel at home.

Best Chinese food I’ve ever had! Everything is so fresh and flavorful! I had the potstickers, Chinese chicken salad, and chow fun. Customer service is above par! They’re so nice and friendly here. Will be back! This is my new addiction… Not to mention portions are huge! Super inexpensive and good for families. Love this place!

I love this restaurant!
Joyce, the owner, is amazing — friendly, accommodating, and excited to have her customers come in.
We planned a 1-​year old birthday party for our daughter and she was quick to oblige to any of our needs. The service was terrific and the food was delicious. All of our guests had a great time and Joyce is the reason the entire event went as smoothly as it did.
We will be back!

I’m not a huge Chinese food fan… It takes a lot to impress me so I came in here with low expectations. To my surprise, I had quite a pleasant experience.
I just moved into neighborhood and wanted to grab something quick and easy on a Friday night. My husband and I came in around 5:30 pm and it was pretty empty.
We were greeted by super friend friendly staff. We were seated next to the window and the waitress kindly lowers the blinds enough so they sun wasn’t blinding me.
I asked the waitress what her favorite dishes were. She told me her favorite things weren’t on the menu: stir fried green beans and salt/​pepper pork chops. So that’s what I ordered.
The service was super fast. Hot tea came out immediately. We only waited maybe 5 minutes and our food came out hot, fresh, made to order. The portions were generous, the flavor was fantastic and the quality of the food was decent.
In addition, there’s plenty of parking around and the restaurant was clean. I’d totally come dine here many more times!

This is a pretty good Chinese place in San Carlos. The staff was extremely nice to all their customers. That’s the way to get them to come back!
We got some food to go. We got chicken Kung Pao chicken and beef chow mein. I thought the kung Pao chicken was pretty good. Flavor was just what I expected. The chow mein wasn’t bad but next time I would leave out the cabbage. I think the cabbage leaves a weird bitter taste in your mouth.
The rice is extra and not the kind I like (restaurants tend to use cheap rice).

Love having a delicious Chinese restaurant so close!
Just tried them for take-​out: onion cake, crab rangoon, singapore noodles (mild), sweet & sour pork, & mu shu pork.
I would have liked more sauce, and next time will request double. Another surprise was the thickness of the pastry on the crab rangoons and the mu shu pancakes. I didn’t like it on the crab rangoons, although they are stuffed with crab, unlike many which are all cheese. And I’m still unsure about the mu shu pancakes. Though thick, and not as tasty, they held up well for takeout and didn’t fall to pieces as most do.
Everything else was delicious, and we’ll be eating there again!

I love this place! I am telling you — I have cravings for this place! So this is how it goes — we start with the Crab Rangoon and Fried Wontons (I can eat those like chips), then order some Kung Pao Shrimp (MY FAVE — all day, every day), and then I keep it simple with some Egg only Fried Rice (it hits the spot).
Just give a try, if you don’t like it — I’ll eat it. And not only is the food comforting — so is the service! The service is constantly excellent, the servers are friendly and the owner is always so welcoming — she really makes you feel at home.

Je mangeais à cet endroit avec mes amis durent ce week-​end La nourriture est tres bonne.
Le service était également excellent. Je vais certainement revenir !

San Carlos’s new GEM…
Wow the food here is fantastic…
The best Pot Stickers I’ve had in a long time.
Fried Won Tons, quite tasty. We also enjoyed the tan Tan noodles with beef. Just the right amount of kick to them. And the orange glazed chicken has quite as zingy orange taste to it. Not overpowering.
Can’t wait to go back…

They have some great prices.
THe tan tan noodle is really yummy.
They customer service is excellent.
I Like the way they all get along here.
YOU can tell they’re probably all family and have that cool old fashioned family feeling we missing out on these days.
The environment is very warmhearted, great ambiance and décor.
I like the umbrellas on the ceiling and artwork on the walls.
The waitress is really pretty, has a great sense of humor, and very polite too.
They took our pictures for new yrs too.
Me and my mom had a great time here.
I loved the won ton soup and sweet and sour chicken too.
I will be back soon.

I was here for lunch with my family and we enjoyed the experience. For $ 7 you get a lunch that includes soup, rice and your entrée. My sweet and sour chicken was very good and I’d definitely come back.
Service was friendly and parking was no problem on this end of Laurel Street.

First visit. Happy that they are open on Mondays. Pleasant décor. Large flat screen TV, but it was off. Reasonably priced lunch specials came with hot & sour soup and a generous portion of rice. (Choice of fried rice or white rice; brown rice or chow mein available for $ 1 more.)
The soup was very hot (temperature-​wise) but not as flavorful as I prefer.
My dining companion thought the broccoli beef had an unpleasant sour note, and would have liked other veggies (e.g. carrots) to be included in addition to the broccoli. The broccoli was cooked just right.
The fried rice was tasty but we both would have liked more veggies in it (it only has onion).
The Szechuan tofu had water chestnuts and big chunks of onion, and the tofu was firm and slightly chewy; everything was cooked just the way I like. The level of spiciness was also just right, but the sauce was sweeter and thicker than I prefer.
I didn’t order a drink because the menu didn’t list any.
I will come back, but they are not yet in the running to replace my favorite Chinese places.

Hot Wok Bistro took over an hole in the wall.
though the interior may have been beautified. HWBT still feels like an hole in the wall.
Not sure what part of this premise is the bistro.
looks, tastes like typical chinese eatery except prices higher.
eats: broculli beef, lunch special (7)
–fried rice tasted day old, no «wok hay»
–beef tender, broculli bland, slightly salty
–hot & sour soup bland though «hot» in spiciness.
take outs:
–über friendly service from lady servers/​hostess
–no fortune cookie seen, only differential a bistro has from a typical
chinese eatery.
–lunch 4 star value, 3 star quality. service/​ambience 4 stars,\.

Hot Wok Bistro Too has arrived in San Carlos. The décor is very elegant and the owner Joyce welcomed us with open arms. I enjoyed all the food at this restaurant. They were flavorful and not super oily and salty like other Chinese food places.
We ordered the Pot Sticker, Tan Tan Noodles, Garlic Sauce Eggplant, Salt and Pepper Pork, Honey walnut Prawns, and Basil Chicken. Good food at a good price, what can go wrong? =)
Really recommend this place to anyone in San Carlos.