Just a short time ago a new Chinese restaurant called the Iron Wok opened at 545 Main Street in Placerville. But, their history doesn’t start there, it goes back many years.
A family run business, they first opened in San Francisco and then, about ten years ago, moved to Elk Grove. A search of online reviews shows that they were highly rated and very popular. In fact, there are several sad comments about their closing their Elk Grove location and being replaced by a Vietnamese restaurant. After leaving Elk Grove, the family moved to the town of El Dorado.
When the European restaurant between Bagel Works and Town Hall closed, Iron Wok took over that location and from my and my friends observations appears to be doing quite well. There is a good reason for this: the food is really good, as are the portions, and the service is excellent.
I planned to meet a friend there for lunch and arrived a bit early. While I was looking over the menu, a family group came in to eat and it turned out they had driven from Elk Grove just to have the food they loved and renew their friendship with the owners. When people go out of their way to get food that they like, that gives you a really good feeling about a restaurant.
They aren’t the only ones, by the way. Several people have commented on social media that they have made the same trip, just to have the food and reconnect with the owners.
When my friend arrived, we decided to split two of their Special Combinations, which are served all day. Each combination comes with a choice of soup, a veggie egg roll and a choice of steamed or BBQ pork fried rice.
Our selections were Cashew Chicken and Sauteed Prawns with Vegetables. My friend chose egg flower soup, I, hot and sour. We also decided to order both the steamed and pork fried rice.
As expected, the soup arrived first. The egg flower soup was delicate, delicious and fresh. The hot and sour soup was more hardy, but not overpowering in its flavor. It also was very fresh tasting.
When our main dishes arrived, they were both beautiful. Presentation is so important at a restaurant. And, there was so much food, my friend ended up taking almost half of it home.
The cashew chicken was, like the egg flower soup, delicate in its flavor. It was also full of lightly sauteed vegetables with just the right amount of crispness, a crispness also found in the cashews, which can often be soggy. The BBQ pork fried rice was very flavorful without overpowering the rest of the food, albeit a bit dry if eaten by itself, but who does that?
The sauteed shrimp with vegetables was loaded with large shrimp, perfectly cooked. We divided that dish and continued to find more shrimp hidden among the delicious vegetables as we ate. The steamed rice had that slightly sticky texture that helps me keep it together and off my lap.
To top things off, even the veggie egg roll was fresh, light and delicious, and there was that yummy sweet red sauce for dipping.
All in all it was a fantastic lunch, high above my expectations. My friend commented that it was a step above the other local Chinese restaurants.
In addition to the two dishes we ordered the Special Combinations portion of the menu includes nearly a dozen more, made with chicken, pork, beef or just vegetables. Included on this list are numerous favorites such as Beef with Broccoli, Sweet and Sour Pork, Mongolian
Beef, Kung Pao Chicken, General Chicken and more.
The regular part of the menu, which has a greater variety of dishes, starts with half a dozen appetizers and seven kinds of soup to start your meal. These are followed by seven pork dishes, sixteen chicken dishes, fourteen seafood dishes and eleven beef. There are also ten delicious sounding vegetable dishes.
To round out your meal you will find seven different kinds of fried rice, made with barbecued pork, shredded pork, beef, chicken, prawns or a mixture of several. And, if you prefer chow mein or chow fun, there are eight different kinds of those, followed by three kinds of steamed and seasoned vegetable dishes.
Iron Wok, Chinese Cuisine, is located a 545 Main Street in Placerville, and is open six days a week: Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 11 a.m. until 8 p.m and on Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. Closed on Tuesday.
Oh, they have both inside and outside seating should you wish to enjoy watching the passing crowd.
For more information give them a call at (530) 903-3358. Or, just show up and enjoy.