mr. wok asian bistro

peking duck - wow! very friendly service willing to go the extra mile. the food is some of the bestchinesefood that we have had. not your ordinarychinesein texas.

i tell pikelet & lollo to share all the time but i must confess, there’s one thing i’ve been keeping all to myself.  it’s my secret favoritechineserestaurant for peking duck that i’ve not been able to part with until now… mr wok asian bistro ! the unassuming chinese/americanchineserestaurant up in plano is where i go for special occasions likechinesenew year or big family get togethers. first i’d like to get a few things out of the way for my food snobs out there. the location is a little dubious as you travel along 14th street as there’s not an asian restaurant in sight. this is not an asian part of plano which i know is worrying for foodies looking for the ‘real thing’. instead 14th street is lined with fast food joints. it doesn’t look like a good sign but keep going. once you arrive, mr wok resembles a pizza hut well… because it used to be one

excellentchinesefood. different from the run off the mill places that serve up sugar, spice and corn starch when it comes tochinesefood. ask jack the owner for recommendations and he will always help with a smile. great place.

just arrived in dallas and had enough time to get to the hotel and put our bags down before heading out to eat. my sister lives in plano and my family had nothing but glowing reviews about mr. wok, so we were excited to go. 
we arrived travel weary but ok, and we were thinking to ourselves, if we could have a drink or two with dinner, we would be ok, right? wrong........no one in my family was kind enough to tell my wife or myself that it was a byob restaurant and no one had bothered to stop and get anything, so no relaxing mixed drink before dinner, or good wine to complement the dinner, just water or sodas in cans.........ok deep breath, and carry on. its family after all. 
i had already read the menu in the car on the wav from the airport, and knew that i wanted to try the steamed dumplings, and the cinnamon beef egg roll (i know it----mind blown!). we saw that they had peking duck on the menu and that they made a few extra, and asked if they had one and did, yes!  
i wanted to try something different or exotic for my entree since i was traveling and decided to break my rule of avoiding ordering seafood away from the coast, and went with the red snapper fillet with black bean sauce. my wife ordered the whole tilapia (see pictures, sorry they are so bad but it was really dark, and did not want to disturb the diners with a flash) and both were ok, maybe better than ok, but both had a fishy taste, which i really have an issue with, and i know that it was fish, but really fresh fish does not taste like it is fishy, and my wife's fish had a very sweet sauce covering it and sweet on meat is not part of our flavor profile. 
i am glad that i tried that cinnamon egg roll, but it was strange, and overpowering with cinnamon, but i like to look for the odd things on the menu and try them, most of the time i find it was a good choice. it would not be something that i would eat again, when you gamble, sometimes you loose. 
i almost forgot to mention the steamed dumplings which i thought were amazing, and way better than anything that i can get here in pensacola. the dough was superbly thin and delicate, almost noodle like, and the filling was packed with flavor. 
the duck was fantastic and perhaps the highlight of the meal. the duck was carved at table side and then what was left over was taken back to the kitchen and stir fried (bones and all) and brought back to the table for us us gnaw off the bone and it was good, even really good with lots of garlicky and savory flavor. 
i really had a great time eating here, and the food was ok, i think that if i go back sometime, i will order more classicchinesedishes and not go so far off the radar. i also relearned once again that ordering seafood so far from the coast, is not a good idea for me.

mr. woks - the bestchinesefood since nyc. what a little gem of a restaurant! weekend nights are busy... and there is a reason. i have introduced 8 couples to mr. woks over the last 2 years. all love it and have now made it one of their regular spots. if you order peking duck (yummy, not fatty, served tableside) or beggars chicken (lots of allspice!) you can reserve a table. there was a 90 minute wait last saturday night but i had pre-ordered a peking and we were seated within 5 minutes. the bistro can get noisey but the food is terrific and the value is excellent. not your typicalchinesemenu. sone of my favorite dishes are shrimp & mango, peking duck, crispy, tangy beef and cha han (japaneese sticky rice) try the calamari appetizer... the best calamari i have experienced.

my husband and i have eaten at mr. wok for 20 years and find it is our go to place for goodchinesefood. jack always stops by our booth to say hello. favorites: lettuce wraps, edamame, and any of the house speciality dishes.

so much better than you'd expect from the name. mr. wok sounds like it would be one of those crappy fast-food-stylechinesetake-out places that attaches fliers to your front door knob with rubber bands. but it's not. it's actually a small, family run restaurant near old town plano, and the food is about as far as you can possibly get from what you'd find at the standardchineseto-go joints. everything i've had there is fantastic--fresh and flavorful and beautifully presented. the honey-walnut chicken is fantastic, as are the dan-dan noodles, and for dessert, you've got to try the banana-chocolate spring rolls--amazing! goodchineserestaurants can be hard to find, but this is definitely one of the best!